Stephen Schmidt
Chicago,IL
Summary
Transformational Program Executive with 15 years of experience designing and leading PMOs in media, marketing, technology, and data-driven sectors. Partners with CEOs and executive teams to translate strategic goals into actionable plans, ensuring alignment of cross-functional priorities. Establishes PMOs that enhance decision-making, drive financial transparency, and facilitate organizational change.
Overview
9
9
years of professional experience
Work History
Vice President, Program Management
RAPP
Chicago, IL
09.2023 - Current
- Acted as a strategic operating partner to executive leadership, aligning portfolio priorities, investment decisions, and resourcing to business objectives.
- Established and led an enterprise PMO supporting multi-year transformation initiatives across Media, Marketing Technology, Product, Engineering, and Data.
- Scaled a cross-agency media and technology solution from proof-of-concept into a sustained enterprise program.
- Designed portfolio planning and governance frameworks enabling executive tradeoff decisions.
- Delivered executive-ready dashboards covering program health, financials, and risks.
- Led enterprise change management, onboarding seven client teams and reducing ramp-up time by 35%.
- Owned capacity planning and utilization strategy, ramping 40+ personnel at 94% efficiency.
Senior Director, CX Strategy & Operations
Iris Worldwide
Chicago, IL
10.2019 - 09.2023
- Delivered 200% NPS increase and 17% lift in transaction value.
- Integrated analytics into governance, resulting in 40% engagement growth.
- Established governance models adopted by 14 concurrent programs, enhancing alignment and efficiency.
- Created digital maturity frameworks to guide investment decisions and ensure accountability.
- Defined enterprise digital and media-adjacent transformation roadmaps.
Vice President, CX & Delivery
Marmalade
Chicago, IL
12.2017 - 09.2019
- Directed customer experience enhancements through media program management during rapid scale.
- Partnered with CEO to implement financial and delivery governance, supporting 140% growth.
- Built PMO infrastructure for portfolio reporting and workforce planning.
Program Director
Merkle
Chicago, IL
01.2017 - 12.2017
- Led $28M CRM and MarTech transformation for L’Oréal across 27 brands.
- Managed program financials, coordinated vendors, and produced executive reports.
- Enhanced forecasting accuracy and increased margins by 3%.
Education
Bachelor of Fine Arts -
Drake University
Des Moines, IADes Moines, IA
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) -
Scrum Alliance
Skills
- Enterprise PMO architecture and maturity
- Media, AdTech, and MarTech leadership
- Portfolio prioritization and governance
- Executive reporting
- Budget management and forecasting
- Organizational change enablement
- Cross-functional orchestration
- Vendor and partner governance
- Risk and quality management
- Agile and hybrid delivery models
Timeline
Vice President, Program Management
RAPP
09.2023 - Current
Senior Director, CX Strategy & Operations
Iris Worldwide
10.2019 - 09.2023
Vice President, CX & Delivery
Marmalade
12.2017 - 09.2019
Program Director
Merkle
01.2017 - 12.2017
Bachelor of Fine Arts -
Drake University
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) -
Scrum Alliance