Summary
Work History
Education
Skills
Accomplishments
Certification
Timeline
Teacher

Robert Ballou, CPSM, CPSD

Boca Raton,FL

Summary

Seasoned Supply Chain Management professional with 25+ years experience in private and public organizations. Masters of Science in Management and Certified Professional of Supply Management. Procurement leader with extensive sourcing (RFx/ITB) experience. Data and change oriented process leader with demonstrated analytical, statistical modeling and project management experience.

Work History

Adjunct Professor

MIAMI DADE COLLEGE
06.2023 - Current
  • Taught Business and HR Management courses, providing instruction to up to 10 undergraduate students per class
  • Encouraged class discussions by building discussions into lessons, actively soliciting input, asking open-ended questions and using techniques to track student participation
  • Built relationships with students, mentoring on personal, professional and academic goals while providing coaching on effective study habits

Officer, Economic Development & Compliance

BROWARD COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
12.2019 - 06.2023
  • Led 11 person team responsible for economic inclusion activities for small and disadvantaged business and achieving diversity spend initiatives within $1 Billion procurement budget
  • Actively grew purchases from local suppliers from $70M in 2019 to over $230M in 2023.
  • Reviewed and recommended changes to requests for proposals and issued compliance reports on all quotes to support sourcing efforts.
  • Tracked contract performance metrics and reported issues or non-compliance with appropriate stakeholders

Divisional Merchandise Manager

OFFICE DEPOT, INC
01.2018 - 05.2019
  • Led a 14 person team responsible for the development and the execution of the strategic category plan for nearly a $1 billon dollar business across all channels of business (Retail, Web & B2B)
  • Lead sales and marketing strategy for Back to School season, exceeded both sales and margin goals
  • Represented supplies team in senior management meetings in absence of VP.
  • Cultivated strong relationships with vendors to maintain and improve levels of customer service
  • Negotiated pricing and terms with vendors to secure best value for company
  • Hired and trained purchasing staff to improve effectiveness of purchasing operations

Senior Category Merchant

Office Depot Inc
01.2012 - 01.2018
  • Responsible for sales, margin and inventory (GMROI) and driving overall market share of Uncoated
  • Free Sheet (Copy Paper)
  • Total sales exceed $500 million with inventory turn of 16
  • Worked closely with Senior Leadership throughout Supply Chain to get buy in and break down silos to change legacy distribution process for case copy paper that resulting in elimination of outs while increasing inventory turn of best selling item, industry leading 53 (less than 1 week of supply)
  • Received Top Sales and Profit Award among all merchants for 2014 Q1&2 (Supplies Division)
  • Developed and executed spend category to support business objectives
  • Practiced standard sourcing process of opportunity assessment through supplier on-boarding to achieve goals
  • Liaised with senior leaders to address supplier performance issues and develop solutions

Director, Supply Chain Diversity

Office Depot Inc
01.2000 - 01.2012
  • Lead 8 person team to manage all facets of diversity in trade, procurement and reseller initiatives
  • Created the award winning, ODP Supplier Diversity Process: Seek, Offer, Partner, Market & Empower
  • Launched, first of its kind, HUB catalog to feature array of diverse suppliers and products.
  • Worked closely with organizational leadership and board of directors to guide Supplier Diversity strategy.
  • Spearheaded innovative approaches to resource allocation and strategic planning.

Education

Master of Science - Management | Situational Leadership

NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY - HUIZENGA SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Fort Lauderdale, FL
12.2006

Bachelor of Arts - Political Science | Economic Studies

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
Gainesville, FL
12.1992

Skills

  • Extensive Sourcing Expertise (RFx and ITB)
  • Supply Chain Management
  • Merchandising Operations and Product Sourcing
  • Procurement Expertise
  • Contract Negotiation
  • Project Management
  • Analytic and Organizational Skills
  • Business Process Improvement

Accomplishments


  • National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC): Committees: Executive, Chairpersons (Chair) and Retail Industry Group (Chair)
  • Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC): Board Vice Chair; Committees: Executive, Certification
  • Diversity Information Resources (DIR): Board Vice Chair; Committees: Executive & Marketing (chair)

Certification

  • Certified Professional of Supply Management (CPSM), Institute for Supply Management
  • Certified Professional of Supplier Diversity (CPSD), Institute for Supply Management
  • Six Sigma Yellow Belt, Broward County Public Schools Executive Education

Timeline

Adjunct Professor

MIAMI DADE COLLEGE
06.2023 - Current

Officer, Economic Development & Compliance

BROWARD COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
12.2019 - 06.2023

Divisional Merchandise Manager

OFFICE DEPOT, INC
01.2018 - 05.2019

Senior Category Merchant

Office Depot Inc
01.2012 - 01.2018

Director, Supply Chain Diversity

Office Depot Inc
01.2000 - 01.2012

Master of Science - Management | Situational Leadership

NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY - HUIZENGA SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

Bachelor of Arts - Political Science | Economic Studies

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

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Robert Ballou, CPSM, CPSD