Kristen Smith
Robbinsdale,MN
Summary
Spearheaded complex program management for software development, cloud-based and enterprise solutions across industries spanning 20 years; delivered 50+ successful projects with budgets ranging from $50K to $1M, achieving 90%+ client satisfaction rate.
Adept at deconstructing and planning stories in order to promote improvements to product design and implementation. Excellent relationship-building, organizational, and project management skills with a focus on overcoming technical challenges and implementing successful resolutions.
Overview
23
23
years of professional experience
Work History
Product Owner / Technical Program Owner
Icario
12.2021 - Current
- Spearheaded the strategic planning and execution of the RC1 and RC2 platform management and development team
- Delivered and monitored the technical product strategy and product roadmap with stakeholders for the RC1 platform
- Initiated project oversight during all delivery phases, ensuring milestones were met and risks mitigated by 95%
- Facilitated communication between development teams and stakeholders, ensuring clear understanding of requirements and expectations.
- Proactively identified risks associated with project timelines or deliverables, implementing mitigation strategies when necessary.
- Developed comprehensive roadmaps outlining the product vision, goals, and milestones for successful execution.
- Implemented Agile methodologies to increase team productivity and enhance overall project outcomes.
- Improved resource and capacity planning for projects on the RC1 platform by eliminating 350 items that were no longer required from the backlog in grooming sessions that no longer met the product vision
- Managed resource and capacity planning for projects requiring developers on the RC1 platform and provided a technical voice to support customer-facing teams during client meetings
- Owned and prioritized product backlog.
- Oversaw entire product deployments from vision and creation to rollout and delivery.
- Analyzed customer feedback to identify areas for improvement.
- Conducted data-driven analysis to measure product success metrics, informing future enhancements or adjustments.
Business Technology Manager / Test Lead Engineer
U.S. Bank
04.2018 - 07.2021
- Directed a team of Business Analysts while supporting seven different internal applications
- Implemented different strategies and tactics to implement short-term and long-term solutions to address user experience and regulatory requirements within the products and programs for which we were primarily responsible
- Directed oversight regarding the daily support of the U.S
- Bank general ledger, expense applications, and reconciliation systems
- Automated reporting and application system processes
- This resulted in over 50 hours of support savings
- Wrote detailed test plans for all automation projects that reduced post-launch issues by 70%
- Partnered with the Risk team to eliminate over 50 security profiles that no longer met strict security standards and restructured the existing users to provide better long-term security
- Developed suggestions for technical process improvements to optimize resources.
- Evaluated emerging technologies for potential adoption in the organization, making strategic recommendations.
- Implemented data backup and disaster recovery plans that protected critical business information from loss or corruption.
- Improved overall technology efficiency by implementing streamlined processes and system upgrades.
- Managed life cycle replacement of hardware and software.
Director of Operations
Velocity Tech Solutions
12.2017 - 02.2018
- Managed daily operations and initiatives for the company’s eCommerce site
- Provided leadership and oversight of all technical teams
- Technical team consisted of Sr
- Tech, Production Tech, 2 Web Associates, and a marketing resource
- Took existing Dell hardware inventory and added 200 additional types of hardware products on both Amazon and eBay to increase e-commerce sales and profitability
- Configured website analytics, including performance tracking, data management, and analysis of e-commerce activities
- Monitored budget and utilized operational resources.
- Developed and executed strategic plans to achieve organizational goals and drive sustainable growth.
- Achieved team goals through formalized training plans, coaching, and performance management.
- Analyzed business operations and implemented strategies to improve operational cohesiveness.
- Drove revenue growth through the identification of new market opportunities and the expansion of existing products/services offerings.
Technical Lead
BI Worldwide
06.2015 - 09.2017
- Innovated leadership for the local platform development team that created custom CMS and LMS systems
- Functioned as the Temporary Technical Director for strategic planning
- Served as the technical coordinator and product owner between the client, project management team, and the development staff
- This increased performance by 30% for the development teams by increasing dedicated time for coding
- Maintained all server inventory for 24 production environments
- When completing a department inventory scan, 147 servers were no longer in use and were decommissioned
- Drove all aspects of change management for all products and defined support for all production systems
- With the new process in place, the stability rate of the hosted systems increased by 30%
- Increased application stability by regularly monitoring performance metrics, addressing bottlenecks proactively to minimize downtime occurrences.
- Evaluated and recommended new tools and technologies that resulted in increased development efficiency and up-to-date technical skillsets within the team.
- Coordinated with cross-department teams like QA, DevOps, and Support to ensure seamless end-to-end software delivery process.
- Drove customer satisfaction by prioritizing feature requests based on detailed analysis of user feedback and market trends.
- Enhanced system performance with thorough code reviews, debugging, and optimization techniques.
- Optimized resource allocation across multiple concurrent projects by closely tracking team capacity levels against project deadlines and milestones.
Technical Account Manager
Dell
08.2014 - 05.2015
- Served as a customer advocate and hardware support for enterprise systems
- Led continuous improvement projects to support customer operations and business processes, including projects to validate the accuracy of client assets
- Identified system deficiencies and implemented adequate solutions for all Dell products
- This decreased downtime by 15% for Dell customers by identifying issues in the early stages
- Compiled and analyzed statistical data for service-level agreements and operational reports
- Established trust with clients by consistently delivering on commitments and providing transparent communication.
- Engaged in tool and process improvements to streamline customer success activities and services.
- Managed multiple accounts simultaneously, maintaining high levels of organization and prioritization.
- Conducted regular account reviews to proactively identify areas of improvement and implement necessary changes.
- Participated in product innovation by identifying and representing customer needs and presenting new product capabilities.
Implementation Consultant
IT Associates
02.2014 - 08.2014
- Installed, configured, and supported financial applications that enabled mortgage companies to create and send secure electronic mortgage compliance documents to borrowers
- The project scope included gathering customer requirements, creating statements of work, creating project plans, configuration of systems, deployment, and customer launch
- Conducted customer administrator and end-user training for all financial customers who purchased the cloud-based solution
- Lead ongoing customer support post-launch and throughout the system's life for upgrades and configuration changes
Implementation Team Lead
Accenture
02.2006 - 09.2013
- Managed an international implementation team of 19 Application Analysts accountable for the deployment, configuration, and launch support of low-cost carrier airline reservation platforms
- Configured and deployed airline reservation programs, including databases, web servers, and API servers
- Supported integrations for third-party API connections and international terminals for agents
- Developed a portal within SharePoint for training and build purposes
- This decreased internal billable time by 20% for both the development and Project Management teams due to the real-time updates
- Developed performance test scripts and provided application-level performance monitoring and troubleshooting for each airline environment to ensure response times were within the contract service level agreements
- Worked different stations to provide optimal coverage and meet production goals.
- Trained new team members by relaying information on company procedures and safety requirements.
- Promoted a positive work environment by fostering teamwork, open communication, and employee recognition initiatives.
- Maintained database systems to track and analyze operational data.
- Helped meet changing demands by recommending improvements to business systems or procedures.
- Influenced positive change within the organization through strategic thinking, innovation, problem-solving abilities, and consistent leadership style.
- Coached team members in techniques necessary to complete job tasks.
- Led cross-functional teams for successful project execution while maintaining strong collaboration among team members.
System Engineer
MedQuist
05.2001 - 02.2006
- Architected the system design and solutions for transcription products that utilized voice recognition for physician dictation and the transcription of audio recordings
- Built transcription systems for hospitals and clinics throughout the United States
- This allowed large Medical Centers to have a uniform approach across any location in the United States
- Wrote training programs and manuals for hospital staff and delivered onsite training sessions for the custom transcription and dictation systems for hospitals and clinics throughout the United States
- Managed multiple projects simultaneously, meeting tight deadlines while maintaining high-quality deliverables.
- Resolved issues and escalated problems with knowledgeable support and quality service.
- Resolved complex technical issues through effective problem-solving techniques and root cause analysis.
- Provided expert support for end-users, ensuring optimal system performance and user satisfaction.
- Reduced downtime for critical systems through proactive monitoring and maintenance tasks.
- Created comprehensive documentation for system configurations, procedures, and best practices to facilitate knowledge sharing among team members.
- Trained junior engineers on best practices related to system administration, providing guidance and mentorship for their professional growth.
Education
Associate of Applied Science - Network Systems Administration
ITT Technical Institute
Technical Trainer Certification -
Chauncey Group International
Certified Scrum Product Owner -
Scrum Alliance
Skills
- Software Deployment
- Product Strategy
- Product Management
- Technical Program Management
- Application Delivery
- Client Requirements
- Cloud-based Solutions
- Scrum/Agile
- Leadership
- Program Management
- Technical Product Management
- Product Requirements
- Integrations
- Program Design
- Release planning
- Business Analysis
- Product Backlog Management
- Roadmap development
- Stakeholder relationship management
- Product Lifecycle Management
- Scrum Methodology
- Feature Prioritization
- Product Planning
- Technical expertise
Work Availability
monday
tuesday
wednesday
thursday
friday
saturday
sunday
morning
afternoon
evening
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Work Preference
Work Type
Full TimePart TimeContract WorkGig WorkWork Location
RemoteImportant To Me
Work-life balanceFlexible work hoursHealthcare benefitsWork from home optionTimeline
Product Owner / Technical Program Owner
Icario
12.2021 - Current
Business Technology Manager / Test Lead Engineer
U.S. Bank
04.2018 - 07.2021
Director of Operations
Velocity Tech Solutions
12.2017 - 02.2018
Technical Lead
BI Worldwide
06.2015 - 09.2017
Technical Account Manager
Dell
08.2014 - 05.2015
Implementation Consultant
IT Associates
02.2014 - 08.2014
Implementation Team Lead
Accenture
02.2006 - 09.2013
System Engineer
MedQuist
05.2001 - 02.2006
Technical Trainer Certification -
Chauncey Group International
Certified Scrum Product Owner -
Scrum Alliance
Associate of Applied Science - Network Systems Administration
ITT Technical Institute
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