Laura Deal
Ft Mitchell
Summary
Strategic leader with 20+ years of success delivering complex enterprise technology initiatives across insurance, retail, healthcare, and government sectors. Proven ability to drive Agile transformations, cloud migrations, and AI/ML integrations while aligning programs with business goals. Known for resilient leadership, stakeholder trust, and execution excellence under pressure.
Experienced project management professional with strong focus on team collaboration and achieving results. Skilled in strategic planning, risk management, and stakeholder communication. Known for reliability and adaptability in dynamic environments. Prepared to drive impactful outcomes and lead projects to success.
Overview
11
11
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Senior Project Manager
OCLC
09.2024 - Current
- Leading five concurrent technical projects including Hadoop upgrade and search optimization.
- Managing global Agile teams across Germany, Netherlands, and U.S.
- Delivering executive-level reporting, risk mitigation, and stakeholder alignment.
- Global Library Technology
Project Manager
Bath & Body Works
11.2022 - 07.2023
- Managed infrastructure separation from LBrands; led DR planning using VMware SRM and Azure ASR.
- Delivered cutover execution and release management during business unit transition.
- Infrastructure & DR Planning
Program Manager
Grange Insurance
05.2020 - 11.2022
- Directed outsourcing of Finance and Mailroom operations; integrated SaaS and cloud-based platforms.
- Led AI/ML model development for claims indexing on AWS Skense.
- Built Agile team for Emerging Technologies; introduced Jira workflows and sprint roadmaps.
- Member of Cloud Center of Excellence and PM Center of Excellence.
- Insurance & Emerging Tech
Agile Program Manager
State Auto Insurance
01.2017 - 08.2018
- Oversaw agent portal development and CI/CD pipeline using GitHub, AWS, and ATDD.
- Delivered Guidewire policy, billing, and claims modules ahead of industry benchmarks.
- Guidewire Implementation
Sr. IT Project Manager
Cardinal Health
01.2015 - 01.2016
- Led batch job automation and data archiving across 10 business units.
- Managed cross-functional teams across time zones and offshore locations.
- SAP Migration & Data Archiving
Education
MBA - Business/Information Technology
Keller Graduate School
BS - Technology Management
DeVry University
AS - Computer Science
Southeastern Business College
Skills
- Agile Leadership & Coaching: Scrum, Kanban, Disciplined Agile, Jira, Smartsheet, Workfront, DevOps, CI/CD, Automation
- Cloud & AI Transformation: AWS, Azure, Generative AI, Skense, AI Agents (ChatGPT, CoPilot), MLOps, Cybersecurity, Data Governance
- Strategic Delivery & Governance: Portfolio Planning, PMO Governance, Budgeting, Forecasting, Risk Management, Executive Reporting, Change Management
- Project planning
- Scope management
- Project plan development
- Client relationship management
- Project scheduling
- Cross-functional communication
- Training and mentoring
Accomplishments
- Collaborated with team of 64 in the development of User Portal for Guidewire implementation.
- Rebuilt project plan and resolved root cause of multiple issues which led to successful outsourcing of mailroom
- Achieved building Disaster Recovery plan to satisfy contractual agreement by inventorying and prioritizing applications and procedures with accuracy and efficiency.
- Achieved building ML models by introducing Skense for indexing claims and non-claims tasks.
Affiliations
- VP of Certification – PMI Central Ohio Chapter (2014–2016)
- PMI Instructor – PMP & PMI-ACP (2011–2017)
- Member – Women for Economic Leadership Development (2023–Present)
- Member – Cloud Center of Excellence (2021)
Certification
- PMP PMI-ACP Agile Metrics Micro-Credential
- AWS Cloud Practitioner Cybersecurity (2024)
- Generative AI for Project Managers (2024)
Timeline
Senior Project Manager
OCLC
09.2024 - Current
Project Manager
Bath & Body Works
11.2022 - 07.2023
Program Manager
Grange Insurance
05.2020 - 11.2022
Agile Program Manager
State Auto Insurance
01.2017 - 08.2018
Sr. IT Project Manager
Cardinal Health
01.2015 - 01.2016
BS - Technology Management
DeVry University
AS - Computer Science
Southeastern Business College
MBA - Business/Information Technology
Keller Graduate School