Project Manager Management

Eric Sorenson

Email: abppqi@r.postjobfree.com

Address: **** ********* *****

City: Powell

State: OH

Zip: 43065

Country: USA

Phone: 614-***-****

Skill Level: Director

Salary Range: $120,000

Willing to Relocate

Primary Skills/Experience:

See Resume

Educational Background:

See Resume

Job History / Details:

CAREER PROFILE

18+ year professional career with excellent qualifications in general management, business and strategy implementation, program and project management, customer relations, communications, and human resources. Strengths in relationship building, with exceptional networking and partnering abilities with colleagues and clients in the United States and abroad. Analytical and innovative thinker with a record of obtaining results. Excels working in a matrix-managed organizations and fast-paced environments.

* Program Management

* Leadership Development

* Operations Optimization

* Budget Administration

* Customer-Driven Management

* Vendor Management

* Performance and Process Improvements

* Analytics and Reporting Solutions

* Mergers and Acquisitions

* International Business Experience

* Software Project Management

* Call Center Management

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

ARKADIN COLLABORATION SERVICES, Columbus, OH/Schaumburg, IL January 2008 - August 2012

Director of Customer Operations

Reporting to the President, Arkadin North America, lead a dynamic Customers Operations Department with an annual operating budget of $4.5M, 100-125 employees in Columbus, Ohio and Schaumburg, Illinois. Concentrations in strategy planning and implementation, program management, process improvement, new tool development, training, human resources, and employee development. Contributions also included revenue enhancement initiatives and department redesigns to handle additional administrative tasks to support Sales with growing new revenue streams.

* Responsible for the successful integration of Customer Operations teams from Arkadin`s January 1, 2012 acquisition of ConferencePlus. Reduced operating costs by $900K through staffing efficiencies and process improvements. Efforts included integration of teams, processes, and tools to support a customer base worth over $65M in annual revenue.

* Won 2012 Gold Stevie Award - Customer Service Department in the Telecommunications Industry. Activities included operation of a company-wide quality assurance process to report and resolve customer-impacting issues, customer-facing surveys, and service reviews with key accounts.

* Positively impacted revenue streams through the implementation of service offerings resulting in a 9-fold increase in revenue from January 2010 ($50K) to June 2012 ($450K). Key service offerings included a fully robust webinar production service, new tools to allow for web conference recording, and professional service fees on services previously not charged back to the customer.

* Successfully negotiated reductions in vendor costs for transcriptions, recordings, translations, and interpretation work by 20% resulting in an annual savings of $30,000. Also partnered with conferencing industry competitor to manage and facilitate French-Canadian language operator-assisted conference calls, resulting in an additional $375K in annual revenue.

* Sponsored development and implementation of multiple automated and batch process tools for use by back-office teams, resulting in an average reduction of order fulfillment time by 80%. Productivity of back-office teams increased 70% over a 2-year period.

* Improved 24/7 live conference support by partnering with Customer Operations peers in Europe and Asia. Developed process to transfer support calls to other customer contact centers utilizing in-house technology to avoid any increase in cost-to-support.

AOL INC, Columbus, OH/Dulles, VA/Oklahoma City, OK September 1996 - October 2007

Principal Business Systems Analyst, Columbus, OH, February 2007 - October 2007

While retaining the responsibilities of Senior Program Manager, promoted to Principal Business Systems Analyst for AOL Technical Support to analyze complex business problems and provide technical expertise to identify, evaluate, and develop systems and procedures for cost effectiveness and to meet user requirements.

* Lead cross-functional team to elicit requirements for improving the existing case resolution and tracking tool. Facilitated meetings with project management, training personnel, call center staff, and key stakeholders to identify key opportunities for increasing first call resolution.

* Built business case on effectiveness and valuation of current customer satisfaction program. Developed documentation on programs to improve tool usage, marketing plans, and training curricula.

* Provided data analysis to develop strategy for long-term outsourcer plan. Partnered with Vendor Management team and vendors to obtain pricing rates and built models to help with identifying best opportunities for cost savings and redundancy.

Senior Program Manager, Columbus OH, August 2001 - October 2007

Leveraged global workforce to deliver $3M in customer support cost savings over three years. Through phone queue consolidation, relocation of support to more cost effective centers, expansion of email and chat support and self-service channels, call deflection, and credit and talk time reduction efforts, lowered cost to serve while delivering on all key performance metrics.

* Developed, implemented and evaluated program policies, procedures and standards. Managed program service levels and budgets, and provided technical advice and supervision to staff and other departments.

* Produced ongoing revenue contributions to AOL`s Low Cost Internet brands through continued improvements in long-term retention and acquisition rates. Directed 35% increase in retention rates and an increase of 30% to acquisition rates through the use of new pricing offers and consultative selling methods.

* Grew subscriber base for premium service add-ons for AOL`s Netscape Internet Service brand. Conceived and developed up-sell program for phone and chat support channels, resulting in a 15% increase in overall premium service add-ons for the brand.

* Directed development of a comprehensive training program for new hire and tenured FTEs. Training included process and policy segments, tools, regulatory requirements, and sales and communication modules. With offshore agents, developed and delivered training to bridge cultural barriers and soften accents and voice inflections.

* Built a culture of customer advocacy. Developed a customer-centric sales and support force through the implementation of extensive call monitoring programs, call flows, scripting and pod collateral, communication training, and third-party verification procedures.

* Increased customer satisfaction and call quality & compliance scores. Maintained call quality & compliance scores above 99% of 100% compliance target.

* Developed Rewards & Recognition programs to drive performance and employee morale through use of incentives, awards, contests, newsletters, and social functions.

Project Manager II, Dulles, VA, June 2000 - July 2001

* Elicited business requirements from the Consumer Policy and Child Safety department for proper submission processes for customers to report Terms of Service (TOS) violations.

* Managed the partnership with Product Marketing to guarantee all AOL products and services provided clear and concise tools for reporting TOS violations.

* Served as subject matter expert for call center staff for all Terms of Service questions and handled customer escalations.

* Developed training materials for call center staff and conducted periodic tests to ensure a thorough understanding of AOL`s Terms of Service.

Supervisor, Oklahoma City, OK, September 1996 - June 2000

* Coached and mentored call center employees to meet key performance metrics important for the success of the organization.

* Recruited, interviewed, and hired new staff for other supervisors as acting Human Resource Recruiter.

* Supported workforce management staff in establishing new shift bid structures and implementing staffing plans.

SIGNAL COMMUNICATIONS, Oklahoma City, OK September 1994 - September 1996

Program Analyst

* Managed all scheduling requirements for satellite training broadcasts including reservation of satellite feeds, classroom facilities, and personnel at national FAA locations.

* Installed OneTouch Systems training devices in classrooms and served as point of contact for AT&T Tridom satellite systems for equipment installations and broadcast feeds.

* Supported training broadcasts in broadcast booth and in training studios.

EDUCATION

Master of Science: Computer Information Systems, 2005

University of Phoenix, Columbus, OH

Bachelor of Arts: Urban Studies and Planning, Biology, 1994

University of California - San Diego, La Jolla, CA

Professional Education

Ken Blanchard - Situational Leadership; Kevin Davis Topline Leadership - Sales Management Training; The Call Center School - Management Training; ESI International - Budget and Financial Management Program Management, Project Leadership, Management and Communications, Scheduling and Cost Control, Risk Management; Harvard Business School Online Training - Business Strategy and Operations, Management and Leadership, Business Analysis; Six Sigma and ITIL methodologies.

Computer Skills

Microsoft Office Applications - Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Project, Visio; Salesforce.com, Business Objects; NICE and Witness call monitoring tools

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