Fran Vellios

Promoted to serve as functional and technical expert for the IBM OMS Sterling Application, an Order Management System (OMS) used to streamline order fulfillment for Barnes & Noble College Booksellers' 800+ uniquely branded college bookstore websites.

• Contributed to product management meetings, weighing in on system requirements, supporting validation and verification on functional specifications, developing wireframes, serving as SME in product stakeholder meetings, that resulted in 15% reduction in development time by addressing potential issues early on in development phase.
• Leveraged Zendesk metrics to pinpoint areas for improvement, prevent escalations, and collaborated on creation of corrective and preventative action plans to elevate business performance and augment customer satisfaction. Achieved 20% reduction in similar store complaints compared to previous quarters.
• Played critical role in application's functionality by developing reports, co-authoring user guide, driving end-user training for Store Field Management, as well as providing post-training support and troubleshooting assistance. Monitored effectiveness of training programs and made adjustments accordingly to improve end-user adoption and performance that resulted in 30% increase in user adoption and 20% improvement in operational efficiency.
• Led internal incident response efforts for planned and unplanned ecommerce maintenance and service disruptions, ensuring timely communication of outage scope and taking ownership of unplanned disruptions. Achieved 10% reduction in downtime and mitigated impact on end-users. Contributed to post-disruption reviews to implement preventative measures resulting in 15% decrease in customer complaints related to service disruptions.
• Partnered with Legal team to develop a OneTrust platform framework to streamline account deletion requests and maintain GDPR and CCPA data protection compliance. Designed and automated incident management workflows, while continually ensuring integrity of data and processes, resulting in 20% processing time reduction and decreased risk of compliance violations.

• Collaborated with Development team during build process, liaising with Field management to set expectations and define requirements, conduct testing and ensure all project milestones and requirements were met.
• Established effective communication channels and ensured stakeholders and leadership were kept informed of release schedule, risks, and mitigation plans. Proactively addressed concerns and questions, while also providing training and support to facilitate smooth transition.
• Collaborated with team members to continuously improve release communication process, delivering feedback via lessons learned in order to enhance future releases.
• Actively participated in escalation calls to address critical issues and ensure timely resolution. Collaborated with cross-functional teams during iteration planning to define priorities and ensure alignment with business objectives.
• Contributed to release planning efforts by providing input on feature prioritization and release timelines. Promptly responded to escalated issues, working closely with stakeholders to diagnose and resolve technical challenges.
• Managed domain registrations, renewals, transfers and implementation of web re-directs. Continuously monitored domain performance, gathering and analyzing data to identify opportunities for improvement and make data-driven recommendations for enhancing overall user experience, resulting in 20% reduction in domain-related issues and 10% increase in website traffic.

Responsible for eCommerce back-end support ensuring successful technical operations within the platform.

• Launched 90+ True Spirit General Merchandise websites, generating $2.5M in annual sales
• Managed customer requests, oversaw site builds, and ensured that deadlines were met, and client satisfaction was upheld throughout
• Collaborated closely with the PMO office to establish a prioritized list of Epics and features, ensuring that the web operations team was well-equipped to meet sprint and project/release delivery commitments
• Aligned cross-functional user acceptance testing with project requirements and defect tracking for timely web release.

Joined the IT Infrastructure Team to assist with the prioritization of projects, ensuring that projects align with the technology that provides maximum return on investment, and directing IT strategy in support of the overall business strategy

• Represented and advocated for IT infrastructure consideration at high-level project meetings, working closely with senior decision makers to interject infrastructure requirements into broader project plans and ensure project validity.
• Served as a resource and liaison for the business leadership and technical teams, coordinating communications and encouraging collaborative efforts while maintaining alignment between technical projects with key business goals.
• Developed and deployed a robust database to position team to reach KPI targets.
• Compiling weekly and monthly reports, monitoring team project delivery dates, and utilizing data to hold team accountable to reach deadlines.
• Uncovered potential concerns and bottlenecks and communicated the business impact to the infrastructure department, to ensure a consistent and timely delivery of all project priorities.