NILIMA RAO
Irvine,CA
Work Preference
Summary
SaaS Governance & Enterprise Vendor Management Leader | Portfolio Operations | PMP | Product Development | AI Automation| KAIZEN | Data Governance
Enterprise Program Manager with 10+ years of experience leading SaaS implementations, vendor governance, and enterprise technology portfolios across healthcare, biotech, and technology organizations. Proven track record managing large-scale SaaS ecosystems, overseeing vendor lifecycle governance, renewal planning, financial oversight, and cross-functional coordination across IT, Finance, Legal, and Security teams. Experienced in driving visibility, executive reporting, cost optimization, and governance standardization across multi-million-dollar SaaS programs. Adept at operating independently in complex, rapidly scaling environments while establishing structured processes, dashboards, and portfolio controls to improve transparency, compliance, and financial predictability.
Overview
15
15
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Enterprise Project Manager (Consultant)
Word & Brown Companies
Orange, CA
07.2024 - Current
- Leading enterprise transition from legacy Pegasus system to vendor-based SaaS platform (mPulse).
- Overseeing full lifecycle governance including requirements alignment, vendor coordination, testing oversight, and migration planning.
- Driving structured governance communications and executive reporting to provide visibility across IT, Finance, and business leadership.
- Managing RAID logs, milestone tracking, and cross-functional risk mitigation to ensure predictable delivery and vendor accountability.
- Aligning vendor deliverables with contractual commitments and organizational milestones.
- Implementing standardized governance processes to improve cross-department coordination and long-term SaaS platform sustainability.
Technical Program Manager (Consultant)
Dyau Inc. / Fractional Synergy
Irvine, CA
07.2020 - 07.2024
- Founded Fractional Synergy, a project/program management consulting initiative aimed at providing project leadership for growing businesses in healthcare and technology.
- Currently in early-stage business development; engaged in proposal design, service model planning, and market research.
- Positioning to support future clients with agile delivery execution, stakeholder workshops, and scalable PM frameworks.
Senior Program Manager - Medical & Life Sciences
Danaher Companies
Cepheid, Pall Corp.
07.2020 - 07.2024
- Directed governance and lifecycle oversight for enterprise SaaS platforms including Salesforce CLM/CPQ, ensuring structured rollout, vendor coordination, and adoption across 2,000+ global users.
- Partnered with IT, Legal, Finance, and Security teams to align SaaS implementations with compliance, data governance, and operational standards.
- Oversaw vendor engagement, contract alignment, and executive-level reporting across multi-million-dollar SaaS programs.
- Developed portfolio dashboards and executive reporting, to provide visibility into system performance, risks, adoption metrics, and budget tracking.
- Led structured governance forums and steering committees to manage risk, renewals, scope alignment, and vendor accountability.
- Applied Kaizen and Lean methodologies to identify process redundancies and optimize platform utilization.
Senior Project Leader- Contract
06.2018 - 12.2022
- Oversaw cloud-native platform modernization and SaaS integrations across enterprise environments.
- Facilitated requirements workshops, integration planning, and cross-functional execution governance.
- Led Salesforce Lightning redesign and portal implementation initiatives improving user adoption.
- Coordinated with business and technical stakeholders to ensure platform alignment with operational and financial objectives.
- Clients: Blizzard Entertainment, Alteryx Inc., Avanir Pharma
Program Manager/Scrum Master
Molina Healthcare
Long Beach
02.2013 - 02.2016
- Directed a $20M SaaS transformation initiative modernizing claims processing and patient engagement platforms.
- Partnered with Finance and IT to align budget forecasts, delivery milestones, and ROI tracking across cloud initiatives.
- Managed vendor coordination and cross-functional delivery governance across compliance-driven healthcare systems.
- Delivered HIPAA-compliant cloud solutions with minimal operational disruption.
Program Project Manager
United Healthcare & OptumRx
Irvine
06.2011 - 12.2012
- Managed enterprise compliance and technology modernization programs totaling $8M-$9M.
- Built cost-benefit analyses and ROI models supporting executive investment decisions.
- Coordinated with Compliance, IT Security, and Legal to ensure vendor and system alignment with regulatory standards.
Technical Operations PM - Special project contract
Ready Pac Foods
Irwindale
12.2010 - 06.2011
- Directed an ERP migration for a high-volume manufacturing plant, improving inventory management efficiency by 46%.
- Collaborated with senior management to deliver customized JDE enterprise solutions and user training manuals.
- Started in software development before transitioning into project and program management.
Senior IT Project Manager- Special project contract
Danaher Companies
Beckman Coulter, Brea
12.2010 - 06.2011
- Steered delivery of BigMachines, Oracle's CPQ cloud-v11 end-to-end implementation with significant influence over testing, resource allocation, and integration between web-based sales system and Oracle-based ordering system.
- This assisted the company with cost savings of ~32% and increased forecast sales by about 150%.
- Managed a team of 20 including offshore teams in a matrix organization. Responsible for resource allocation, timeline management, and work planning for the team.
Education
MBA - Business Analytics
Washington State University
04.2026
B.S. - Computer Science
University of Missouri
01.1999
Skills
- Project Management Professional (PMP)
- SaaS Governance
- Enterprise CRM & Cloud Solutions
- Enterprise Vendor Management
- Ecommerce Startup & Digital
- AI Automation and Integration
- Data Governance
- DBS Kaizen/Six Sigma
Certification
- Six Sigma Green Belt Certification, UHG
- Project Management Professional (PMP), Project Management Institute, 1559575, 2027-12-01
- Danaher TPS Lean Six Sigma (Kaizen), AI, Danaher
Languages
English
Technology Stack
Salesforce CPQ/CLM, Oracle CPQ, SAP ECC, AWS, ServiceNow PPM, Microsoft Project, Smartsheet, Monday, Excel (advanced), Power BI, SQL, Tableau, Jira, Confluence, SharePoint, Trello, Asana, Visio, Lucid chart
Awards
- UHG Innovation Award for EPA (Electronic Process Authorization) automation in healthcare
- Recognized for Enterprise Digital Transformation Leadership
- Process Optimization Excellence Award - Saved $15M in operational costs
Community Service
- Second Harvest Food Bank
- SPEAK Mentorship
- American Red Cross
- Cyber Senior-Scan Health
Timeline
Enterprise Project Manager (Consultant)
Word & Brown Companies
07.2024 - Current
Technical Program Manager (Consultant)
Dyau Inc. / Fractional Synergy
07.2020 - 07.2024
Senior Program Manager - Medical & Life Sciences
Danaher Companies
07.2020 - 07.2024
Senior Project Leader- Contract
06.2018 - 12.2022
Program Manager/Scrum Master
Molina Healthcare
02.2013 - 02.2016
Program Project Manager
United Healthcare & OptumRx
06.2011 - 12.2012
Technical Operations PM - Special project contract
Ready Pac Foods
12.2010 - 06.2011
Senior IT Project Manager- Special project contract
Danaher Companies
12.2010 - 06.2011
MBA - Business Analytics
Washington State University
B.S. - Computer Science
University of Missouri