Gary Kucera

Experience

• 

  GE Lighting Systems

  Aug 1990 - Jun 1994

  • Drove initiatives of inventory and asset management • GE's financial management program consisted of four financial assignments, each six months, in International, Marketing, Manufacturing and Facilities.• Attended four financial courses instructed by GE's managers and graduated the program with honors rating.

  • Manufacturing Financial Collections Specialist

    Aug 1992 - Jun 1994

  • Financial Management Program (FMP)

    Aug 1990 - Jul 1992
• 

  GE Fanuc

  Jul 1994 - Oct 1995

  Financial Operation Planning Analyst

  • Provided total financial support to the new Husky partnership (non-GE company) which was projected to generate over $250M in revenue.• Drove initiatives of inventory and asset management.

• 

  GE Money

  Oct 1995 - Mar 2008

  Billing Auditing Manager and Operations Integrity Manager• Managed two teams (6 exempts, 24 nonexempts). • Billing Audit team audited large retail credit card statements for statement defects. Operation Integrity team researched each billing defect and drove these errors to resolution.Accomplishments:• Created billing audit learning systems which standardized the learning process for new hires, reduced the learning cycle time by 33%, while reducing the number of errors by new hires by 80%• Drove reduction of billing defects by over 64% in 1999.• Co-led the process improvement team vision of an automated audit process to improve quality, reduced over 19 employees and increase net income by $2 million annually. Show less

  • Compliance Reporting Manager, QA

    Feb 2005 - Mar 2008

  • IT System Conversion Manager

    Jan 2004 - Feb 2005

  • Manufacturing Certified Black Belt, Quality Assurance

    Feb 2001 - Jan 2004

  • Senior Business Operations Analyst, Quality Assurance

    Jun 2000 - Feb 2001

  • Operations Integrity Manager

    Feb 1997 - Jun 2000

  • Financial Operations Analyst

    Oct 1995 - Feb 1997
• 

  Kaplan

  Mar 2008 - Jun 2011

  • Led the Program Management Office for Financial Aid, Kaplan University Student Accounts, and Cohort Default Rate departments. • Oversaw customer solutions and provided strategic lean six sigma and project leadership, managing annual project budgets and implementations. • Led quality assurance efforts, completed lean six sigma training, and coached teams to enhance customer experience, streamline processes, and drive efficiencies. • Conducted training in Business Process Management, Green Belt, and White Belt techniques.Accomplishments:• Coached and trained 71 White Belts, 28 Green Belts, and 6 people in Business Process Management.• Led Project Management Office team and completed multiple process improvement projects to improve customer satisfaction, reduce defects and improve quality. • Presented at 3 International Quality Productivity Center (IQPC) Six Sigma conferences on lean six sigma and strategic planning.• Recognized as a top performer for 3 straight years from 3 different managers (2008, 2009, 2010). Show less

  • Executive Director, Program Management Office

    Jan 2010 - Jun 2011

  • Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Quality Assurance

    Mar 2008 - Dec 2009
• 

  ING

  Aug 2011 - Nov 2011

  Lean Six Sigma Certified Black Belt

  • Helped lead $60M enterprise print managment program toward the goal of standardizing processes and reducing print costs.• Supported corporate shared service initiatives.• Developed business process management (BPM) for advertisement compliance review services.

• 

  NCR Corporation

  Nov 2011 - Mar 2014

  Master Black Belt, Finance Continuous Improvement Champion, Quality Assurance

  • Led NCR Enterprise Breakthrough Initiative to drive disruptive transformation and customer solutions for the quote to cash processes using quality tools, innovative IT technology, and change management techniques.• Continuous Improvement Champion for Finance in leading lean six sigma activities for the global Finance organization.• Led Service invoice program initiatives to increase customer value, drive down labor costs, reduce invoice disputes and increase customer satisfaction.• Presented NCR's quote to cash transformation at 2013 4th quarter APQC's Process Improvement conference.• Received 2012 4th quarter CFO quarterly reward for quote to cash program leadership. Show less

• 

  Master Black Belt, QA Leadership in the Greater Atlanta Area

  Jan 2013 - now

  Founder | Master Black Belt, Director Quality Assurance

  Attending Networking Events Researching Industry LeadersTracking Industry TrendsParticipating in Industry Discussions

• 

  The Weather Channel

  Mar 2014 - Sept 2015

  Director Business Intelligence

  Led Business Intelligence strategy at The Weather Company, delivering essential insights for informed decision-making. Collaborated with business units to gather requirements, managed data placement in the Enterprise Data Warehouse by IT, and crafted presentation views and reports using MicroStrategy BI tools to enhance business outcomes. Held certifications in MicroStrategy (Certified Project Designer (CPD) and Certified Report Developer (CRD)) and spearheaded process simplicity initiatives within the Finance & Accounting department. Show less

• 

  Assurant

  Nov 2015 - now

  From 2019-2024, Led enterprise and strategic software platform modernization programs for Assurant using agile methodology:1. Assurant Renters Solution (2022-current): Oversaw the shift from legacy systems to Guidewire cloud platform for renter insurance products, collaborating with various internal and external teams and conducting regular updates for C-Suite leaders.2. Salesforce GLOW AIM (2020-2021): Led the conversion of global auto clients to Salesforce Glow/AIM platform, coordinating cross-functional teams across regions and providing updates to Assurant's C-Suite leaders. Global implementation included Europe, LATAM, and North America.3. Oracle Platform (2019): Led post conversion implementation of Oracle for Assurant's Connected Living business, coordinating diverse teams and ensuring alignment with monthly C-Suite leader updates. Show less

  • Program Director

    Aug 2020 - now

  • IT Program Manager

    Apr 2018 - Aug 2020

  • IT Program Manager

    Nov 2015 - Apr 2018