Sarah Laton

704-***-**** • ad4qhf@r.postjobfree.com • linkedin.com/sarah-laton

Senior Program/Project/Director of Operations

Initiative-taker, outgoing, passionate, and dynamic business manager with an extensive background in Program, Project, and Operations Management. Demonstrated leadership implementing strategic and innovative process improvement initiatives for increased efficiency, revenue, and profitability. Exceptional team building expertise in leading teams with integrity to improve processes, products & services that result in increased superior customer satisfaction. Directed program management deliverables in technical, retail and services industries earning numerous awards in all sectors.

Areas of expertise

• Agile Program/Project Mgmt. • Senior Customer Program Management • IT Project Management • Profit and Loss Management • SAP PM • Strategic Planning Forecast Management • Senior Online Retail Management • Operations Management • Supply Chain Management • Customer Excellence Management

• Vendor Management • Logistics Mgmt. • SDLC Management • RFI, RFQ, RFP,LMS

Career Highlights

Pioneered a private online retail company into a public online retailer (Amazon) through standardizing business that increased revenue from $25 M to $75 M quarterly within six months by implementing cross-functional teams to transform the industry using the Agile model.

Instituted the execution of business transformation campaigns, identifying risks and proactively working with business owners to diagnose and remediate execution gaps. Cultivated the organization that revitalized the business by saving the customer & increased revenue from $240 M to $360 M annually – 67% gain in revenue.

Streamlined internal processes, resources, external processes with bank leasing approval time; due to these improvements, the company was awarded additional new customer revenue equating to $75 M annually

Professional Experience

CONSULTANT (self-employed), CHARLOTTE, NC 2022 - 2023

Program Manager

Managed the program/system implementation of Sales Force using the five stages of PMI Initiating, Planning, Executing,

Monitor and Control, and Closing to implement new Customer Relationship Management system

●Consultant for a privately owned mortgage business to improve their CRM and financials.

●Implemented Sales Force which improved the lead generation by 50% and increased revenue by 40%

●Managed the project plan using MS Project controlling scope, budget, timeline, risk and resources

●Managed all communications to project team and C level managers on positive status

Creation Technologies, DALLAS, TX 2021 - 2022

Senior Program Manager

Serve as Program Manager for six customers to achieve excellent customer satisfaction, positive P&L deliverables, financially control inventory, operations and engineering management.

●P&L objectives: Overachieving financial objectives on all customer accounts

●Customer Account Management: Customer Satisfaction is above 100% on all customer accounts

●Operations: On time delivery is 100% consistently

●Quality: 99% consistently

●Engineering: 98 % consistently

●Inventory Financials: 99% consistently

●Created and implemented the training documentation for Program Managers

Krispy Kreme INC (Contract Position), Charlotte, NC 2020 - 2021

Senior Project Manager

Implemented SAP conversion to Oracle. Executed information technologies projects globally. Established processes, workflow and to work more efficiently

●Directed the SAP to oracle transition from an IT perspective. Developed project charter, scope, and all phases of the project. Improved the project timeline and roll out by 30 %. Overachieved to this timeline due to establishing a process, providing leadership, delivering excellent communication skills while holding the team accountable for delivering objectives. Kanban Project Transformation

SPX / Celeros (Contract Position), Charlotte, NC 2020 - 2020

Senior Project Manager

Implemented SAP conversion. Executed information technologies projects globally. Established processes, workflow and to work more efficiently.

●Managed interdepartmental activities ensuring completion of proposals on schedule, within constraints, ensuring compliance to RFP requirements

●SAP Project Lifecycle was expected to take six months; however, I completed the project one month ahead of schedule and on budget, which equated to a 33% improvement in time to “Go Live.”

●Overachieved to this timeline due to managing the team via Agile methodologies, providing leadership, delivering excellent communication skills while holding the team accountable for delivering objectives

AMERICAN TIRE DISTRIBUTORS, Huntersville, NC 2020 - 2020

Senior Customer Program Manager

Consulted 703 franchise owners domestically to implement a new Learning & Development training system to educate their employees.

●The project rollout was delivered successfully to customers on time and under budget

●The Customer Satisfaction ratings exceeded 98% upon system rollout. Agile PM model.

SMS INFOCOMM (Parent Company is WISTRON- TAIWAN) - Dallas, TX 2019 – 2019

Customer Senior Program / Project Manager

Exceeded customer expectations and delivery of new products within an aftermarket warranty laptop division

●Implemented a new business project/product for our customer that has enabled the customer to recognize $1M additional revenue in the first three months of project deployment

●Developed and delivered a printer project, and the company has recognized an additional $250 K in revenue. This project met the timeline and deliverables within the budget

●Improved the Customer Satisfaction Index by 75% through implementing customer scorecard & improving delivery & quality exceptionally

CONSULTANT (self-employed) – REAL ESTATE FIRM, Dallas, TX 2018 – 2019

Consultant – Program & Project Manager

Managed the program/system implementation of Sales Force using the five stages of PMI Initiating, Planning, Executing,

Monitor and Control, and Closing to implement new Customer Relationship Management system

The company was able to recognize $75 M additional revenue after project completion

Developed and rolled out a new Business Financial Controls system and methodology that reduced billing timelines by 40%.

Eliminated manual reporting, and the company processed all financial reports electronically, which resulted in a cost reduction of 70%

SHARP ELECTRONICS, SHARP BUSINESS SYSTEMS, Dallas, TX 2016 – 2018

Senior Branch Operations Manager – Sr. Program Manager

Manage and align employees within the administrative, finance and operational processes. Excelled in developing relationships with our banking partners (Wells Fargo, US Bank) to procure funding for our customers. Improved order entry, contract administration, credit and collections, inventory procurement, operations, logistics, and customer service. I served as the assistant controller for the branch office. Managed and unified all the revenue planning, budget, and P&L for the branch while managing all aftermarket services

●Researched and implemented Sales Force for the sales team. Improved the sales commission delivery by 60%

●While serving as the assistant controller for the branch office, I maintained a 99.9% SOX compliance audit record

●Implemented strategic planning and execution delivery methods and reduced deliveries to our customers by 50%

●Improved the customer billing process by 30 % Recognized additional revenue 500K per month

●Reduced lease-funding notification by 57% exceeding expectations

●Improved the customer service call satisfaction metric by 40% within six months

●Project Management Leader for the entire branch. I led the day-to-day execution of our strategic agenda

●Managed all 3P’s projects and selection of vendors for B2B service needs

●Project manager for SAP system implementation reducing the timeline by 40%

AMAZON, Dallas, TX 2011–2016

Senior Planning & Operations Manager/Senior Program Manager

Managed Planning, Operation & Project Managers. The organization consisted of 260 employees. Cross Functional

Project/Program Manager for the Dallas/Seattle Corporate team and the Production Planning and Operations team

which transformed business operations

●Increased revenue by 60 % by introducing new products and offerings within my first year of employment

●Developed the lean improvement process and was the Project Kaizen Management Leader for the Dallas office Projects were delivered on time, within scope, and budgets were achieved consistently

●Implemented NPI process to introduce new products. Reduced the NPI market timeline by 50%

●Improved ROI by reducing labor costs by 30%

●On-Time Shipment metric averaged 99 % consistently

●Served as the new product/customer project manager. Successfully increased revenue in 2015 by 80 % by gaining new customers. Consistently achieved all KPI metrics during this growth period

●Project Manager to install SAP in the Amazon facility. Implemented SAP conversion project and improved the project timeline by 35% via the Agile PM model

●Implemented the Learning & Development training for all departments per Amazon’s Learning & Development standard

ESSILOR, Dallas, TX 2009 –2010

Operations and Inventory Control Manager

Managed Operations, Customer Service, inventory control managers in optical operations

●Implemented “first in first out methodology/process that improved service/customer satisfaction to the customer by 25% in two months.

●Improved efficiency in the manufacturing operations by 35% within six months

●Improved customer satisfaction in the order entry/inventory control department through coaching and mentoring the customer service staff

●Implemented a scheduling program, which improved efficiency by 25%

CELESTICA, formerly IBM - Dallas, TX 2007 -2009

Director of Customer Project. Operations and Engineering Manager

Managed Project Team, Process Engineering & Operations Managers for Blackberry configuration. 420 employees within my organization. Direct and Indirect

●Successfully increased the On-Time Delivery metric from 65% to 99% within two months

●Improved the quality complaint metric from twenty customer complaints per month to two per month within three months using my Green Belt lean methodologies processes

●Kaizen Management leader for the site and trained members on the Kaizen team to perform Kaizen events efficiently. Realized $50M in cost savings over two years

●Implemented progressive engineering process. This quality control initiative improved quality by 30% and productivity by 25%. Utilized Six Sigma – Green Belt process

●Improved Customer Satisfaction – 75% to 98% within 6 months through collaborating and team building with the customer to determine projects to enhance customer satisfaction

CELESTICA, Charlotte, NC 2005 – 2007

Senior Customer Focus Team Project Manager / Operations Manager

Directed fulfillment configure to order organization with three customers generating 250 million in annual revenue. Transformed operations with weak key performance indicators to ongoing measurable improvements in on time shipments, total quality management and improved customer satisfaction.

●Projected, planned, and executed revenue objectives for the Avaya account consistently meeting or exceeding the projected revenue goals of $50 million annually.

●Provided direction to the customer focus team to ensure solid customer satisfaction. The CFT team exceeded Customer Satisfaction Index objectives for two consecutive years.

●Led a team of forty people in a $100 million product transfer from Colorado to Charlotte in three months.

FLEXTRONICS, formerly IBM - Charlotte, NC 2002 - 2005

Senior Operations and Engineering Manager–New Product Introduction

Directed planning, engineering, production operations and management of New Product organization. The organization consisted of 140 employees.

●Implemented/managed projects with customers to develop their project scope to define deliverables using work breakdown structures, Gantt charts and cost analysis.

●Successfully decreased production cycle time from seven days to three days. Consistently achieved 100% on-time delivery. The Customer Satisfaction Index averaged 99% for seven customers.

●Increased revenue from $1 million to $15 million annually over a four-year period.

●Managed P&L for organization and achieved 11% EBIAT.

IBM, Charlotte, NC 1989 – 2002

Senior Operations Manager – Program Manager

Managed organizations consisting of one hundred plus employees. Managed Returned Assets Department including forty-five employees and $30M dollars revenue per year.

●Achieved inventory goals 100% and on-time delivery 100%. Direct reports consisted of quality engineering technicians that provided root cause and corrective action to customers for returned products.

●Developed a Certified Service Parts department to refurbish units that were “out of warranty.” Successfully grew revenue from $0 to $3 million quarterly. Received two awards for this accomplishment.

Project / Program Manager - New Product Introduction

●Consulted with customers to identify key requirements, defined project scope and developed plans and schedules. Customer Satisfaction Index rating was 99 %.

●Facilitated daily team meetings with the internal cross-functional team to ensure project was on schedule and to address any material, engineering, design, and production issues

Certifications/Trainings

●A.A.S. – Computer Engineering Technology

●Project Management Certification – PMI, ITIL Certification

●Currently studying to obtain PMP.

●Green Belt / Six Sigma Certification, Kaizen Instructor, Experienced in SAP, Oracle, Tableau, MS Project, Smartsheet, Sales Force & Sherpa.

●Agile, Kanban, & Waterfall models.

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