Customer Experience Project Management

YAVANA RANI KANAGARAJU

952-***-****, ************@*******.*** My LinkedIn

Over 15 years’ experience in launching/delivering products to US & global markets. Delivering excellent customer experience while maintaining world-class quality & availability.

Collaborated with matrix/cross functional teams of 35+ from Business, Finance, Marketing, Product, UX, Engineering, Operations, Customer Care, HR, Legal, Privacy.

Proactively managed risks/dependencies, keeping in mind the customer experience, time to market & delivered products to multiple markets.

Owned projects from planning to release, gathered requirements, maintained the product backlog, aligned priorities & release schedules, provided consistent updates to leadership & made process improvements.

Excellent leadership, organization, communication & mentoring skills.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE - Project Management Strategic/Tactical Planning, Budgeting, Staffing, Team – Building, Product Development, Risk Management, Change Management, Cloud computing, Vendor Management, Supply Chain Management, Business Operations, Audit, Reporting, Retail, E-commerce, Property Insurance, CPG (Consumer Packages Goods), Data Governance and Managing Data.

Tools: MS Project Server, Agile Software Development, JIRA, Confluence, Azure DevOps, Google cloud, Google Docs, Office 365, Power BI, SQL, SharePoint, NetSuite, Snowflake, Salesforce, Drupal, Pantheon, Figma, Omniture, AMP and Lucid Charts.

Education & Certifications:

Bachelor of Engineering (Electronics & Electrical) Anna University, India

ISTQB (International Software Testing Qualifications Board)

PLCP (Project Lead Certification Program)

CSM (Certified Scrum Master) from Scrum Alliance

Professional Experience:

Sr Manager - Albertson’s, Pleasanton, CA (Via Cognizant) Jun 2024 – Till date

Project & Program Management: Manage multiple projects within the Data Quality and Governance roadmap, ensuring prioritization, efficient resource allocation, and timely delivery of program requirements across the enterprise. Baseline project deliverables and milestones, providing regular progress reports to senior management with overall business goals. Develop RACI and support procedure documentation to align with project objectives.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement: Collaborate with data engineering teams, vendors, data product management, and business stakeholders to define key milestones, coordinate POCs, and ensure cross-functional alignment on initiatives. Engage governance stakeholders to gain approval on program progress metrics, communicating performance and rule sets (RTD, RTK, RTO) to leadership through flash reporting.

Data Governance & Quality Initiatives: Lead initiatives related to CCPA, Data Quality, and Protegrity, tracking adoption metrics during migration from Snowflake to GCP (Big Query). Coordinate with DBAs on database design, ensuring both logical and physical designs are aligned with project needs. Create and manage Requests for Change (RFCs) related to application and database modifications, ensuring thorough documentation and compliance with governance policies.

Agile Leadership & Scrum Facilitation: Chair Scrum ceremonies, including stand-ups, sprint planning, retrospectives, and showcases, ensuring Agile processes are efficient and well-structured. Lead cross-functional working groups to solicit requirements, review feedback, and develop roadmaps for successful implementation of solutions. Managed the supplier selection process, conducted contract negotiations, and secured favorable terms to optimize procurement costs Facilitate product backlog refinement, story grooming, and sprint planning, ensuring that the backlog remains well-prioritized and actionable.

Risk Management & Issue Resolution: Identify, assess, and manage risks and issues that may impact project timelines and deliverables, developing mitigation strategies to ensure continuous progress. Conduct feasibility analysis and gather application information to ensure smooth project execution and avoid potential roadblocks.

Documentation & Communication: Draft strategic documents, requirements, and reports focused on security, organization, and governance, ensuring all documentation is properly stored and accessible via SharePoint.

Budget Management & Cost Control: Successfully managed project budgets, consistently delivering projects on time and within financial constraints by implementing rigorous financial tracking and oversight. Identified and implemented cost-saving measures, resulting in significant reductions in operational expenses while maintaining project quality and scope.

Sr Manager - Leaf Home (Contract) Nov 2023 – May 2024

Project Leadership & Execution: Led and contributed to multiple systems and project initiatives for a large-scale program, overseeing documentation, tracking, and migration efforts for a geographically distributed team of 30+ members. Took full ownership of merging four in-home CRM applications into Salesforce (SF). Manage go to market launch planning, completed multiple relaunches of Leaf products. Initiatives included content creation for marketing campaigns, web content, product videos, webinars, customer cases.

Agile & Scrum Methodologies: Utilized DevOps and Agile Scrum methodologies to manage project progress, conducting sprint ceremonies with product owners and led a team of 15 members team in the design and implementation of cloud-based solutions using Azure and .NET technologies using Azure Devops tool for Configure Teams, Sprint Planning and Work Item tracking.

Stakeholder Management & Communication: Managed customer and vendor relationships, ensuring project milestones were met on time and within scope, while adhering to escalation protocols and maintaining clear communication with senior management. Developed and maintained strong relationships with stakeholders, facilitating meetings and presentations for diverse audiences to relay project updates, findings, and recommendations.

Financial Oversight & Budget Management: Tracked financial details for projects on a monthly and quarterly basis, collaborating with IT Directors, Managers, the CIO, and accounting to ensure budget alignment and financial accountability with financial metrics in NetSuite.

Systems Integration & ERP Configuration: Configured ERP functions and workflows, facilitating integration with Salesforce and other key applications to enhance overall system functionality. Following

Process Improvement & Domain Expertise: Leveraged domain expertise in Finance and Supply Chain processes to advocate for best practices and scalable solutions for long-term reporting and operational efficiency.

Cross-functional Team Leadership: Led geographically distributed teams of engineers, product managers, and QA professionals across different time zones. Providing API servers and SDK for data integration to .net web app and Azure storage. Coordinated logistics and distribution activities, ensuring the timely movement of goods across global supply chains while optimizing transportation costs.

Sr. Tech Project Manager - Hippo Insurance, Oakland, CA (Full Time) Apr 2023 – Nov 2023

Project & Program Management: Led multiple projects and programs, coordinating onsite and offshore teams of 20+ members, ensuring seamless collaboration and efficient delivery within budget and deadlines. Managed end-to-end project lifecycle, Identify, Organize, Implement, and maintain business opportunities that promote process automation, improving overall customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. (For Claim, HR (ADP) onboarding, pay roll, Fidelity, Finance reporting).

Agile & Cross-functional Team Leadership: Directed two high-impact Agile development projects in a matrixed environment, overseeing budgets exceeding $1.5 million and delivering successful outcomes on time. Acted as the primary point of contact for product teams, vendors, stakeholders, and customers, ensuring effective communication, alignment, and issue resolution.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA: Identify and implement automation opportunities, leveraging Salesforce tools such as Process Builder, Flow, and Validation Rules. Spearheaded RPA initiatives that streamlined processes, reducing manual work and repetitive tasks, leading to an annual ROI of $4.2 million. Drove innovation through automation to enhance operational efficiency and productivity. Azure Boards Integration seamlessly with GitHub, Teams

Stakeholder Management & Communication: Managed key business relationships, aligning project objectives with stakeholder expectations to ensure successful outcomes. Prepared and delivered comprehensive Project Status Reports, presentations, and meetings for executive staff and team members, ensuring transparency and accountability.

Business Process Optimization & Continuous Improvement: Conducted Business Process Modeling (BPM) using Visio, identifying bottlenecks in Salesforce (SF) and Design Salesforce-based solutions that enhance business processes, efficiency, and customer experience. Using Figma and Durpal/Pantheon implementation website, AMP for Agents and customer emails, legal changes and Promoting Hippo Products.

Risk Management & Problem-Solving: Led Risk Analysis sessions with cross-functional teams, identifying technical and business risks, and developing strategies for mitigation. Proactively solved problems, driving business value through strategic input and decision-making.

Cross-Functional Leadership & Collaboration: Managed multiple projects to design, develop and deploy in Azure platform for data load using AWS for Claims, Agent commission using secured layer.

Operational & Performance Management: Managed daily product operations, orchestrating strategies aimed at growth, profitability, and business expansion. Provide training and support for Salesforce users, ensuring the smooth adoption of new processes and functionalities.

Ensured high-quality execution through careful monitoring, control, and performance tracking.

Tech Project Manager - Albertson’s, Pleasanton, CA (Via Cognizant) Nov 2020 – Mar 2022

Project Initiation & Leadership: Initiated and facilitated project kick-off and inception activities for 54+ members across both onsite and offshore teams, ensuring alignment on project goals and deliverables. Acted as the primary liaison between the client and development teams, ensuring that project requirements, scope, and deliverables were clearly defined and aligned with client roadmaps.

Agile & Scrum Leadership: Coached Agile Scrum principles, mentored peers, and organized and facilitated all Scrum ceremonies (stand-ups, sprint planning, retrospectives, and sprint reviews/demos), driving team collaboration and delivering results. Demonstrated strong understanding of Continuous Integration and Deployment (CI/CD), effectively managing projects using Scrum and Kanban methodologies, and integrating external dependencies across global teams.

Data Governance & Reconciliation: Delivered full fulfillment data into Snowflake and assumed overall ownership of data reconciliation under the broader Data Governance framework. Ensured data integrity and accuracy by leading reconciliation efforts and coordinating with cross-functional teams to align with governance standards.

Communication & Stakeholder Management: Effectively communicated with cross-functional teams and delivered formal presentations and training programs to end users, project teams, and executive management. Regularly reported project progress to Program Management and executive-level stakeholders, providing transparent updates on key milestones, risks, and issues. Maintained open, frequent communication with stakeholders and subject matter experts, ensuring alignment and addressing project needs promptly.

Resource Management & Problem Solving: Professionally managed shared resources across multiple projects, ensuring optimal utilization and addressing potential resource conflicts. Facilitated discussions and resolved project issues and development impediments, removing blockers and ensuring smooth project execution.

Cloud and Security: Managing Snowflake, data integration using Microsoft Azure cloud under Kafka topics and Integration services into Enterprise data management layer. Migrated legacy systems to Azure, resulting in a 30% reduction in operational costs

Operational & Performance Management: Identified and implemented process improvements across the supply chain to increase efficiency, reduce lead times, and improve overall performance OMNI Technology.

Budget Management & Cost Control: Managed supply chain budgets and tracked expenses, ensuring cost-effective solutions without compromising quality or service levels. Regularly reviewed procurement spending and identified areas where we could reduce costs without sacrificing quality, helping improve the bottom line.

Project Manager - Kohl’s Digital, Milpitas, CA (Contracts) Mar 2015 – Oct 2020

Program & Project Management: Managed and successfully delivered major projects for Kohl’s, including M.Com, TCom, Mobile App launches, iWatch App, Omnichannel cart checkout, Kohl’s Pay, and BOPUS (Buy Online, Pick Up in Store), driving significant business impact across digital and in-store channels.

Cross-Functional Leadership & Collaboration: Led cross-functional delivery teams, including Technical PMs, Product Managers, Business Solution Analysts, Developers, and QA, to execute Marketing solutions systems and integration projects. Just-In-Time (JIT) compiler in the .NET Framework used across Open API and Microservice for Optimization of .com sites and native apps.

Creating and Managing inventory: Managing the entire supply chain process, from sourcing to distribution, to ensure products are delivered on time and in the right quantities. Creating quotes to get invoices, following approval process, Communicating and negotiating with suppliers on cost. Developing strategies to increase efficiency and speed. Ensuring proper following up protocols, safety guidelines are reinforced. Ensuring that materials are available when needed

Risk Management & Issue Resolution: Managed dependencies, identified project risks, and provided regular status updates, ensuring full visibility to leadership, stakeholders, and team members on key decisions, issues, risks, and metrics.

Program Execution & Monitoring: Drove key activities during each integration phase, monitoring status, and providing real-time visibility through push reporting and dashboards to ensure alignment across stakeholders. Collaborated with senior leadership and business partners to ensure requirements alignment with strategic and tactical roadmaps, optimizing resource capacity and planning for project success.

Wipro Technologies:

CVS Caremark, Scottsdale, AZ, USA (AUG 2013 – FEB 2015)

QA Lead - BestBuy, Richfield, MN, USA (DEC 2011 – AUG 2013)

QA Lead - BestBuy UK, India (FEB 2010 – NOV 2011)

QA Lead - 3M - Petri, Congruent Info Tech, India (Nov 2009 – Jan 2011)

Congruent Info Tech, India

Senior Test Engineer - 3M - Ascent DW, (May 2009 – Oct 2009)

Senior QA Tester - Automated System Inc (Jan 2009 – Apr 2009)

Senior QA Tester - TerraScan Inc (Nov 2005 – Dec 2008)

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