Valerie “Jane” Garske

PO Box * Cromwell, MN ***26

Home: 218-***-**** acfwxp@r.postjobfree.com

EXECUTIVE PROFILE

Senior management role since 1992. Enjoys working in fast paced environment and leading high performing teams.

Committed to continuous improvement and a lifetime learner.

SKILLS

IT Leadership Superior Problem Solver Vendor Relationships

Technology Management Strategic and Creative Thinker Contract Negotiations

Application Development Goal Oriented and Focused Department Budgeting

Data Management Team Leader Outsource Management

E-Commerce Development Business Alignment CRM & ERP Systems

Data Mining Resource Management Promotional Fulfillment

Social Media High Performance Teams Inventory Management

Call Centers Mentoring of Staff SaaS Implementation

SQL database Management High Integrity, results driven MS.NET, JavaScript, CSS,

HTML & Web services

C OR E A CC OM PL I S HM EN TS

During my career as an IT Professional, I have had opportunities to start an IT department from the ground up twice.

First at Sun Country Airlines, and then again with my current position. Currently I am responsible for all aspects of

technology in support of all Arrowhead Promotion and Fulfillment initiatives; a full service marketing services,

promotion and fulfillment company with over 350 employees, serving 200+ clients across 1,500 new programs

annually. I have worked with hundreds of fortune 500 clients to help design and implement promotional programs

to ensure data integrity and flawless execution and at the same time build brand awareness. These programs range

from traditional data entry to more complex social media or e-commerce sites, resulting in approximately 60 million

transactions a year. I skillfully provide IT direction and insight to help clients engage their customers in ways that

build awareness, brand loyalty and sales.

P R OF E S SI ON A L EX P ER I E N C E

Vice President Technology – Arrowhead Promotion and Fulfillment - 1998 to present

Oversight responsibilities ensure advanced technology, deep expertise, proven systems, thoughtful processes along

with proper checks and balances are in place to meet each client’s unique needs efficiently and cost-effectively.

Experience in Information Technology, Application Development, and Customer Care. Strong leader with

demonstrated sound business judgment. Broad expertise in transaction processing, project management, data

analysis and design. An organized and creative problem solver with proven team building skills. Can hire, train, coach,

and mentor IT talent. Ability to inspire trust and confidence in the quality and excellence of the IT deliverables.

Communicate effectively to consistently achieve high standards of excellence. Manage IT department of 20

application developers and network engineers.

Develop, implement and monitor all IT policies, processes and controls, including those required for PCI, SAS70,

HIPAA, and client contract compliance. High integrity with history of driving results. Successfully lead and developed

the implementation plan to board 25 new clients with over 200 programs in 6 months due to acquisition of business

resulting in an increase in business of 25%.

Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to build effective internal and external relationships and influence change.

Provide technology solutions to business problems, measure strategy and create and promote data driven insight as

well as establishing teams to execute the initiatives. Excellent at communicating with customers both internal and

external to bridge gap between technology and business needs. Work with clients, account managers and IT staff to

implement and support promotions for all consumer industries. Responsible for program optimization and fail-safe

execution. Experience in all aspects of consumer promotions such as; rebates, gift cards, sweepstakes, games and

contests, incentives, ecommerce sites, loyalty programs, premium campaigns occurring on both traditional and social

media venues. Strong background in database systems including data structures, data modeling, db schema and big

data technologies.

Responsible for approving all IT purchases and annual budget of $3 million. Experience in high speed digital printing

solutions, both MICR and color. Expertise in Inventory Management and Warehouse Pick and Pack solutions.

Successfully lead team of 6 employees to migrate a premise based contact center to a cloud based 90 seat call center,

resulting in savings on capital expenditures and providing the on demand scalability required to service fluctuating

call flows.

Director Information Systems – Sun Country Airlines - December 1992 - July 1998

Responsible for establishing the MIS department at Sun Country Airlines. Seamlessly integrated IT contractors with IT

staff to create a strategic and productive work environment. Successfully implemented a strategy of user-self-

sufficiency, incremental deliverables, and user involvement. Negotiated all vendor contracts, and approved all

hardware and software purchases.

Successfully implemented the migration of the corporate information system onto a client-server environment using

Informix database, and related SQL tools on a UNIX/RISC platform. Managed the implementation of a real-time

customer check-in system installed on airport property. Migrated General Ledger, Credit Management, Accounts

Payable applications to an Informix application. Migrated Payroll application to a Ceridian platform. Successfully

designed and implemented a Passenger Service Customer Tracking Application to issue customer letters and generate

management reports.

Designed and implemented an Ethernet network spanning three locations supporting mission critical applications in a

24 by 7 environment. Developed backup and disaster recovery strategies.

Project Leader – Northwest Airlines - November 1988 - December 1992

Successfully led the project to design, create, and implement an Executive Information System (EIS), to provide

information on the Company's "Critical Success Factors" to senior management. Demonstrated EIS to potential users.

Interviewed executives to determine information requirements and recommend automated solutions to business

problems. Conducted training and trouble-shooting for EIS customers.

Developed standard configurations for EIS workstations on multiple platforms to ensure optimal performance.

Developed a process to track and measure system reliability in order to proactively solve problems. Launched a

prototype development project to integrate the EIS workstations with the General Ledger system, providing a

graphical interface of summarized financial data with the ability to "drill down" to lower levels of detail. Planned and

successfully implemented on schedule the installation of EIS in Tokyo.

Programmer Analyst – Control Data Corporation - November 1981 – November 1988

Effectively performed Customer Support for Officeware an integrated collection of software tools designed for use by

business professionals in a distributed processing environment. Provided Customer training, troubleshooting, and

work-around alternatives. Provided reliable solutions to customer problems, involving numerous hardware and

software configurations. Designed and conducted regression testing of all Officeware upgrades across multiple

operating system platforms.

E D UC AT I ON

Metropolitan State University

Completed several courses in Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies

NORTHEAST METRO TECHNICAL COLLEGE - CENTURY COLLEGE

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