Manager Customer Service
Resume:
ALEXANDER C. SIMONSON
Brooklyn, NY 11238
****@****.***
SUMMARY:
> Over twelve years experience in the interactive space with a solid
understanding of product strategy and value proposition, requirements
management, information architecture, user experience, project
management, and web analytics.
> Successfully built and managed cohesive teams of Business Analysts,
Interaction Designers, Producers, Project Managers, and QA staff.
> Solid experience managing online products through the full project
life cycle using waterfall and agile methodologies with both onsite
and offsite resources.
> Experience creating and deploying interactive processes and standards.
EXPERIENCE:
Feb. 2008 - Present: HarperCollins Publishers
New York, NY
Director of Web Operations
Working in both strategic and operational capacities as the Product Manager
for HarperCollins.com and its related international properties, eCommerce,
and BrowseInside. As Dir. Web Operations, I oversee all implementation and
maintenance tasks and lead a team of project managers, producers, IA/UX,
and QA staff.
Web Operations
> Responsible for the ongoing operational maintenance as well as new
application development for a suite of HarperCollins online properties
and concurrent projects worldwide.
> Transformed the business from a waterfall methodology to agile,
including selection and rollout of a new project management tool.
> Changed the way worldwide stakeholders request desired enhancements to
the implementation team.
> Set up streamlined processes to manage offshore developer resources.
> Redefined the company standard for business requirements and
wireframes.
Product Management
> Evaluated and changed the site strategy for HarperCollins.com and
platform-based international sites based on analytics and user
feedback.
> Near single-handed rollout of an ecommerce platform, from business
decisions to technical implementation to order fulfillment and
customer service. Managed P&L for direct sales.
> Involved in vendor selection and redesign of the processes to collect
signups and distribute newsletters and automated emails.
> Identified and escalated cost/value discrepancies in order to save
budget capital and refocus the team on higher value initiatives.
Dec. 2006 - Feb. 2008: Cond Net
New York, NY
Manager of Functional Analysis
Manage a large team of Functional Analysts (Business Analysts) and
Information Architects (Interface Designers) who serve across seven
premiere web sites owned by Cond Nast. (Epicurious.com, Concierge.com,
Wired.com, Flip.com, NutritionData.com, Style.com, Men.Style.com).
Responsible for resourcing, documentation standards, requirements
management standards, and the greater planning phase of our sites.
> Worked to develop a comprehensive yet readable documentation package
that served the Tech, Production, and QA groups as well as
stakeholders.
> Helped transition the team from a waterfall process towards an agile
model.
> Conducted usability tests of both web site projects and internal
documentation.
> Formulated a set of standards for wireframes, functional specs, and
page flows.
> Reengineered the working process between the Functional Analyst,
Information Architect, and Design.
Jul. 2004 - Dec. 2006: Scholastic, Inc.
New York, NY
Business Analyst
Served as a Business Analyst for Scholastic Profile Services (SPS), the
business unit responsible for registration and Single Sign On across
multiple online applications.
> Helped shape the company's vision for building user profiles.
> Wrote requirements and functional specifications to integrate online
applications into SPS. (Single Sign On)
> Worked with the product manager and division CEO to create a three-year
plan to rollout a proprietary CRM application for the e-Scholastic
division.
> Assisted fellow Business Analysts in creating a functional specification
standard. (Telelogic DOORS)
> Worked closely with Strategic Marketing to send eScholastic data to the
Enterprise Data Warehouse.
> Served as the product manager for the last few months, proposing new
projects and managing the SPS product set.
Aug. 2002 - Jul. 2004: MultiPlan, Inc.
New York, NY
Business Analyst, Reporting
Served as a Business Analyst to Reporting and Marketing for this mid-size
healthcare company.
> Assisted with the integration of corporate databases after the merger of
MultiPlan and BCE Emergis.
> Wrote functional and technical specifications for automated Crystal
Reports.
> Gathered business requirements from sales teams and network negotiators
and wrote functional specifications for a proprietary online reporting
tool.
> Assisted with the design of the corporate reporting schema.
> Responsible for the analysis of data and data integrity within the
reporting environment.
> Managed junior analysts assigned to performing ad hoc queries
(approximately 2,600 annually).
Jul. 1999 - Sep. 2001: Digitas, LLC
New York, NY
Technology Manager
Responsible for strategy and management of technical production for clients
such as American Express, Wolters Kluwer, and Morgan Stanley.
> Led a large team of development staff that engaged in over $20M of work
per year.
> Successfully managed as many as 36 concurrent projects.
> Directly participated in high level agency presentations to clients.
> Managed the relationship between the agency, client technical personnel,
and third party consulting teams.
> Created an intranet for the department specifically dedicated to trials
of new technologies.
> Co-produced the interactive process for the New York office.
Feb. 1998 - Jul. 1999: Spier NY (Formerly Franklin Spier)
New York, NY
Executive Producer, Interactive Division
Responsible for the new Interactive Division of this mid-size advertising
firm.
> Served as a liaison between the account group and the technical team.
> Managed day-to-day operations of a large AOL site (Book Central).
Included weekly features, reviews, author chats and interviews, and
contests.
> Built and managed a large online community, which included management of
remote and in-house employees.
> Marketing and promotion of the Book Central site to increase viewership
and exposure. Included advertising and feature promotion on various
channels of America Online as well as publishing promotion staff.
> Negotiation of a barter agreement with a third party consulting firm to
build a proprietary content management tool for content development on
the site.
SKILLS:
> Application development and channel strategy, cost/value analysis, and
P&L forecasting.
> Web product analysis using popular analytics tools, user feedback,
iterative development methods, and performance tuning.
> Project management including product roadmaps, rollout plans, task lists
and open issues logs.
> Sales and presentation skills to both technical & non-technical
audiences.
> Team management and development, workflow and process engineering.
TRAINING:
DOORS Application Training (Basic & Advanced) - June 2005
SEO Training (Bruce Clay, Inc) - June 2007
Usability Testing Training (Human Factors International) - October 2007
AFFILIATIONS/OTHER:
Guest Lecturer, Web Product Management - NYU School of Continuing and
Professional Studies
Member of the Holland Society of New York; Vice Chairman of the Archives &
Library Committees
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