JOEL SOMMER

571-***-**** ac7x6e@r.postjobfree.com

CHANGE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIST

Skilled and experienced strategist with an accomplished record of analyzing and documenting business challenges to deliver a fresh perspective to the team and/or organization to develop innovative solutions. Proven skill-set to gain consensus and provide insightful and actionable recommendations and drive successful change through collaboration with leadership to meet business requirements, exceed organizational goals and improve consumer experiences.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

oChange Management

oProcess Improvement

oStrategy Development

oProject Management

oAdvanced Analytics

oBusiness Intelligence

oSystem Enhancements

oProduct Management

oConsumer Experience Design

oProject Scoping

oStakeholder Interviews

oConsumer Workshops

oInsight Research

oExperience Mapping

oCo-creation Workshops

oRequirements Development

oExecutive Presentations

oTeam Building / Training

oBudget Planning / Management

oPerformance Management

oStart-up / New Vertical Launch

oUser Acceptance Testing

oPilot Program Development

oVendor Management

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

MARKER3 CONSULTING (Alexandria, VA) Jan 2016– Present

Principle

Client - Marriott International, Bethesda, MD

Change Management Strategist / Project Management – Loyalty Experience

Supported leadership in the implementation of an enhanced loyalty program across entire organization by driving change through business impact assessments, development of operational requirements, gap analysis, detailed communication plans, documentation of training needs, and revenue impact analysis.

Key Contributions:

Conducted change impact assessments across relevant business units to determine level of impact upon execution of an enhanced loyalty program. Assessments included individual stakeholder interviews and cross-functional reviews documenting in detail all operational impacts throughout the organization and a methodology for prioritizing change.

Developed gap analysis and documented task level changes required to implement loyalty program changes. Detailed were changes to dozens of systems and hundreds of roles across the organization.

Worked closely with learning and development team to develop communication plans and training support required to educate and train workforce on changes.

Developed analytics used to create executive level presentations designed to communicate global operational changes and revenue impacts to continent, brand, ownership group, and property.

Worked with loyalty leadership team to establish a PMO to establish project intake guidelines, develop a realistic project pipeline, and manage projects of varying duration according to new PMO criteria.

Client - AARP, Washington, DC

Consumer Experience Design / Project Management

Designed new or improve existing consumer experiences at AARP by using design thinking methodology utilizing processes that: Identify challenge through immersion and framing; Insights through experience mapping and baselining; Ideate concepts and prioritization through co-creation; Iterate via co-creation and prioritization; Implement user stories with stakeholder input and expected measurement.

Key Contributions:

Lead cross-functional team towards the development of the AARP Experience Guide. The guide is designed to be a playbook for the organization to create great consumer experiences. Upon implementation, the guide will equip all levels of the association with the tools to activate AARP Experience Principles in day-to-day operations.

Managed cross-function teams (internal and external) to create and improve consumer experiences throughout the association. The consumer facing experiences were fleshed out over a 6-8 week periods using tools such as: Stakeholder Interviews, Consumer Insights, Current State Mapping, Experience Scanning, Experience Baselining, Ideal State Experience Mapping, Experience Concept Testing.

Worked with leadership to develop procedures and standards for Experience Design team to interaction with the organization to design or redesign new consumer experiences. The approach was structure under 5 pillars – Identify, Insights, Ideas, Iterate, Implement. This approach was used the template for designing new consumer experiences.

Lead cross-functional team to bridge the language gap between the Experience team and the Innovation team. Through a series of workshops and co-creation sessions a charter was developed and presented to leadership as a roadmap for the two organizations to partner within the association.

Worked with Project Management Director to establish a PMO designed to define and maintain standards for project management within the association. Developed were a series of templates designed to provide guidance on the establishment and management of workstreams.

ASURION (Sterling, VA) May 2010 – Sept 2015

Manager – Consumer Insights / Program Management

Recruited to help launch new product verticals by developing servicer network coverage analytics supporting all service programs/clients. Led Supply Chain efforts to support launch of Start-up business – Repair.com and retail clients such as The Home Depot & hhGregg. Developed new reporting to support all verticals using Business Intelligence tools designed to optimize network increasing customer satisfaction and reducing operating costs.

Key Contributions:

Developed Business Intelligence tools via Service Intelligence (MicroStrategy) that provide actionable field level reporting in the areas of availability, cost, sub-statuses, and overall network efficiency.

Lead network coverage analytics supporting all service programs/clients – current and proposed. Analysis and proactive servicer management provides conditions for optimizing the service network - increasing customer satisfaction and reducing network operating costs.

Managed team of analysts charged with the overall improvement of the servicer network metrics including depth of coverage, new product verticals, servicer cost, servicer compliance, parts usage, and days to availability.

Managed ServiceBench (software) development for the purpose launching new programs such as Electrolux, Whirlpool, hhgregg, The Home Depot and Repair.com 1.0. Efforts included requirements gathering and management of IT dev.

Lead relaunch of Repair.com 2.0 by delivering all SCM network analytics prior to launch as well servicer recruitment and management in Des Moines and Richmond Markets. Active management of servicers enabled us to produce performance metrics unparalleled in the service network (e.g. NPS, Turn-time, local parts sourcing, etc.).

Liaised with The Home Depot Management team to develop new product offerings such as a in store portal to facilitate an easier repair process as well as a solution for small tool repair.

DELOITTE CONSULTING (Washington, DC) Mar 2008 – Dec 2009

Manager, Consulting

Joined the Federal Practice as manager of team of analysts supporting multiple agencies and clients providing guidance in the areas of financial profitability (current projects and pipeline management) and project management (optimal staffing mix and management of deliverable schedule). Worked as consultant on Navy project developing new inventory management system and processes. Selected as a leader in the practice to mentor and develop analysts through multiple training programs and more robust evaluation processes.

Key Contributions:

Managed group of analysts and senior analysts in the Federal Practice for Financial Services Industry (FSI) and Department of Defense (DoD) clients; major clients included IRS, FDIC, Federal Reserve, Navy, and Intel. Team analyzed, delivered, and presented financial and project reporting data to Lead Partners, Controller Practice, and internal Finance. Key data points included profitability, overall revenue, billing, unbilled, accounts receivables, and backlog projections. Portfolio managed exceeded $50 million annually.

Led multiple projects of varying scope for IRS and Navy preparing, analyzing and delivering sophisticated Pricing and Financial models used to provide metrics for new work and to track progress (financial & operational) and profitability of existing projects. Projects ranged in complexity, size, and duration depending on staffing mix, deliverables provided, and revenue projected and provided the means to manage projects towards profitability.

Selected by upper management and served on Director's Council charged with developing and leading practice wide initiatives. One key initiative included a new HR Evaluation Tool designed to provide a more quantitative and transparent evaluation process.

Managed Federal Contracts and Sub-contracts for multiple engagements. Contracts include Cost Plus, Fixed Fee, and Time and Materials. Contracts were managed to meet FAR requirements and were managed to meet internal requirements.

HANLEY WOOD (Washington, DC) Sept 2005 - Dec 2007

Director, IT Finance / Business Project Manager

Hired in dual role by Chief Operating Officer to manage P&L and Capital budgets for Information Technology department as well Project Manager in charge of streamlining current operational process to gain operational efficiencies as well as recommending cost cutting measures to prepare the company for sale to JP Morgan as part of their Venture Capital portfolio.

Key Contributions:

Prepared, analyzed, and managed $10 million Capital Budget for large publishing/media corporation. Worked closely with COO and CFO to provide comparative analysis to previous years helping to shape spending direction. The ’07 budget was trimmed from an initial submission of $14 million to the $10 million presented to and approved by the board.

Managed IT procurement program for all corporate IT purchases. Included vendor selection for optimal price point, approval for purchase release, and monthly reconciliation with corporate accounting for all purchased assets. Saved approximately 10 percent on all procurement by actively working with third-party vendors on IT acquisitions.

Prepared extensive Travel analysis for COO to determine cost saving potential through active management and new process controls. Estimated savings - $150K per year.

Prepared analysis and managed cost saving project for the COO aimed at exposing wasteful practices and instituting better controls. This was accomplished by active vendor management (e.g. FedEx, American Express, Dell, HP, Staples) and recommending process changes towards a savings goal of more the $1 million per year.

QWEST COMMUNICATIONS (Arlington, VA) May 2001 -Aug 2005

Senior Manager, Business Change Management

Recruited to manage and improve end-to-end billing process for Stored Value product. Managed team that reviewed and documented data flows across multiple platforms and operational processes to identify potential revenue slippage. Recommended changes and managed IT development to improve overall business process. Managed operational team of billing analysts ensuring complete, timely, and accurate billing of the product.

Key Contributions:

Recovered more than $1 million in unbilled revenue via proactive system analysis thus resulting in process and system changes preventing more revenue leaks.

Instituted and managed “end-to-end” Revenue Assurance program which included: customer audits, process validation, system reconciliation, and data integrity evaluations.

Lead effort to address and ultimately resolve $140 million balance sheet variance. Project included: establishing business case, developing detailed business requirements, mapping manual processes for automation, directing cross-organizational team, managing schedule/costs, ensuring Sarbanes/Oxley compliance.

MCI/WORLDCOM (Arlington, VA) Mar 1998 - Apr 2001

Manager, Complex Investigations & Analysis

Managed team that proactively reviewed processes and systems from beginning (sales) to end of stream (billing) to ensure company was billing for all potential revenue. Documented accurate processes and recommended changes for areas experiencing breakdowns. Readied systems for the onset of Y2K through proactive analysis and change management.

Key Contributions:

Detected unrealized revenue streams through proactive audits of processes with potentially significant exposure.

Implemented process improvements via software releases and/or business process change to proactively close potential revenue holes.

Lead cross-organizational teams towards the resolution of complex operational issues.

Documented process and system flows to identify potential revenue breakage.

EDUCATION AND TECHNICAL PROFICIENCIES

Bachelor of Science Business Administration / Finance

WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY, Morgantown, WV

Change Leadership Certificate

Cornell SC Johnson College of Business

Design Thinking and Innovation (enrolled)

UVA Darden School of Business

Technical Skills

Excel (Expert Certified), Work-flow tools, Tableau, MicroStrategy, PowerPoint, Word, Access, Project, Map Point, Visio, Salesforce

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