Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Timeline
Generic
CARA CUSACK

CARA CUSACK

Program And Product Director
Chehalis,WA

Summary

PROFILE SUMMARY Strategic Director of Product Operations with 25 years of experience leading product-market strategy and supporting implementation of innovative products for unique niches. Creative strategic planner with product value and impact assessment prowess. End-to-end product leader successful bringing products from inception to rollout with efficiency and speed. Effective leader with creativity in big-picture product implementation. Research and strategic product planning expert through collaborative leadership and customer polling. Dynamic and adaptable roadmap leader for delivery of highly successful products with projected market demand and company growth as guiding principles.

Overview

25
25
years of professional experience

Work History

Director of Product Operations

Aspiritech
05.2022 - Current
  • Successfully managed and led cross-functional teams of up to 100 employees, delivering complex IT projects on time and within budget
  • Developed and implemented innovative strategies to improve operational efficiencies, resulting in a 20% reduction in costs and increased profitability
  • Led the SQA, Accessibility, and Audio Hardware Testing teams
  • Led the development and implementation of IT policies and procedures, resulting in improved compliance and reduced risk
  • Managed and maintained the annual budget, providing financial oversight and reporting to executive leadership
  • Implemented a comprehensive performance management program, resulting in improved employee engagement and retention
  • Collaborated with executive leadership to develop and implement long-term IT strategies, resulting in increased revenue and market share.
  • Oversaw product design and roadmap and coordinated aspects of development and rollout.
  • Conceptualized long-range product roadmaps and strategically designed according to market data and research.

Production/Program Manager

Specular Theory
01.2022 - 05.2022
  • Led Engineering and Film Production teams in creating Immersive VR Training applications for Department of Defense contracts, resulting in on-time and on-budget project delivery
  • Implemented Agile processes, resulting in improved project visibility, team collaboration, and faster time to market
  • Developed and executed roadmap planning and feature grooming, ensuring that product development was aligned with business objectives and customer needs
  • Worked closely with clients to understand their product requirements and provide recommendations for product improvements, resulting in increased customer satisfaction and repeat business
  • Managed project budgets and timelines, ensuring that projects were completed within scope and on schedule.
  • Interacted with customers and clients to identify business needs and requirements.
  • Coached team members on productivity strategies to accomplish challenging goals.

Technical Program Manager

Advantis Global, Meta, FRL Oculus Horizon Social
06.2021 - 12.2021
  • Collaborated with engineers, designers, artists, and content strategists to develop and implement new systems and features, enabling users to express their identity and personality in Horizon and providing Creators with the necessary tools to create engaging and immersive worlds
  • Designed and implemented process improvements, utilizing best practices such as Agile methodologies to streamline workflows and enhance team productivity
  • Conducted roadmap planning and feature grooming to align project development with business objectives and customer needs
  • Coordinated with finance and legal teams to onboard vendors and Creators, ensuring timely payments for competitions and projects, and maintaining compliance with industry regulations
  • Utilized strong project management skills to oversee project budgets and timelines, ensuring successful project delivery within scope and on schedule.
  • Verified achievement of practical Business Value Realizations by each operational team, suggesting alterations to meet goals.

Senior Technical Program Manager

Swoon, Mobile
06.2020 - 06.2021
  • Utilized strong technical expertise to understand the capabilities and value propositions of the current product and roadmap and identified technical solution opportunities and challenges to ensure optimal product development
  • Managed the program software life-cycle for the Mobile Apps and supporting platform of an underdeveloped IoT product, ensuring successful release management, day-to-day operations, and issue triage
  • Responsible for delivery, schedule, and overall project success
  • Conducted detailed data analysis to identify shortcomings in the product, tracked down issues, and drove resolution across multiple teams
  • Utilized data to inform product development decisions and drive continuous improvement.
  • Delivered training sessions for newly hired team leaders and management staff.
  • Worked closely with other departments to better understand product features and develop appropriate training materials.

Senior Program Manager

Psiwire Games
04.2019 - 06.2020
  • Led product ownership and program management, ensuring seamless execution of game development and release plans for a diverse array of projects, including mobile, VR, AR, and MMORPG for PC
  • Collaborated with clients to develop comprehensive game development and release plans, incorporating UX design and in-game B2C e-commerce strategies to optimize customer engagement and revenue generation.
  • Collaborated with development teams, internal customers, and product line management to verify delivery of desired quality requirements to distributors.
  • Tracked and reported program results to customers and stakeholders to facilitate change management activities.
  • Devised tools and benchmarks to improve team performance and monitor production.

Senior Program/Product Manager

Buddy Platform
04.2018 - 04.2019
  • Owned and led the strategy, roadmap, and the teams that designed, built, and maintained the systems for the IoT smart technology that goes into the award-winning Airstream Smart RVs and Buddy Platform’s IoT Smart Building Resource Monitoring System and Data Visualization
  • Worked with Amazon Home and Alexa teams to design new Airstream integration technology.
  • Collaborated with development teams, internal customers, and product line management to verify delivery of desired quality requirements to distributors.
  • Performed program research and analyzed data collection to develop cost estimates and budgets.

Program / Product Manager

Media First – Ericsson
11.2015 - 10.2017
  • Led three teams in a hands-on technical product / program management role to develop the vison for the product area, requirements for the features, and correct sequencing to maximize value delivery from the backlog
  • Utilized and further grew a detailed knowledge of content streaming protocols (IPTV and Internet TV)
  • Demonstrated understanding in content protection and DRM technologies associated with the distribution of content in the connected home and cloud technologies environments
  • Prioritized roadmap in order to achieve product goals and metrics.
  • Reviewed sales, customer concerns, and new opportunities to drive business strategy at weekly planning sessions.
  • Responsible for the ownership of DVR, which included interfacing with 2 international teams (Dublin and Athlone)
  • Program Manager responsible for managing the other 10 Product Owners
  • Diverse role that required technological understanding of 3rd party hardware/software integrations, mobile and web development as well as IoT devices

Project Manager / Senior Product Owner

Digital Channels - American Airlines
08.2012 - 10.2015
  • Monitored contracts and service level agreements to identify potential risks and implement mitigation actions to protect development process from unforeseen delays and costs.
  • Directed changes to project scope and cost and implemented appropriate change management processes to keep project on track.
  • Maintained schedules to meet key milestones at every project phase.
  • Partnered with project team members to identify and quickly address problems.
  • Responsible for business value of a multi-billion-dollar ecommerce system including aa.com, American’s mobile app and mobile web
    • Delivered various projects related to the American Airlines / USAir merger including the Single Frequent Flier Program (SFFP) and Passenger Service System (PSS)
    • Spearheaded the conversion of all projects to an Agile environment and new PMO
    • Responsible for all projects related to development and infrastructure that involved airport automation and aa.com

Production Business Analyst

Mindbrix / Emortgage Logic
01.2010 - 08.2012
  • Conducted interviews with key business users to collect information on business processes and user requirements.
  • Applied honed problem-solving skills to analyze and resolve issues impacting business operations and goal achievement.
  • Improved business direction by prioritizing customers and implementing changes based on collected feedback.
  • Analyzed open orders, backlog, and sales data to provide sales team with insights.
  • Monitored and analyzed all production environments
    • Documental all activity with proper authorizations and approvals to maintain compliance with Statement on Auditing Standards no. 70 (SAS-70)
    • Wrote custom analytics program to interface with Multiple Listing Service (MLS)
    • Created extensive database mapping documentation

IT Program Manager

Fast Lane Companies
01.1998 - 01.2010
  • Played key role in on-going network design, reevaluation and optimization to keep pace with company growth.
  • Identified computer hardware and network system issues, performing troubleshooting techniques for remediation.
  • Led and assisted technical upgrade projects for clients by working and coordinating with consultants and developers for integrations.
  • Supported implementation of warehouse management system software applications to enable centralized management of tasks.
  • Reviewed and assessed architecture design, implementation, testing and deployment needs to identify project requirements and costs.
  • Communicated regularly with customers concerning data exchange and technology integration.

Education

Bachelor of Science - Software Engineering

Harris University

Video Game Design And Balance Certification -

Rochester Institute of Technology

Certified Scrum Product Owner

Eagle
05.2001 -

Certified Scrum Master

SCRUM

Skills

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Timeline

Director of Product Operations

Aspiritech
05.2022 - Current

Production/Program Manager

Specular Theory
01.2022 - 05.2022

Technical Program Manager

Advantis Global, Meta, FRL Oculus Horizon Social
06.2021 - 12.2021

Senior Technical Program Manager

Swoon, Mobile
06.2020 - 06.2021

Senior Program Manager

Psiwire Games
04.2019 - 06.2020

Senior Program/Product Manager

Buddy Platform
04.2018 - 04.2019

Program / Product Manager

Media First – Ericsson
11.2015 - 10.2017

Project Manager / Senior Product Owner

Digital Channels - American Airlines
08.2012 - 10.2015

Production Business Analyst

Mindbrix / Emortgage Logic
01.2010 - 08.2012

Certified Scrum Product Owner

Eagle
05.2001 -

IT Program Manager

Fast Lane Companies
01.1998 - 01.2010

Bachelor of Science - Software Engineering

Harris University

Video Game Design And Balance Certification -

Rochester Institute of Technology

Certified Scrum Master

SCRUM

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CARA CUSACKProgram And Product Director