Stephanie Loula
Minneapolis,MN
Summary
Pragmatic professional with 10 years of experience in strategic planning, technology, project and program management, and process development and improvement. Skilled in engaging with individuals at all levels, fostering team dynamics, and influencing senior leaders. Recognized as an agile strategist and problem solver, adept at designing new processes and driving continuous improvement initiatives. Experienced in cultivating strong business partnerships and tailoring messages to diverse audiences. Demonstrated success in implementing strategic business plans, driving growth, and enhancing operational efficiency. Skilled in financial management and stakeholder relations.
Overview
13
13
years of professional experience
Work History
Director of Strategy & Planning
Target Corporation
09.2021 - 07.2024
- Oversaw long-term planning efforts through leading executive-level meetings and workshops aimed at shaping corporate vision and direction.
- Led the design and execution of qualitative, quantitative, and ethnographic user research to create new, innovative operating model using evidence-based methodology.
- Delivered first comprehensive strategic research analytics platform that enables multichannel analysis of all enterprise user behavior and insights, including activation, retention, and satisfaction, using both deterministic and probabilistic data matching and modeling.
- Designed performance metrics tracking systems that enabled data-driven decision making across various functional areas within the company.
- Oversaw long-term planning efforts through leading executive-level meetings and workshops aimed at shaping corporate vision and direction, resulting in successful launch of new operating model and a new risk mitigation pilot program.
- Managed multidisciplinary projects from inception to completion, ensuring timely delivery within scope and budget constraints; ultimately saving an overall $98M in labor savings in 2023.
- Devised and presented business plans and strategies for new operating model to board of directors.
Director of Process Operations- Replenishment & Compliance, Store Operations
Target Corporation
06.2020 - 09.2021
- Collaborated across multiple process, product, and business teams to co-create a replenishment vision and empower teams to have tools and insights to be instock for guests.
- Spearheaded new replenishment task process which involved multiple teams and securing capital funding of more than $2M for new technology, resulting in savings of $38M the following fiscal year.
- Implemented innovative solutions to solve complex replenishment problems, resulting in increased productivity with 19% labor savings equating to ~$68M and generated 2.5% increase in guest survey scores.
- Developed high-performing team by providing mentorship, guidance, and opportunities for professional growth.
Director of Operational Performance, Store Operations
Target Corporation
03.2018 - 06.2020
- Set vision and created flexible operational strategy for 26 field Operation Directors.
- Led Director group to expand shipping network during volume surges, using field input to steer volume to strongest stores and ultimately driving growth by 556%.
- Spearheaded efforts behind pandemic inventory relief strategies for stores and constructed business case during the pandemic to aggressively change inventory controls for stores to have better insight and control over unit accuracy.
- Implemented new technology design and implementation, ultimately driving reduced out of stock inventory in grocery departments by 8%.
Operations Director, R100
Target Corporation
02.2016 - 03.2018
- Supported the Group Vice President and 60 stores in MN with $3B in sales volume to raise store instocks, efficiency and sales driving capabilities.
- Developed strategic plans for digital business growth, enabling the company to expand its fulfillment initiatives, most notably Grocery Drive-Up, increasing market share and revenue.
- Created implementation plan of Drive Up service in Minneapolis, generating $800k of sales in the first quarter and exceeding average customer wait time goal by over 1 minute.
- Identified large inventory defects through testing new inventory logic and after working on resolutions through multiple inventory management teams, created a successful executive presentation that drove a productive meeting and alignment between the Senior Vice President of Store Operations, SVP of R100, and Chief Supply Chain and Logistics Officer.
Market Sales Leader, R100
Target Corporation
01.2014 - 02.2016
- Supported Group Vice President of 60 stores in maximizing top line sales growth and bottom line profit through being the change leader for new initiatives
- Supported and empowered group, district, and store leadership to grow mature sales and profit resulting in top 10 company performance of sales comp.
- Increased collaboration between the field and headquarters teams to remove road blocks, which resulted in over 10 successful rollouts company-wide. This included: Chip and Pin, Salesfloor Quantity and Salesfloor Capacity which revolutionized Target’s intra-day replenishment process.
- Leader for the Stores Ryder Truck program in Minneapolis SuperTargets, saving target 2.41M annually.
Store Management, G199
Target Corporation
06.2011 - 01.2014
- Held various roles; most notably as Store Director May 2013- January 2014.
- Led $40M store with 200+ employees, including P&L responsibility, budgeting, scheduling, operations, and employee development.
- Delivered all key financial metrics, surpassing sales goal by $850K, payroll budget by $220K, and expense budget by $16K.
- Improved Employee Opinion Survey results (from 63% to 88% overall satisfaction and 99% leadership upward feedback in 1st year) by increasing total staff, coaching and developing employees, managing performance, and implementing best practices.
Education
Masters of Business Administration -
University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN05.2027
Bachelor of Science, Education -
University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN05.2010
Skills
- Data-driven decision-making
- Strategic Partnerships
- Organizational Development
- Customer Segmentation
- Brand positioning
- Digital Transformation
- Corporate Governance
- Change and Growth Management
- Solution Innovation
- Portfolio Management
Timeline
Director of Strategy & Planning
Target Corporation
09.2021 - 07.2024
Director of Process Operations- Replenishment & Compliance, Store Operations
Target Corporation
06.2020 - 09.2021
Director of Operational Performance, Store Operations
Target Corporation
03.2018 - 06.2020
Operations Director, R100
Target Corporation
02.2016 - 03.2018
Market Sales Leader, R100
Target Corporation
01.2014 - 02.2016
Store Management, G199
Target Corporation
06.2011 - 01.2014
Masters of Business Administration -
University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
Bachelor of Science, Education -
University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
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