Catherine R Howard
Monroe,NC
Summary
Developed analytical and problem-solving skills in a fast-paced, data-driven environment. Proactive at heading off issues in operations, workflow and production by uncovering trends affecting business success.
Demonstrated ability to translate complex data into actionable insights. Robust background in customer service, financial modeling, strategic planning, vendor management, inventory and expenditure controls, employee investigations, and accounts payable. Adept at leveraging advanced methodologies to drive impactful business decisions. Consistently delivers results through teamwork and solutions-focused approaches within a remote or office environment.
Overview
19
19
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Senior Analyst/vendor Contracts, Merchandising, and Operation Analytics.
Lowe's Companies Inc.
01.2020 - 01.2021
- Accounts payable and receivable vendor solutions, reconciliation, reporting and analytics, risk management, and deduction management
- Vendor management, including contracts and escalations
- Customer Service, Liaison between vendors, stores and the corporate office to implement the best practices
- Conducted data analytics to identify approaches to customer retention and for system upgrades including Drop-ship, in Canada, Shanghai, and India
- Maintained knowledge and awareness of best practices within the company, competitors, and retail industry
- Collaborated with cross-functional teams to introduce and disseminate best practices across the organization
- Manged approximately 50 incoming calls, emails and faxes per day
- Guided projects with data in a quick retail landscape analytically and technically
- Created and updated content standards for product categories to display to vendors
- Partnered with stakeholders to implement content testing plans to further optimize product categories
- Evaluated the customer journey for opportunities to optimize content shown and partner with associate product managers
- Tableau, SQL, access
- Data visualization, data entry, Web meeting, virtual communications
Process Manager/Vendor Compliance, Accounting, Merchandising, Operations, Reporting, and Analytics.
Walmart Global Business Services
01.2014 - 01.2020
- Account payable and receivable deduction management
- Vendor solutions, analyzing data for complex issue resolution by using in-depth analytic reviews across multiple systems to ensure adherence to business process controls with cross-functional teams for the USA, Canada, and India
- Collaborated with cross-functional teams to identify areas of improvement, leading to increased efficiency across departments.
- Ensured compliance with industry standards by establishing guidelines, monitoring progress, and addressing deviations promptly.
- Achieved cultural shifts and process change through tenacious determination and interpersonal skills.
- Purchase order investigations
- Performed periodic compliance audits
- Reconciliation
- Assisted with System implementation and risk management
- Vendor management/resolutions reporting and analytics, data entry
- Executed an escalation path in a fast pace, critical-thinking environment for Ecommerce, vendors, stores, and accounting centers, which included the USA, Canada, and India
- Managed complex research projects by proving root cause analysis for expenditures, control procedures, and general ledger accounts, which resulted in reimbursement or recoupment of funds for internal and external stakeholders including the USA, Canada, and India
- Identified transactions that affected financial statements for compliance and audit requests by submitting reconciliation reporting and flux data for balance sheet reviews to executive leadership
- Supply Chain Analytics consistent with reporting
- Coordinated training meetings with internal and external stakeholders to understand accounting entries and controls
- Calculated and posted accruals and worked with support teams to ensure account compliance
- Negotiate vendor settlements on unresolved supplier issues
- Back-office solutions.40% saving for80% of cases
- Found process deficiencies and dependencies with a direct impact on the business
- Reviewed team productivity to ensuring target growth
- Liaison appointee for Data Integrity for all USA and Canadian stores (5050), accounting center, USA, and Canadian suppliers (249,562)
- Workday, HRIS
- Tableau, SQL, Data Visualization, data entry
- Web meetings, virtual communications
CO-Manager/Store Operations, Merchandising, HR.
Walmart Inc.
01.2002 - 01.2014
- Managed over400 hourly associate and15 managers
- Executed Customer Service and escalations
- Oversaw hiring center utilizing the HRIS system
- Managed State and Federal environmental codes, ordinances, and regulations implementations
- Investigated OSHA regulatory documents
- Human Resources and financial confidential documents required by the company, State, and Federal laws
- Performed analysis of Human Resources turnover rate and employee document inspections
- Conducted coaching for improvement for management and hourly associates, while presenting action plans
- Workplace investigations including Compliance, ethics, and integrity along with disciplinary action if needed
- Managed store management daily assignments and follow-up tours
- Analyzed daily open-to-spend reports and monthly, weekly, and daily profit-and-loss reports
- Investigated journal entries, sales, shrink and inventory tracking reports ensuring expense and budget control
- Conducted management performance evaluations
- Identified and developed risk-mitigation strategies
- Supplied, training, supervision, and development opportunities for management and hourly associates
- Forecasting
- Accounts payable and receivables
- Vendor management
- Worker Comp investigation and documentation
- Unemployment investigation and documentation
Education
Some College (No Degree) - Accounting-Business Management
University of North Carolina Asheville
North CarolinaSkills
- Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, PowerPoint, Word) NetSuite
- DART, HOST, Fintech
- Retail Link, Visio, Agile
- Workday
- SharePoint, pivot tables, lucid chart
- Remote work and interaction
- Client management
- Client relationship management
- Data analysis
- Performance monitoring
- Report preparation
- Advanced Excel
- EDI
- SOX
- PBX
- Teradata, SQL, Tableau, SAP, Access
- HRIS
- Jira
- Oracle
Certification
Six Sigma, Serv-Safe, Wal-Mart Management certification, Project Management
Timeline
Senior Analyst/vendor Contracts, Merchandising, and Operation Analytics.
Lowe's Companies Inc.
01.2020 - 01.2021
Process Manager/Vendor Compliance, Accounting, Merchandising, Operations, Reporting, and Analytics.
Walmart Global Business Services
01.2014 - 01.2020
CO-Manager/Store Operations, Merchandising, HR.
Walmart Inc.
01.2002 - 01.2014
Some College (No Degree) - Accounting-Business Management
University of North Carolina Asheville
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