Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Certification
Timeline
ResearchAssistant
Ericka L Harris

Ericka L Harris

Director Digital Product Management
Houston,TX

Summary

Strategic-thinking Product Management Professional with 19+ years in Product Management and software development. Innovative and driven with strong technical know-how, natural leadership talent and analytical problem-solving expertise. Experience steering visions and enhancing storylines. History of surpassing objectives and bringing about dramatic results to propel companies into the future and improve market position with innovative approaches. In-depth understanding of emerging technologies and their commercial applications.

  • Defining and conceptualizing strategic & product roadmaps (dual track and outcome driven) to effectively track and plan short-term (1yr) mid, and long-term (3-5 yrs.) objectives for products for multiple industries (e.g., finance, insurance, paper & packaging, telecommunications, retail, etc.).
  • Implementing human centered design practices (Design Thinking) to solve problems as part of the Product discovery and research process for product team.
  • Advocating for external stakeholder- end users, stakeholders, and partners as the voice of the customer and the voice of the market to bring an understanding of the market and client’s workflow.
  • Delivering amazing products for multiple industries AI/Machine learning, Telematics, automotive IOT, consumer electronics, mobile applications IOS/Android), SaaS/DaaS cloud-based, eCommerce (B2B/B2C), and Order History portals, and self-service applications (incident management, sustainability tools, and control towers)
  • Collaborating and partnering with internal stakeholder- engineering, sales, marketing, customer success, legal, leadership, and board members to ensure alignment in goals and objectives to deliver great products.
  • Developing and managing portfolio and product backlogs for prioritization, cross product dependencies and decomposition into user stories for development and sprint planning (e.g., epic, feature, user stories and acceptance criteria).
  • Emerging Technology Product lead implementing a data driven $250 million-dollar market cap multi-tiered subscription based connected/smart car offering and AI/Machine learning platforms to predict injury and illness.
  • predicting medto predict injury and illness.

Overview

18
18
years of professional experience
17
17
years of post-secondary education
7
7
Certification

Work History

Sr Director Product Management

Apex Systems (Fetch By Dodo)
Remote, TX
03.2022 - Current
  • Ownership of suite of products Web/responsive web for education, browse, and buying policies, , self-service mobile (IOS/Android) application for account management to manage policy data, health records, quotes, (customer & order history, submit claims, upload records).
  • Delivered to market in a 6 mos. a new Fetch Forward AI/Machine learning platform that evaluates a 150 million clinical data points to predict a medical future (illness & Injury) and generates a customized health profile.
  • Improved data collection methods by designing surveys, polls, and other instruments using, Delightful, User Voice, & HotJar.
  • Conceptualized and deployed enhanced product features and optimized implementation for use in marketing strategies.
  • Managed product demonstrations and testimonials for performance evaluation.
  • Collaborating and partnership with geographically dispersed teams (North America, Europe, and India)
  • Prioritized and planned Portfolio backlog to ensure strategic goals were aligned with the roadmap and release calendar.
  • Collaborated with UX (User Experience) team to incorporate customer feedback and User Acceptance Test (UAT) into future patches and iterations.
  • Applied customer-first strategy to product development and marketing materials.
  • Served as intermediary between product development and research departments, filtering feedback to prioritize maximally important data points.
  • Analyzed customer behavior to derive digital product performance insights and identify areas of potential improvement (A/B testing).
  • Successfully prioritized product requirements and set realistic expectations in regard to development and timeline.
  • Tested product usability with UX research team.
  • Identified failures and successes of a product, using them as a springboard for future development goals.

Sr Digital Product Manager

WestRock
Remote, Texas
09.2017 - 04.2022
  • An advocate for the end users, stakeholders, and customers- the voice of the customer and the voice of the market- to bring an understanding of the market and client’s workflow.
  • Managed client relationships 3rd party vendors) supporting with the WRK creative team and developers to maintain a cohesive design and experience throughout our product, providing expertise and mentorship.
  • Developed and implemented the eCommerce Playbook that details the roles responsibilities, research & development cadence, artifacts and pocs for new initiatives.
  • Accelerated product go to market from every 6-12 mos. to quarterly releases; leveraging expertise in software development life by implementing process and tools to support iterative development cadences (e.g., hybrid (Waterfall/Agile), Agile Framework Kanban, Scrum Lean, XP, etc.)
  • Built, leveraged, and strengthened new relationship by conducting site visits and weekly follow ups with customers and stakeholders.
  • Facilitated Agile Ceremonies (Standup, estimation, demos, and retrospectives), senior leadership weekly status meetings, biweekly stakeholder’s status meetings and business/tech work stream sessions for a new and innovative customer digital experience.
  • Delivered a suite of products leveraging a cloud-based solution and middleware to manage data (customer & order history) from 167 systems (8 divisions) to create unique customer experiences for eCommerce, Reporting, SCM Track/Trace, Control Tower, Self-Service Custom Design tools, and Distributor Order Entry/History Portal (B2B/B2C).
  • Vetted and interviewed candidate for product team.
  • Delivered B2C Sustainability Sites for creating sites for organizations that would like to promote sustainability.
  • Collaborating and partnership with geographically dispersed teams (North America, EMEA, Asia, and India)
  • Prioritized and planned Portfolio backlog to ensure strategic goals were aligned with the roadmap and release calendar.
  • Negotiated, reviewed, and approved project proposals, contracts, and agreements (SOWs).
  • Trailblazed the digital portal(B2B) to enable the first customized international experience to support 42 foreign languages.
  • Facilitated kick off & working sessions with customers obtaining feedback, and decisions on which feedback items should become part of the backlog and/or minimum viable product.
  • Evangelist for the eCommerce Portfolio conducting tech talks, IT jumpstarts, and roadshows to educate potential business partners and stakeholder of our product capability and benefits.
  • Coached and mentored product team to foster ownership of their roles and contributions to the team.
  • Developed and maintain portfolio roadmaps to effectively track and plan the short term (1yr) mid, and long term (3-5 yr.) objectives for resourcing and objectives.

Director Product Management

Applied Systems
Remote, Georgia
07.2016 - 09.2017
  • Communicating strategy among development teams and stakeholders, inspiring product vision and aligning with company strategy
  • Facilitating conversations with stakeholder regarding the development, obtaining feedback, and decisions on which feedback items should become part of the backlog and/or minimum viable.
  • Overseeing a team of 19 Product Owners and 4 UX designers developing, and supports global applications for insurance brokers, agents, carrier partners, and 3rd party integrations.
  • Optimized the product development lifecycle through core agile principles of collaboration, prioritization, team accountability and visibility.
  • Collaborated with development teams to ensure that proposed design meets business requirements and enterprise quality standards.
  • Recruited and coached and mentored product team to foster ownership of their roles and contributions to the team.
  • Performed weekly 1:1 with team to discuss development opportunities and goals.
  • Conducted quarterly performance reviews to discuss accomplishment, challenges/issue and empower them to identify solution they would implement to resolve them
  • Developed and maintain portfolio roadmaps to effectively track and plan the short term (1yr) mid, and long term (3-5 yrs.) objectives for resourcing and planning.

Product Lead (Agile Coach)

Verizon Telematics
Hybrid, GA
04.2015 - 06.2016
  • Facilitated Agile Ceremonies (Standup, estimation, demos, and retrospectives), senior leadership weekly status meetings, biweekly stakeholder’s status meetings and business/tech work stream sessions for Aftermarket Product.
  • Utilizes modeling techniques (for example, business process, data, event), to discover and clarify the functional and data requirements.
  • Product Lead using SCRUM methodology to implement Verizon's mobile first IOT application for connected car services.
  • Product Management setting roadmaps, researching market competition, and working with multiple third-party entities to launch a new $90 million-dollar market cap connected car offering.
  • Product Lead delivered a $250 million-dollar market cap multi-tiered subscription based connected car offering.
  • Mentored and coached resources and business partners; conducting knowledge shares (Writing Use Stories, Roles & Responsibilities, Estimation and Version One & Jira) and identifying in house tools to support collaboration tools for distributed teams.
  • Effectively removed impediment and obstacles from development team.
  • Coached and mentored product team to foster ownership of their roles and contributions to the team.
  • Develop and manage a portfolio of aftermarket telematics services and features.
  • Development and Managed Product Process for Aftermarket Product Program Backlog Management Process
  • Delivered Machine/cognitive learning from the device with the ability to analyze the data and provide driving tips, driver scorecards, and insurance discounts base on the driving behavior.
    Managed Relationships with the internal and external business sponsors to gather and document business, functional and system requirements for the development of an Aftermarket Telematics Device called Hum by Verizon and In-Drive..

LBSA(Product Manager)

AMERICAN EXPRESS TECHNOLOGIES
Remote, GA
11.2004 - 04.2015
  • Developed products for regulatory compliance initiatives ($3M) and guided fifteen (98 resources) geographically dispersed teams; to deliver full functionality on schedule, meeting regulatory by Dodd Frank/Udall guidelines.
  • Collaborated with cross-functional offshore teams offshore, gathering, and documenting requirements for development of applicable solutions, minimizing errors.
  • Planned and managed the successful implementation of 5 multi-year large strategic initiatives on schedule, with full scope, and within 2% of target budget.
  • Key point of contact between the client and technology team during planning and analysis of complex business problems to be solved through internet/intranet-based solutions
  • Overhauled the Engagement & Development Process to support 530 individual development effort consolidation into a Visioning Team Structure to support Agile Strategy ensure development efforts were aligned Business & IT objectives.
  • Spearheaded the GCS Agile Adoption Strategy for a 16-million-dollar portfolio, defining and implementing portfolio migration from waterfall to Scrum and Kanban agile processes.
  • Conducted peer reviews and identified development opportunities for team.
  • Formulated adoption strategy that would ensure agile readiness of 245+ resources to support ongoing development efforts in which the team completed the 100% training goal 1 month ahead of schedule and produced 19 certifications.
  • Accelerated the teams’ adoption plan of Agile from zero in March to 51 % by the start of Q4 2014 by identifying opportunities to adopt agile process earlier than scheduled.
  • Mentored and coached 245+ resources and business partners on agile principles and practices.

Education

Some College (No Degree) - Business Information Systems

Broward College
Fort Lauderdale, FL
08.2007 - 05.2024

Skills

Leadership

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Certification

AAIM Certified Product Manager (CPM) SAFe Program Consultant (SPC3) Certified Scrum Master (CSM), Scrum Certified Product Owner (CPO &CSPO), Scrum Certified Developer (SDC) Scrum Certified Trainer (SCT), & SAFe Agilest (SA)

Timeline

Sr Director Product Management

Apex Systems (Fetch By Dodo)
03.2022 - Current

Sr Digital Product Manager

WestRock
09.2017 - 04.2022

Director Product Management

Applied Systems
07.2016 - 09.2017

Product Lead (Agile Coach)

Verizon Telematics
04.2015 - 06.2016

Some College (No Degree) - Business Information Systems

Broward College
08.2007 - 05.2024

LBSA(Product Manager)

AMERICAN EXPRESS TECHNOLOGIES
11.2004 - 04.2015

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Ericka L HarrisDirector Digital Product Management