Leena Yerneni
Dallas,Texas
Summary
Results-oriented Project Manager with over 10 years of experience driving operational efficiency through the management of complex MDM projects and AI-driven initiatives. Proven expertise in leveraging agile methodologies to optimize business processes and enhance data governance, achieving up to a 25% acceleration in time-to-market. Adept in stakeholder engagement and data analysis, with a robust ability to lead cross-functional teams and execute strategic initiatives. Proficient in JIRA, and Azure ADO, focused on crafting actionable insights and implementing effective data management practices that align with organizational goals.
Overview
1
1
Certification
10
10
years of professional experience
Work History
Program Manager
Toyota Motors North America
11.2024 - Current
- Lead end-to-end execution of enterprise master data and vehicle data integration initiatives across 10+ cross-functional teams, ensuring seamless data flow across complex upstream and downstream systems.
- Drive governance and delivery of critical vehicle master data domains, including pricing, accessories, dealer assignments, destinations, manufacturing attributes, vehicle status, and lifecycle events.
- Manage integrated program roadmaps, cross-system dependencies, milestones, and critical-path activities, enabling proactive risk mitigation and timely delivery of complex data initiatives.
- Lead SIT, UAT, data validation, and production-readiness activities across enterprise platforms, driving resolution of data quality, integration, and environment-related issues before deployment.
- Identify and mitigate risks across master data integrations, data transformations, system-of-record dependencies, and inbound/outbound data flows, establishing clear ownership and resolution strategies.
- Establish cross-functional governance and intake processes to prioritize data issues, defects, dependencies, and change requests based on business impact and program objectives.
- Translate complex data and integration challenges into executive-level insights, metrics, risks, and actionable recommendations, enabling informed Go/No-Go and production deployment decisions.
Project Manager
Pivotree Inc
11.2022 - 10.2024
- Led end-to-end delivery of MDM, PIM, and data governance projects, improving product visibility by 15% and accelerating time-to-market by 25%.
- Collaborated with stakeholders to define business requirements, user stories, acceptance criteria, and product roadmaps, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and budget constraints.
- Facilitated Agile ceremonies, backlog prioritization, sprint planning, and roadmap execution using JIRA and Azure DevOps, resulting in 95% on-time delivery.
- Conducted gap analysis, process mapping, and solution design workshops, reducing scope changes by 20% and improving business outcomes.
- Managed cross-functional teams including business, data, QA, and development resources across multiple client engagements, achieving 98% customer satisfaction.
- Oversaw UAT, defect management, and release readiness activities, improving first-time acceptance rates to 98% and reducing production issues by 50%.
- Created architecture diagrams, workflow documentation, and onboarding frameworks that reduced onboarding effort by 40% and project startup costs by 15%.
- Drove master data and product data optimization initiatives that reduced data complexity and improved profitability by 10%.
Senior Business Analyst
Integrity Inc
09.2020 - 10.2022
- Led the development of business cases for Data Science use cases, such as the Lead Pricing Model, Moneyball, and Cresta, effectively communicating the value proposition to stakeholders and securing buy-in for implementation.
- Collaborated with stakeholders to gather and analyze requirements for AI-driven solutions, aligning model features with business needs and improving lead conversion and customer engagement strategies.
- Performed data analysis to evaluate ROI and other key performance indicators (KPIs) for lead scoring models, demonstrating a 22% increase in conversion rates and providing insights to enhance future strategies and maximize return on investment.
- Managed project timelines and deliverables for AI initiatives, including Cresta implementation, ensuring alignment with business objectives and achieving a significant uplift in conversion rates and agent productivity.
- Facilitated cross-departmental collaboration between marketing, sales, and data teams to implement AI solutions, optimizing lead management processes and improving customer acquisition strategies.
- Monitored and evaluated model performance using key metrics, refining AI-driven marketing strategies based on data-driven insights to improve customer conversion and retention rates.
- Implemented Cresta to streamline QA processes, resulting in significant QA savings and improving agent efficiency through advanced conversational analytics.
MDM Business Analyst
Army and Air Force Exchange Service
03.2019 - 08.2020
- Increased product master data accuracy by 30%+ by defining and implementing data quality rules, validation workflows, and governance controls within the STIBO STEP platform, reducing downstream business errors.
- Reduced new product onboarding time by 40%, streamlining product data creation, enrichment, and approval workflows in STEP, enabling faster time-to-market for retail product launches.
- Drove successful integration of STIBO STEP with ERP, eCommerce, and supply chain systems, establishing a single source of truth for over X million product records and improving cross-system data consistency by 35%.
- Partnered with merchandising, marketing, and IT teams to identify and resolve critical data quality issues, resulting in a 25% reduction in product listing defects and enhanced customer shopping experience across digital channels.
- Led requirements gathering, data mapping, UAT, and stakeholder alignment for MDM initiatives, contributing to the successful delivery of enterprise data governance solutions that improved operational efficiency by 20% and strengthened compliance with data standards.
Business Systems Analyst
Bed Bath and Beyond
05.2017 - 03.2019
- Facilitated Scrum events including Daily Standup's, Sprint Planning, Sprint Reviews, and Retrospectives, while continuously refining the product backlog to improve project flow and team productivity.
- Collaborated with product owners to prioritize user stories, validate requirements, and identify areas for process improvement, enhancing product development cycles.
- Developed metrics to track and analyze supply chain performance using STIBO STEP, enhancing master data quality, transaction data timeliness, and adherence to implementation timelines, which increased overall supply chain transparency.
- Designed and implemented dashboards in MicroStrategy to visualize and communicate Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), providing clear insights for stakeholders and improving decision-making processes.
- Led the migration of over 50 reports to Tableau, transforming and consolidating dashboards to create more efficient and user-friendly visualizations, resulting in a 20% reduction in report generation time.
- Partnered with internal and external stakeholders to gather and deliver requirements for implementing item management and digital merchandising projects, ensuring successful project delivery.
- Conducted interviews with business stakeholders to suggest process improvements, reducing vendor procurement time by nearly 30% and streamlining supply chain operations.
- Designed and developed workflows and custom portal components to enhance governance and improve the quality of product data solutions, effectively eliminating redundancy.
- Collaborated with the testing team to write test cases and scripts, perform system and integration testing, consistently meeting project timelines and improving overall quality.
Data Analyst
American Express GBT
09.2016 - 04.2017
- Led the analysis, design, and development of an in-house project using Confluence, MS Project, and SharePoint, enhancing project workflows and team collaboration.
- Gathered and analyzed requirements from user groups to identify key product features and enhancements, developing a comprehensive roadmap.
- Managed and optimized report orientation and structures using advanced Excel functions, including PivotTables and V-Lookups, resulting in reporting efficiency.
- Documented end-to-end process flows to outline project development stages, logic, testing procedures, and implementation plans.
- Utilized JIRA for incident management, maintaining a 100% response rate and ensuring adherence to SLA requirements.
Education
MS - Computer Software Engineering
University of Houston
Clear Lake, TX05-2016
BE - Computer Science and Engineering
KL University
India05-2014
Skills
- Leadership
- Team collaboration
- Relationship building
- Strategic planning
- Stakeholder communications
- IT Project Management
- Agile
- Data Analysis
- Reporting
- Business Intelligence
- Lucidchart
- Advanced Microsoft Excel
- STIBO
- Informatica
Certification
Certified ScrumMaster(CSM) - Scrum Alliance| July 2025
Timeline
Program Manager
Toyota Motors North America
11.2024 - Current
Project Manager
Pivotree Inc
11.2022 - 10.2024
Senior Business Analyst
Integrity Inc
09.2020 - 10.2022
MDM Business Analyst
Army and Air Force Exchange Service
03.2019 - 08.2020
Business Systems Analyst
Bed Bath and Beyond
05.2017 - 03.2019
Data Analyst
American Express GBT
09.2016 - 04.2017
BE - Computer Science and Engineering
KL University
MS - Computer Software Engineering
University of Houston