Sara Mills-Parry
Charleston,SC
Summary
Dynamic leader with over 20 years of experience in professional services and project management. Proven ability to drive operational excellence, leading high-performing IT teams and optimizing client delivery across global markets. Successful orchestration of strategies and process improvements that enhance program execution and speed to market resulting in improved customer satisfaction and increased ARR growth. Proven track record to increasing organizational growth and revenues - $798M in 2024. Exceptional skills in strategic planning, financial management, and stakeholder engagement. Adaptable and reliable, consistently achieving high-impact results in dynamic environments. Valued for collaborative team leadership and adaptability to evolving business needs. Ready to leverage my expertise to contribute to organizational growth and success.
Overview
20
20
years of professional experience
Work History
VP Global Delivery Management Professional Services
FICO
05.2018 - Current
- Responsible for the orchestration and delivery enablement of operational strategies to advance the Technical Global Project Management initiatives globally across NorAm (USA & Canada), LAC, EMEA, and APJ regions.
- Championed process excellence for launching new platform first technology, AI data driven products and upgrades to optimize client delivery within the fraud, compliance, risk, decision tools, loan origination, credit cards and scores practices.
- Collaborated with executive teams to align business objectives with technological advancements.
- Led cross-functional teams for the successful completion of major projects, resulting in increased efficiency and client satisfaction in financial services, telecommunications, insurance, automotive, healthcare, government and retail sectors.
- Established key performance indicators to assess operational efficiency and market trends.
- Manage portfolio of over 800 projects in support of managed services, staff augmentation, T&M and fixed fee contracts.
- Largest client program managed in 2025 is $30M in ARR.
Sr. Director Enterprise Project Management Office
TracFone
07.2015 - 05.2018
- Developed and led a high-performing team of Project Managers and QA Test professionals, overseeing the management, execution, testing, and monitoring of both development and production programs to ensure adherence to PMO procedures and development methodologies.
- Executed all phases of the program/project life cycle, driving the achievement of customer and business case objectives through effective planning and monitoring.
- Cultivated collaborative partnerships with functional leaders across the organization to enhance overall sales performance, P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow.
- Emphasized the importance of building robust client and customer relationships vital for growth and successful execution.
- Partners include T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon generating revenues in excess of $435M in 2018.
IT Director; Chief of Staff
Cox Communications
09.2011 - 06.2015
- Directed technical strategy and solution delivery management for professional services teams in go-to-market initiatives.
- Established operational governance and processes for all IT Application Development teams in a shared services environment, coordinating efforts across wireless, voice, telephony, and back-end systems, as well as e-commerce and data governance.
- Engineered and managed the Project Management Office and PMO Center of Excellence, along with Business Analysts Center of Excellence, facilitating comprehensive methodologies in application development, capacity management, resource allocation, and vendor management (both onshore and offshore).
- Served as Chief of Staff to the SVP Technology, managing and presenting financial data across a multi-tiered organization, overseeing budget and development portfolios, and ensuring compliance with policies and procedures, including audit standards and KPI monitoring.
- Fulfilled Chief of Staff duties to the VP Wireless Technology by delivering solutions for process improvement and managing the Cox Wireless IT Business Analysts.
- Reached a significant milestone by achieving $3 billion in annual revenue.
AVP Business Operations; AVP Quality & PMO
Equifax
05.2005 - 06.2011
- Managed business operations for Personal Solutions organization in the areas of IT Quality Assurance Testing, Tier II Support, Release Management and Change Management.
- Specialized in strategic and operational planning, design, stakeholder prioritization, capacity planning for large program execution, metrics reporting, and vendor compliance.
- Program Management in support of the large banking financial institutions supporting consumer credit data, protection against identity theft, fraud, and data breaches.
- Professional Services segment revenue was $254.9 million in 2011.
Director Quality Assurance
Xerox Document Sciences Corporation
05.2000 - 05.2005
- Oversaw testing, release management, project management, and end-to-end customer service for xPression software products, enabling users to translate organizational processes into effective software business rule logic through a comprehensive document design and assembly architecture.
- Record revenue reported in 2005 of $29.6 million. This represented a significant 28% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.
Director Software Quality Assurance & Hardware Manufacturing
IBM Productivity Solutions
02.1995 - 05.2000
- Directed software and hardware quality assurance testing and release for IBM Self-Checkout retail consumer systems, focusing on expedited checkout processes and superior customer service across various retail markets.
- Assured quality through rigorous testing of components including software, hardware, firmware, mobile terminals, and point of sale devices.
- Streamlined operations and productivity leading to the purchase by IBM.
Technology Consultant
Brintech
02.1990 - 02.1995
- Responsible for conducting on-site client assessments for banks and financial institutions in the areas of operations, IT technology, digital banking, lending, bank services, core platforms and risk management.
- Creation and presentation of three-year strategic plans in support of change management implementation, software/product upgrades for organizational alignment, workflows, policies, and procedures designed to maximize profitability and improve the bottom line.
- Focus on shareholder value through the efficient use of technology, gains in productivity, expense reductions, revenue enhancements, as well as dramatic improvements in customer service quality.
- Developed comprehensive technology roadmaps aligning IT strategy with business objectives.
Education
B.A., Bachelor of Arts - English
University of Florida
GainesvilleSkills
- P&L Responsibility
- Organizational Planning
- Forecasting
- Current State/Future State Roadmaps
- Global Portfolio/Program/Project Management
- Budget
- Oversight
- Compliance
- Global Capacity Planning & Resource Allocation
- Prioritization
- Management
- IT Governance Process Creation
- Implementation
- Adoption and Compliance Adherence for IT Shared Services
- Global Leverage of Best Practices (Project, Program, Process)
- Executive Dashboard Creation & Management
- Global Vendor Management (Contract Negotiations & Management for SOW/Amendments)
- Business Systems Analysis and Requirements Development
- Service Delivery & Service Availability (Quality, Metrics)
- Risk Assessment/Mitigation/Root Cause Analysis/Corrective Action/Preventative Action
- Process Documentation & Test Methodology
- Motivation
- Skills Management
- PMI (Project Management Institute)
- SDLC (Software Development Lifecycle) & FICO DMLC (Delivery Management Lifecycle)
- PCI (Payment Card Industry) Security Standards
- AWS, Azure, Cloud Strategy
- AI-powered Dashboards (Smartsheet, JIRA, Linear)
- AI Tools (GPT, Copilot)
- Data Driven Tools (Azure DevOps, Confluence, Microsoft Project)
- SAP, Oracle, Salesforce
- SaaS
- Agile and SAFe methodologies
- ERP platforms (SAP, Oracle), CRM (Epicor), Salesforce
- Recruiting, Hiring, Training, Mentoring
- Leadership
- Professional Services
- Lean Six Sigma, CMMI, SDLC, DMLC methodology development
- Project Management, Portfolio Optimization
- Automation
- Consulting
- Mentoring
- Communication
- Stakeholder Management
- Team leadership
- Relationship building
- Decision-making
- Critical thinking
Timeline
VP Global Delivery Management Professional Services
FICO
05.2018 - Current
Sr. Director Enterprise Project Management Office
TracFone
07.2015 - 05.2018
IT Director; Chief of Staff
Cox Communications
09.2011 - 06.2015
AVP Business Operations; AVP Quality & PMO
Equifax
05.2005 - 06.2011
Director Quality Assurance
Xerox Document Sciences Corporation
05.2000 - 05.2005
Director Software Quality Assurance & Hardware Manufacturing
IBM Productivity Solutions
02.1995 - 05.2000
Technology Consultant
Brintech
02.1990 - 02.1995
B.A., Bachelor of Arts - English
University of Florida