Strategic professional with track record of guiding impactful organizational initiatives. Known for fostering collaboration and achieving tangible results, consistently adapting to dynamic environments. Expertise in strategic planning, change management, and team leadership.
Hi, I’m
Bergen James
Aurora
Summary
Overview
25
years of professional experience
1
Certification
Work History
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc.
Director of Strategic Initiatives, Operations
01.2022 - Current
Job overview
- Responsible for all project management, change management, communications, and coordination efforts for the Enterprise, working cross-functionally to build strategies and deploy solutions thoughtfully and in-line with Company North-star plan, mission, vision, and values.
- Designed comprehensive Contest strategy to drive engagement, adoption and measurable results from field Teams based on desired metrics and optimization targets. Both RSC-led and Restaurant-led contests have had great success with record participation and ongoing behavior shifts as a result.
- Partner closely with People, Learning & Development and Marketing teams to ensure enablement programs are tailored to Field Team’s needs, digestible and clearly represent Operations Team vision.
- Led efforts around building comprehensive reporting dashboard/scorecard tools to assist all levels of Field Leadership in understanding their business performance allowing Field Leadership to repurpose ~200K annual hours from spending time gathering data to analyzing data to run their businesses.
- Built and deployed an Operations Focus & Impact Strategy to unite all Field Leadership and RSC teams on the critical focus areas for the business. Partnered with all departments to build a biennial snapshot of all focus areas for the future; highly critical for an Operations-driven enterprise.
- Proud recipient of RSC Unbridled Excellence award as voted on by Operations Field Leadership, 2023
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc.
Senior Program Manager, Operations
01.2021 - 01.2022
Job overview
- Developed a multi-million-dollar enterprise-wide security program, centered around security alarm deployment, monitoring and verification, camera/peripheral support, as well as enhanced operational processes and training designed to increase Team Member and Restaurant security
- Project/change management lead for a variety of system-wide initiatives such as: Electronic Tip Payment/Earned Wage Access deployment for 25K+ Team Members, enabling the safe withdrawal of ~$6.0M of cash per month from restaurants; new/revised service model deployment, Guest recovery process rollout, etc.
Dell Technologies
Account Executive 4, Commercial Acquisition
01.2021 - 01.2022
Job overview
- Achieved +125% of quota in 3 quarters
- Responsible for growing Colorado market share among non-buyers; ~160 accounts in total
- Develop sales strategy targeting new businesses; secure new opportunities, manage pipeline, develop account strategies, and expand opportunities leveraging specialized team members
- Co-sell and develop account plans/targets with partners, resellers and alliances to enable rapid growth
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc.
Senior Program Manager, Information Technology
01.2017 - 01.2021
Job overview
- Managed the strategic deployment of 50K+ units of technology hardware enabling secure payment transactions through EMV as well as offering contactless payments, ordering, gaming and survey capabilities
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc.
IT Finance Resource Manager
01.2017 - 01.2018
Job overview
- Responsible for budget setup, compilation and tracking of actuals for all project and general & administrative spend across the technology organization
- Report period actuals to IT Leadership on a regular basis, articulating budget overruns and accounting for period variances
Limited Too/Tween Brands/Justice
Senior Merchandise Planner
01.2012 - 01.2017
Job overview
- Company Overview: Limited Too (later Tween Brands, Justice) was the largest premier tween specialty retailer in the world. Through the Justice brand, Tween Brands provided trendy apparel, shoes and accessories for tween (age 7-14) girls.
- Business Lead on systems transformation project resulting in common financial statements and business practices for $4 billion family of brands; led to creation of shared services function for future growth and acquisitions
- Responsible for pre- and in-season sales, margin, markdown and inventory plans for 3 areas of business (both tops and bottoms) totaling $86M annually
- Member of Action Execution Team comprised of key representatives from Store Communications, Visual, Pricing, Omni-channel Marketing, and Planning functions to ensure tactical excellence and flawless execution of marketing efforts
- Member of Peak Optimization task force charged with identifying yearly peak selling times and brainstorming ways to creatively increase traffic, conversion, brand awareness and ultimately top-line sales and margin
Limited Too/Tween Brands/Justice
Senior Project Manager
01.2011 - 01.2012
Job overview
- Company Overview: Limited Too (later Tween Brands, Justice) was the largest premier tween specialty retailer in the world. Through the Justice brand, Tween Brands provided trendy apparel, shoes and accessories for tween (age 7-14) girls.
- Selected as business lead to build and deploy a common financial platform among Dressbarn, Maurices and Justice brands, working side-by-side with IT and on-site contractor as project management office
- Led the adoption efforts of the Oracle Suite among sister brands, including development of training materials, on-site superuser training, and necessary change management efforts
- Developed a unified chart of accounts and streamlined reporting that could be utilized by all brands
Limited Too/Tween Brands/Justice
Director of Financial Reporting
01.2005 - 01.2011
Job overview
- Company Overview: Limited Too (later Tween Brands, Justice) was the largest premier tween specialty retailer in the world. Through the Justice brand, Tween Brands provided trendy apparel, shoes and accessories for tween (age 7-14) girls.
- Managed a team of individuals responsible for all month-end close responsibilities, fixes asset reporting, day-to-day analysis and monitoring of activity and reporting to Executive management team
- Successfully led the implementation of 5+ software modules surrounding GL, AP, FA, Account reconciliation, and Close management in a continuous effort to enhance close process and create efficiencies
- Responsible for quarterly/annual audit review by external accounting firm including preparing annual financial statements and board presentations for management as well as entire internal close process
PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP
Assurance, Senior Auditor, Consumer & Industrial Products
01.2001 - 01.2005
Job overview
Education
Ohio UniversityAthens, OH
Bachelor of Business Administration from Accounting Major, Economics Minor
University Overview
University of IllinoisUrbana-Champaign, IL
Master of Accounting Science
University Overview
Chosen as 1 of 12 Members, PwC Inaugural Masters Class
Skills
- Program management
- Building effective partnerships
- Team leadership
- Creative problem-solving
- Strategic financial management
- Corporate governance expertise
- Change management expertise
- Long-term strategic planning
- Growth strategy implementation
- Revenue and expense analysis
Awards
Awards
RSC Unbridled Excellence
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers - 2023
RSC Unbridled Excellence award as voted on by Operations Field Leadership
RSC Team Member of the Quarter
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers - Q1 2021
RSC Team Member of the Quarter as voted on by Entire Organization for Outstanding Dedication and Service
Certification
Certified Public Accountant (inactive) Accountancy Board of Ohio, 2004
Timeline
Director of Strategic Initiatives, Operations
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc.
01.2022 - Current
Senior Program Manager, Operations
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc.
01.2021 - 01.2022
Account Executive 4, Commercial Acquisition
Dell Technologies
01.2021 - 01.2022
Senior Program Manager, Information Technology
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc.
01.2017 - 01.2021
IT Finance Resource Manager
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc.
01.2017 - 01.2018
Senior Merchandise Planner
Limited Too/Tween Brands/Justice
01.2012 - 01.2017
Senior Project Manager
Limited Too/Tween Brands/Justice
01.2011 - 01.2012
Director of Financial Reporting
Limited Too/Tween Brands/Justice
01.2005 - 01.2011
Assurance, Senior Auditor, Consumer & Industrial Products
PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP
01.2001 - 01.2005
University of Illinois
Master of Accounting Science
Ohio University
Bachelor of Business Administration from Accounting Major, Economics Minor
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