Sarah Lapp
Pecatonica,USA
Summary
Strategic Product Manager with a robust background in team leadership and project management. Expertise in coaching product owners and ensuring alignment of projects with overarching business objectives. Committed to fostering a collaborative environment that promotes continuous improvement and drives successful delivery of innovative solutions.
Overview
25
25
years of professional experience
Work History
Manager – Business Analysis Manager
Farmers Insurance
01.2021 - Current
- Managed, coached, and developed team of 3 Product Owners and 1 Business Analyst to effectively manage features and projects aligned with company objectives.
- Facilitate the efforts of project sizing and business prioritization activities partnering with IT and business partners, ensuring projects are aligned to company objectives.
- Actively partner with Release Train Engineers PI Planning ceremonies to ensure that appropriately planned projects are planned for the ART teams.
- Supported Product Owners in day-to-day activities, including creation of EPICs, Features, and User Stories to facilitate project and team success.
- Facilitate meetings with the business for project and requirement clarification.
- Guided ART team and partnering teams in solutioning injections into current PI, identifying risks to implementation and solving problems to ensure quality delivery.
- Conduct project tracking and reporting of large initiatives to ensure key deliverables are met.
- Provide guidance to the ART team to ensure Sprint Planning and Retrospectives are conducted across the teams for work prioritization.
Manager – Business Applications Quality Assurance
Farmers Insurance
01.2021 - Current
- Manage, coach, and develop a team of 5 full-time employees, 7 Contractor Off Shore Resources and 2 Near Shore Resources involved in quality assurance testing for vendor and/or proprietary business applications.
- Successfully lead the user acceptance test effort for the major initiative of Guidewire Upgrade from Version 9 to Version 10 platform along with ongoing upgrades within the application.
- Led user acceptance testing for legacy applications and cloud implementation of Guidewire during new state rollout, enhancements, and production fixes.
- Manages and partners critical relationships with IT, consultants, vendors, internal and users as well as business partners and leadership.
- Develop and deliver presentations on project successes and risks to senior leadership.
- Developed metrics and created reporting materials for senior leadership updates.
- Conduct regular review and develop standard work processes on newly implemented processes.
- Translates senior management and department vision to develop team strategy, implement service levels and business objectives.
- Actively identifies training needs of business partners and employees by developing and providing the necessary training to meet those needs.
Manager – Business Application Quality Assurance
MetLife Auto & Home
01.2014 - 01.2021
- Managed, coached and developed a team of 5 supervisors and overall, an organization of 28 employees involved in quality assurance testing for vendor and/or proprietary business applications.
- Led user acceptance testing for legacy applications and cloud implementation with Guidewire, supporting new state rollout, enhancements, and production fixes.
- Guided Data Management team in applying best practices for testing during Guidewire platform rollout, enhancing overall testing effectiveness.
- Translates senior management and department vision to develop team strategy, implement service levels and business objectives.
- Manages and partners critical relationships with IT, consultants, vendors, internal and users as well as business partners and leadership.
- Developed and delivered presentations on project successes and risks, ensuring senior leadership was informed and engaged.
- Forecasts and monitors the budget for areas of responsibility.
Business Process Consultant II
MetLife Auto & Home
01.2011 - 01.2014
- Successfully led the user acceptance testing effort for In The Car program which supported organic growth, $5,000,000 in premium and 4,500 expected policies.
- Mapped 4 processes within UAT to identify improvement opportunities.
- Managed workload for 30 User Acceptance Testing (UAT) employees using Resource Allocation tool, balancing day-to-day tasks, vacation time, and unanticipated key initiatives.
- Developed and maintained the unit and individual score card for the UAT team.
- Assisted in developing and deploying Skill Assessment tool to support training and employee development.
- Assisted with the planning and coordination of training for various topics for UAT employees to aid in their development.
Business Applications Quality Assurance Consultant
MetLife Auto & Home
01.2004 - 01.2011
- Led team of associates to meet project goals and deadlines during migration to Global Operations Support Center.
- Collaborated in pilot with Actuarial to reduce overall defect rate for installed projects and rate revisions.
- Delivered ongoing data on project testing progress for analysis by Project Manager and IT Coordinator.
- Demonstrated compliance with published Project Delivery Process which includes developing Test Plans, Test Cases and Test Scripts.
- Provided stateside support to Process Owner, providing process redesign support for 2 out of 3 offshored processes.
Risk Entry Specialist
MetLife Auto & Home
01.2001 - 01.2004
- Served as liaison for CARCO audit, implementing a new workflow that enhanced customer service in auto inspections.
- Ensured Certificate of Insurance coverage was accurate and met state DMV requirements.
- Processed policy endorsements successfully for all lines of business and products.
- Facilitated organizational changes across multiple business areas within Process Champions Network, driving collaboration and efficiency.
- Reacted to Viewpoint Survey results, presenting business cases to management as a proactive member of VIP Committee.
Education
Associates - Business Administration
Indiana Wesleyan University
Certified SAFe 6 Practioner -
Scaled Agile, Inc
Six Sigma Green Belt -
Bryant University
Associates - Personal Insurance
AICPCU/IIA
Associates - Insurance Services
AICPCU/IIA
Introduction to Claims -
AICPCU/IIA
Leadership Institute -
Highland Community College
Supervisory / Management -
AICPCU/IIA
Testers Foundation Level -
AST Qualifications Board
Skills
- Business analysis
- Project management
- Product management
- Stakeholder engagement
- Project planning
- Process improvement
- Risk management
- Quality assurance
- User testing
- Project tracking
- Team leadership
- Performance evaluations
Timeline
Manager – Business Analysis Manager
Farmers Insurance
01.2021 - Current
Manager – Business Applications Quality Assurance
Farmers Insurance
01.2021 - Current
Manager – Business Application Quality Assurance
MetLife Auto & Home
01.2014 - 01.2021
Business Process Consultant II
MetLife Auto & Home
01.2011 - 01.2014
Business Applications Quality Assurance Consultant
MetLife Auto & Home
01.2004 - 01.2011
Risk Entry Specialist
MetLife Auto & Home
01.2001 - 01.2004
Associates - Business Administration
Indiana Wesleyan University
Certified SAFe 6 Practioner -
Scaled Agile, Inc
Six Sigma Green Belt -
Bryant University
Associates - Personal Insurance
AICPCU/IIA
Associates - Insurance Services
AICPCU/IIA
Introduction to Claims -
AICPCU/IIA
Leadership Institute -
Highland Community College
Supervisory / Management -
AICPCU/IIA
Testers Foundation Level -
AST Qualifications Board