Customer Service Manager

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STEVE ZITKOVICH

e-mail: *****@*********.*** or *********@*****.***

(Request address and telephone number by email)

Note: I am currently in Seattle, however I am open to positions based internationally.

SUMMARY / COMPETENCIES

I am a creative thinker with excellent analytical and organizational skills, especially between cross-functional teams (marketing/sales/technical) in different countries. A key strength is my ability to translate business goals and objectives into technical and non-technical (marketing, processes) solutions and results in international markets. I believe creating great customer-centric products and marketing is essential to success.

I am looking to join a company for the long-term, contributing to the company s international growth.

International Product and Program Management16 years managing international projects.

14 years expertise in international, multilingual e-commerce program and product management:

-- Write functional requirements.

-- Create and manage international product + marketing roadmaps.

-- Execute product rollouts internationally.

-- Core-team member in strategic localization, internationalization and globalization decisions.

Specialized in managing teams and resources in different countries, speaking different languages.

12 years vendor relationship management with business and technology partners/suppliers including Adobe (co-branded website), Ariba, Arthur Andersen, Lionbridge, SDL and independent translators.

Completed an 8-month certificate class on software product management through the University of Washington to keep up with best practices.

International Marketing13 years developing and leading international marketing plans + efforts (internal and external teams).

Experience in both brand-management and tactical marketing programs, including multilingual SEO.

Led globalization and localization strategy, planning and requirements for international versions of the Microsoft Dynamics, People Ready Business and other Microsoft customer campaigns websites.

Business + Management ExperienceHave worked in startups as well as for large corporations; effective in matrix organizations.

Have hired and managed teams and technical resources; direct-hires as well as contractors/partners.

Entrepreneurial spirit: have written business plans and presented to investors.

Have worked on many different types of music-related projects including band management and producing and promoting events.

PersonalLanguages: English (native), German (fluent), French (conversational), Czech (basic), Slovak (basic).

12 years living in Europe (France, Germany, UK, Netherlands, Czech Republic and Slovakia).

Strong believer in social entrepreneurship; active volunteer in non-profit organizations (see below).

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Entrepreneur, Seattle July '12 - present.

Working on a (social entrepreneurial) business idea. Desk-sharing at The Hub .

Manager Consultant, Sogeti USA Seattle December '10 - August '11 + February '12 - March '12.

Sogeti (a subsidiary of Capgemini) is a leading provider of professional technology services with staff and operations in 15 countries worldwide.

Consulted to Starbucks on localization strategy and best-practices in creating an internationalized platform which will host websites in multiple markets and multiple languages.

Co-author of Governance document for Sharepoint 2010 implementation and SME for international/localization issues in support of Starbucks global offices, stores and operations.

Immersed myself in Agile methodologies to assess technical teams processes in two groups at Charles Schwab. Our Agile-related recommendations to improve speed and reduce risk in the development process were accepted and scheduled for implementation.

International Program Manager and Product Manager, Earth Class Mail & Swiss Post Box, Seattle & Zurich. January '09 - October '10.

Swiss Post licensed Earth Class Mail's software to launch the Swiss Post Box service in 5 countries across Europe. Worked in both the US and Switzerland, serving as contact between ECM and Swiss Post for all issues around implementation of the Swiss Post Box e-commerce service in Europe.

Successfully managed project to a very tight 3-month implementation deadline to launch.

Led knowledge transfer of Earth Class Mail processes to Swiss Post Box, including technical implementation, marketing, operations, customer service and overall business rules.

Established and managed processes and channels of communication between ECM and SPB teams.

Product Manager (consultant), [Private Entrepreneur], Den Haag, NL. September - November '08.

Hired by an entrepreneur to take his business concept and define an online service (including functional requirements) with the goal of launching a beta version of the service to attract further investment.

International Program Manager, Microsoft, Redmond, USA. May '07 - July '08.

Worked in the Central Marketing Group, whose web pages get over 1/2 billion visits per year. In 2007 my team managed localization of 350+ projects, more than 3 million words and a budgetary spend of nearly $6 million.

Managed localization budget to within 5% of target on a quarterly basis.

Led globalization and localization strategy, planning and requirements for international versions of the Microsoft Dynamics, People Ready Business and other Microsoft customer campaigns websites.

SEO (search engine optimization): proposed, defined and led project to recommend process improvements to maintain SEO during the translation/localization process.

Authored best-practices documents ("Localization Framework") for reference across Microsoft.

Project work for Alice In Chains and Soundgarden, Seattle, USA. 1992 - present.

I have been working with Alice In Chains + Soundgarden management on projects since 1992. April '06 - May '07 was a particularly busy period as I worked with management on a number of projects, significantly related to the Alice In Chains reunion, while taking a Software Product Management class. My work with the bands is very different from my Internet industry work so I will not detail it here.

Product Marketing Manager, Ofoto (now Shutterfly), Amsterdam, Netherlands. July '04 - Oct '05.

Ofoto was the most popular online digital photo sharing and printing service with 20+ million members. My responsibilities covered Ofoto's European online services (in three languages) as well as the Kodak Mobile online service (in six languages).

Defined prioritized, customer-focused feature roadmaps for the European sites and services.

Drove on-time and on-spec implementation of the roadmap by writing marketing requirements and working with the US-based marketing and technical teams.

Wrote specifications for co-branded EU web sites and integrated services with partners (ex. Adobe).

Managed day-to-day planning, production and implementation of localized marketing content - text and graphical - on the two services, for seven languages.

Program Manager & Interim Head of IT, Zefa Visual Media, Düsseldorf, Germany. Oct '02 - Jan '04.

Zefa was the third largest stock image agency in the world. It was completely international in scope, with its online e-commerce and marketing in six languages. (Zefa has since been acquired by Corbis.)

Responsible for strategy and roadmap of multilingual e-commerce web sites and services as well as the back-office system (developed and maintained in-house) which served 8 international offices.

Led planning, including creation of functional requirements and use cases for complete overhaul/re-launch of the e-commerce websites as well as the back-office system, a project scope of 9 months.

When the CTO suddenly left the company I stepped up to lead the technology team of 12 people and ensured confidence in the IT department company-wide.

Director, Product Management, B2Build SA, Paris, France. May '00 - July '01 (company closed).

B2Build was an online marketplace start-up. I was the second person hired into the technology team and was involved in every aspect of creating the online presence.

Developed product plans and roadmap to support B2Build's business goals.

Relationship management with the Arthur Andersen consulting team, overseeing the development of the first commercial Ariba Marketplace 7.0 implementation in Europe.

Entrepreneur / Self Employed, Paris, France. November '99 - May '00.

Wrote business plan and functional requirements for a European-based e-commerce portal selling B2B stock-photography. With my partners presented business plan to investors, however the Internet bubble burst and investment evaporated before this project could get funded.

E-commerce Program Manager & International Project Manager, Getty Images, Seattle & London. March '97 - September '99.

Managed transition of new e-commerce web site from development group into the daily functioning of the business, leading exponential growth of site and related corporate initiatives, taking sales from $0 to more than $2 million per month, adding 5 languages to the site and new functionality.

Defined requirements, functional specifications, and project schedule for new website features.

Point person for international issues in web development for e-commerce site: worked closely with customers and other company departments, including marketing, production and design teams to develop and implement e-commerce strategy.

Design Associate,Starwave Corporation, Bellevue, WA. October '94 - March '97.

Led and performed all aspects of production on the merchandising/e-commerce sites, including coding HTML, graphics production and database maintenance for NBA.com and ESPNET SportsZone.

Coordinated promotions, new inventory, special features, etc. with Starwave's partners: ESPN, NBA and the fulfillment house.

Customer Service Project Coordinator and Dealer Sales Coordinator, AEI Music Network, Hamburg, Germany and Seattle, USA. January '90 - July '94.

Built customer service department for German music service company with 10,000 customers (subsidiary of Seattle parent); included creating and implementing means to analyze and maintain customer satisfaction through pro-active procedures and developing greater quality and efficiency within operations.

Supported sales efforts of 250+ independent distributors nationwide.

Member of AEI Customer Service Team servicing 48,000 customers.

Software Skills

Daily use of Microsoft Office, Microsoft Project, Visio, Photoshop, Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Sharepoint and whatever is needed for the job. Familiar with many tools for translation and multilingual site development.

Other ExperienceLanguages: English (native), German (fluent), French (conversational), Czech (basic), Slovak (basic)

Staff member at 5x Localization World Conferences: Seattle 2012, Silicon Valley 2011, Seattle 2010, Berlin 2010, Bonn 2004.

Non-profit and volunteering:

2006 - present: Volunteer teach an English class I created to international students.

2011 - present: Translators Without Borders.

2011 - present: Homestay host for international students at University of Washington.

2007 - 2008: Co-chair for marketing of the Seattle Children's Hospital Symphony Guild.

2006 - 2007: Board member of the Young Professionals International Network (YPIN), part of the World Affairs Council in Seattle.

Teacher of German and English in Czechoslovakia (Bratislava 1991/92, Prague 1993).

Have worked on many music-related projects including band management and producing events.

I travel as much as possible, emphasizing going off the beaten path and learning how local people live.

EDUCATION

University of Washington Extension, Software Product Management Certificate Program. Oct. '06 - May '07.

University of Washington, Bachelor of Arts, German Area Studies. Graduated 1989.

Universität Mainz, Germany 1986-87.

Garfield High School, Seattle, USA. Graduated 1984.

Beethoven Schule, Berlin, Germany, 1983-84.

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