Project Manager Change Management

Sarah Arunski, PMP, CSM

** ******* **, **** ********, CT, 06107 402-***-**** *********@*****.***

Professional Overview

Experienced Project Manager: PMP certified, with 17 years of successful leadership across a variety of industries and project types.

Business Facilitator: a career-long history of collaboration with clients and business partners to identify and execute projects that align business goals with results.

Skilled Communicator: leveraging business experience with a passion for connecting with people to develop and deliver effective solutions.

Experienced in Change Management: committed to prioritizing change management for every project, using all available and appropriate methods to ensure delivery of an end-product that works for the client.

Career Chronology

LLG / LIMRA Remote

Project Manager (Contract) Feb 2023 – August 2024

Member Collaboration Group Project

Managed a strategic initiative to develop and leverage LIMRA’s member collaboration groups, partnering with LIMRA’s Head of Convening in the following areas:

oResearch and Analysis

Researched and analyzed 120+ groups to determine a path forward for each, whether that was to be kept, modified or dissolved.

Streamlined the groups, decommissioning outdated or defunct groups and modifying others to bring them up to standard.

Worked with members of other departments to create new groups.

oProcess Design

Built and managed systems development to implement a new set of change control processes.

Worked with the Head of Convening and key stakeholders to create an oversight board and define and implement new governance processes.

Updated the Standard Operating Procedures and associated training materials with the new processes.

oTechnology Updates

Wrote content for and designed the layout for the Convening department’s revised SharePoint site.

Partnered with Convening to define requirements and IT to design and implement the new change control process in SalesForce.

oCommunications / Issue Management

Set up a cadence of weekly / monthly meetings with the Project Owner, Project Sponsor, Stakeholders, and Senior Leadership team.

Prepared and delivered weekly / monthly reports for all groups.

oChange Management

Developed a communications schedule for the project to keep all need-to-know groups apprised of changes.

Developed a training cadence utilizing a small-group approach and an optimal mix of trainees.

Created a beta group whose feedback was used to optimize SOP training for subsequent groups and to develop best practice training for the future.

LIMRA Annual Conference

Leadership: Developed a first-time comprehensive project plan across several divisions and multiple groups for the industry’s premiere conference.

Communications / Issue Management

oDeveloped and managed a meeting cadence to collect status and manage the timeline against plan.

oWorked with the teams and individuals to identify solutions when work streams fell behind schedule.

oPrepared and delivered a weekly report for the LLG Senior Leadership Team.

Cronin Remote

Digital Project Manager (Freelance) July 2022 – December 2022

Project Leadership

oLed Cronin UX/CX and Client Marketing project team in the business and process aspects of the implementation of a new research management software, including identifying milestones, assigning owners, and assessing dependencies.

oSolicited business and process requirements from the client for all deliverables.

Consulting / Project Management

oLed the Cronin project team to deliver the following:

oAn assessment of the client’s document storage situation across multiple platforms and development of a plan for consolidation and curation.

oOperational plans and training documentation for team members to follow new processes to store, disseminate, and manage their insights post-launch.

oLed the project teams through QA and UAT testing, including writing test cases for both audiences and managing the testing plan, communications, and issue resolution with the Vendor.

oLed the client through definition of product KPIs and worked with them and the 3rd party to develop the plan to measure the KPIs.

oPartnered with Cronin’s client and developed excellent working relationships with their project team.

LIMRA Remote

Program Manager (Contract) Oct 2021 – June 2022

Program Leadership

oManaged the Finance Optimization Program, which included:

Partnering with LIMRA’s scrum and business teams and the Vendor to develop and manage timelines for implementation of a new accounting platform.

Working with the LIMRA Finance department to identify, prioritize and map out the deployment of business process improvements that were better aligned with industry best practices.

oLed the rollout of a research and analytics program in LIMRA’s Actuarial department, centered on a new strategic partnership, which included:

Identification and tracking of program-level milestones with LIMRA and the partner.

Development and management of timelines to implement studies in the program.

Development and management of timelines to implement new infrastructure to support the offering.

Communications / Issue Management

oRan daily standups with project teams to triage issues and blockers.

oPrepared weekly reports and ran meetings with the project teams to track progress.

oDeveloped and delivered monthly program-gate presentations to LIMRA’s Program Steering Committees.

Cronin Glastonbury, CT / Remote

Digital Project Manager (Freelance) Nov 2018 – July 2021

Project Leadership

oLed Cronin project teams to deploy the following projects:

oDesign of a new, customer experience-based, online life insurance application

oIntegration of a 3rd party, widget-based quote tool into an existing suite of websites

oBuild of a new API for delivering sales leads from one system to another

Consulting

oPartnered internally at Cronin with Brand Management, Creative, Development and Media & Analytics departments to deliver websites that engaged the consumer while satisfying client digital marketing targets.

oPartnered with Cronin’s client and developed trust relationships with key stakeholders in the organization.

Communications / Issue Management

oAttended daily Scrum with project teams to report progress and be on point for addressing issues and resolving blockers.

oRan daily standups with project teams to triage issues and blockers.

oHeld weekly status calls with the Cronin project teams and management stakeholders, and with the client, to track progress on projects.

West Corporation Omaha, NE / Remote

Project Manager Oct 2016 – Feb 2018

Project Leadership

oLed project teams to deploy on-time / in-budget projects for West clients using traditional and Agile approaches. Projects included new and enhanced outbound messaging (SMS) campaigns and improvements to IVR customer experience.

Consulting

oPartnered with client management and client project teams to develop trusted relationships.

oInstituted weekly onsite client meetings to identify opportunities for better customer service.

Process Design

oPartnered with the client to identify opportunities to improve and standardize project management and communications processes between the parties.

oWorked with West management team to develop and implement the improvements.

Communications / Issue Management

oRan daily standups with project teams to triage issues and blockers.

oTracked and published Issue Logs for all projects, reviewing at status meetings to drive resolution.

oPrepared weekly reports for the client and for West upper management to track progress on projects.

Brightstar Omaha, NE / Remote

Project Manager (Contract) Nov 2013 – Sept 2016

Leadership

oLed project teams through defining project scope and requirements, estimating and planning work, testing and quality assurance, and implementation. Some of the projects managed include:

oBusiness Process Integration related to the Brightstar acquisition of Offwire.

oRe-design an e-commerce website, integrating Offwire and Brightstar products into a single customer experience.

oDevelopment of new professional services offering for the Marketing and Training departments.

Process Design

oFacilitated the process of building a standard, repeatable implementation plan for a new Accessories Financing program.

Communications / Issue Management

oRan regular status meetings with all project teams to ensure projects were on schedule and to resolve issues.

oTracked and published Issue Logs for all projects, reviewing at status meetings to drive completion.

oPrepared weekly reports for project teams and Brightstar management to track progress on projects.

Training

oManaged an initiative to move Brightstar’s training content into a new Learning Management System and worked with the Training department to get the client base trained on the new system.

Woodmen Insurance Omaha, NE

Senior Project Manager Dec 2006 – April 2013

Leadership

oLed project teams through defining project scope and requirements, estimating and planning work, testing and quality assurance, and implementation. Some of the projects managed include:

oHispanic Market Proof of Concept: A rollout of a trial marketing effort to the Hispanic market in Houston.

oTime Management System Conversion: The conversion of 650 non-exempt employees to a new, web-based time management system.

oWeb Conferencing Implementation: The implementation of a web-based Video Conferencing solution to Woodmen’s sales force to replace the existing, hardware-based solution.

oTracked and managed Issue Logs for all projects, reviewing at status meetings to maintain visibility and obtain resolution.

oPrepared weekly project status reports for all constituents, including project teams and Woodmen management teams, and ran regular status meetings to ensure projects stayed on schedule.

Process Design

oIntroduced a new process for transitioning projects to ongoing management (the “Transition to Support” process) which became a new standard for the Woodmen Enterprise Project Management Office (EPMO).

oTrained the Woodmen Home Office departments on the new Transition to Support process.

Change Management

oManaged the Organizational Change Readiness project, partnering with HR, Marketing, and Senior Leadership from affected departments to identify and plan change management efforts associated with a multi-year, core system conversion. Some of the work streams included:

oCommunications Plan: identification of types and timing of project communications required over time.

oImpact Statements: facilitated sessions with business departments to identify key changes to business processes.

oChange Agents: identification of individuals within each department that had the leadership and other qualities needed to serve as change agents and receive training.

oSuccession Planning: identification of individuals who would be impacted by the changes with the conversion, and development of plans to retire, hire to replace, or train.

oIncorporated change management work into all project plans and types through use of the following:

oCommunications Plans: to identify types and timing of messaging to people and departments impacted by the changes.

oTransition to Support Plans: used to identify support required post-deployment, along with associated training.

oSteering Committees: consisting of sponsors and stakeholders and used to build strong leadership coalition around initiatives.

Education

Bachelor of Arts, English Literature, Minor in Art History - University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT

Certifications

Project Management Professional (PMP), Project Management Institute (PMI), August 2010

Certified ScrumMaster (CSM), Scrum Alliance, October 2012

Community Service

Nebraska Children’s Home Society, Omaha, NE – Volunteer, BRANCH Board member

Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT - Volunteer

Pacific Northwest Book Festival, Seattle, WA - Volunteer, Media Relations and Event Organization

Allied Arts of Seattle, Seattle, WA - Volunteer

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