With two decades of experience as a Senior Product Manager, I have honed my skills as a cross-functional team leader, strategic thinker, and coach. Over the past 15 years, I have successfully navigated the realm of remote work, establishing myself as an effective communicator in virtual environments.
Proficient in Agile software development and well-versed in the software development lifecycle, I bring a dynamic approach to product management. Leading teams of UX designers, front-end and back-end software developers, I play a pivotal role in setting priorities, providing coaching when necessary, removing blockers, acknowledging accomplishments, and fostering collaborative problem-solving.
Bachelor of Arts
- Project Management Certificate
- Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO)
- Business Analysis
- Requirements Gathering
- Product Strategy
- Problem Solving
- Goal Definition
- Data Analysis
- Client Management
- Process Mapping
- Project Leadership
- Resource Management
- Agile Methodology
- User Stories
- Acceptance Criteria
- Backlog Management / Grooming
- Design System Management
- Component Library Governance
- Cross-functional Workflow Optimization
- Token Architecture & Implementation
- Design & Development: Figma, GitHub, Storybook, Design Tokens, Component Libraries
- Project Management: JIRA, Zenhub, Confluence, AHA
- Communication: Zoom, Slack, Mural
- Analytics & Monitoring: Google Analytics, Domo, Datadog
- Development Tools: SQL, Crystal Reports, Salesforce, PeopleSOft
- Design Tools: Axure, Balsamiq, Adobe Creative Suite
- Productivity: Google Suite, Microsoft Suite, SharePoint
- Content Management: AEM, Hubspot, Learning Management Systems
Sonoma, CA
Oct. 2022 – Present
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Design System Leadership: Spearheaded the integration of VA Design System components across 12+ digitized forms, ensuring consistency and accessibility compliance while reducing development time by 40%
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Component Library Management: Led initiative to audit 300+ Veteran-facing forms, identifying and replacing imposter components with V3 design system components, improving user experience consistency and maintenance efficiency
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Cross-functional Process Optimization: Developed and implemented end-to-end workflows from Figma design through production deployment, establishing clear responsibilities across Design, Engineering, and QA teams that reduced release cycles from quarterly to bi-weekly
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Token Architecture: Collaborated with design system teams to implement design token strategy, ensuring consistent visual language across VA digital properties and enabling scalable design updates
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Stakeholder Alignment: Strengthened relationships with Governance team by delivering high-quality artifacts and streamlined approval processes, reducing form approval time by 60%
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User Research & Accessibility: Facilitated user research sessions and accessibility audits, ensuring 508 and WCAG compliance while improving user satisfaction scores by 25%
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Agile Delivery: Led Scrum ceremonies for cross-functional team of 8+ members, maintaining sprint goals alignment with OKRs and achieving 95% on-time delivery rate
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Data-Driven Decision Making: Monitored system health using Google Analytics, Domo, and Datadog, developing playbooks that eliminated silent failures and improved form completion rates by 18%
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Form Digitization Strategy: Developed prioritization rubric for form digitization based on impact and complexity analysis, successfully delivering 12 digitized forms that serve 2M+ Veterans annually
Nov. 2011 – Sep. 2022
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Team Leadership: Managed team of Product Managers and Designers, delivering responsive and accessible custom software solutions for university clients with 98% year-over-year retention rate
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Product Ownership: Served as Product Owner for Harmonize (Online Discussion platform for Higher Education), driving product strategy and removing roadblocks for engineering teams
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Client Relationship Management: Interfaced directly with clients to understand vision and goals, developing trust and rapport that resulted in consistent business growth and contract renewals
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Accessibility Leadership: Led project to achieve WCAG 2.0 compliance across all products, establishing accessibility standards that became company-wide best practices
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Strategic Roadmap Management: Developed product roadmaps aligned with business strategy and stakeholder needs, incorporating market and competitive research insights
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Requirements & Process Documentation: Defined requirements, system process flows, and specifications ensuring alignment across project teams and reducing development rework by 30%
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User Research Excellence: Conducted in-person research with wireframes and user interviews, utilizing tools like Maze for asynchronous feedback collection that improved user satisfaction by 35%
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Budget & Timeline Management: Successfully managed $5M custom development project for K-12 Education (TXCEE Project), delivering on time and within budget
June 2010 – Nov 2011
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Strategic Portfolio Management: Developed and maintained roadmap for Global, Professional Services, Statement of Work, 1099 Compliance, and Strategic Workforce product lines serving contract staffing companies
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Team Management: Led team of four product managers and UX designers, implementing collaborative processes across Business Units
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Cross-functional Collaboration: Collaborated effectively with engineering, QA, support, marketing, and customer engagement teams to drive strategic improvements
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Agile Transformation: Reorganized development team, replacing Waterfall with Agile methodology and implementing JIRA, resulting in monthly feature releases (vs. quarterly) and faster time-to-market
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Client Retention: Prevented loss of major Compliance clients (Cox Communications) through strategic roadmap development and client working sessions
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Stakeholder Engagement: Initiated outreach to key clients including Sony, Facebook, and Google to gather user intelligence and validate product requirements
Nov. 2007 - Aug. 2010
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Agile Implementation: Focused on Agile software methodology for on-time, customer-facing software releases in wine industry vertical
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E-commerce Platform Management: Managed product roadmap for winery e-commerce and order fulfillment platform
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Payment Integration: Implemented POS and payment gateway solutions for club membership applications
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Compliance & Technical Specifications: Developed business requirements and technical specifications for wine compliance, marketplace, and e-commerce sites
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Full Lifecycle Management: Managed development lifecycle from conception through prototypes, development, QA, and implementation
Jan. 2001 - Nov. 2007
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Business Process Optimization: Developed business process and technical requirements for weekly payroll processing across four business lines
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Digital Transformation: Implemented online web applications for applicant onboarding, streamlining branch business processes
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Compliance Management: Led SOX compliance initiatives and online timekeeping solution implementations
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Data Consolidation: Converted 12 branch databases to single Staffing Application, consolidating candidates, employees, and clients
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Team Leadership: Managed staff supporting hosted software applications and internal systems
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Integration Architecture: Created requirements and oversaw implementation of data integration points between applications
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Strategic Planning: Created and implemented strategic roadmap for IS department, including vendor application research and cost analysis
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Requirements Translation: Gathered business requirements from Finance, Sales, Support, and Staffing teams, translating them into technical specifications