Karen Willow, MBA, PMP, ITIL

Karen Willow, MBA, PMP, ITIL

Director, Applications Development/Applications Manager/Sr. Analyst

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location of Karen Willow, MBA, PMP, ITILGulf Shores, Alabama, United States

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  • Timeline

  • About me

    Senior Sourcing Consultant at Swingtide

  • Education

    • Seattle Pacific University

      -
      BA Liberal Arts

      Activities and Societies: Society of Fellows Member, Alumni Association Member

    • Arizona State University, W. P. Carey School of Business

      2006 - 2008
      EMBA Business Administration and Management, General
  • Experience

    • Eddie Bauer

      Jan 1991 - Jan 2001
      Director, Applications Development/Applications Manager/Sr. Analyst

      Led team of professionals in implementing common systems on time and on budget using in-house developed methodology for multiple companies anEd multiple channels of businesses to achieve shared foundations. Supervised up to six direct reports with a total of 25 associates.o Drove and participated on projects to set global standards that could be used across multiple international companies. o Established strategic direction in support of business initiatives, while maintaining adherence to architectural directives and initiatives.o Managed various levels of budgeting of up to $12 million, dependent on project and job responsibilities.o Collaborated with up-line management, clients, peers, and staff of project status, tactical implementations, and strategic directions. Show less

    • PETsMART, Inc.

      Jan 2001 - Jan 2004
      Director, BI and CRM Applications

      Mangement of the Business Information, CRM, and E-commerce teams including the data warehouses and tools. Supported the Marketing, Advertising, Customer Service, Catalog, and .com systems initiatives, including all aspects of CRM to ensure technology support for strategic business initiatives. Supervised up to five direct reports with a total of 30 associates. Managed various levels of budgeting for up to three distinctly different cost centers.o Oversaw selection and implementation of new e-commerce infrastructure, including hosting site, and tool and integration partner selection.o Built four application development teams, including contractor conversions and justification for existence of teams, saving the company over one million dollars.o Established many new initiatives to create a more stable environment, including a Nightly Processing Task Force, which resulted in substantial improvements in meeting company Service Level Agreements. Show less

    • Pegasus Solutions, Inc.

      Jan 2004 - Jan 2005
      Vice President, I.T.

      Leadership and direction of timely and cost effective projects following a defined methodology (with the ultimate goal to move to higher levels of the Capability Maturity Model). Worked with an offshore company in defining testing solutions. Supervised up to four direct reports with a total staff of almost 100 (including offshore).o Realized an average of 40% gain in delivery for the Requirements, Analysis, and Design processes by setting standards and utilizing JAR and JAD sessions.o Directed initiative to automate testing of key products to gain efficiencies, realizing a minimum of a 50% gain to date.o Proposed consolidation of three testing organizations into one, which was later adopted, to streamline processes. Show less

    • Willow Tree Enterprises, LLC

      Nov 2005 - now
      Executive Director

      Consulted with a variety of companies to identify and develop strategies, methodologies, and conduct implementations to support a vision for growth. Expertise utilized included strategic planning, facilitation, data warehousing, business information analytics, financial analysis, budgeting, customer relationship management, project management, and leadership.

    • Information Services Group

      Dec 2012 - Jul 2015
      Principal Consultant

      Responsible for development and delivery of Strategy, Assessment, Transaction, and / or Sourcing Management engagements to organizations to increase profitability. This includes program and project management, vendor selections, financial modeling, contract creation, contract negotiations, governance, and post selection implementation / management of IT infrastructure and application development.

    • Swingtide

      Aug 2015 - now
      Senior Sourcing Consultant
  • Licenses & Certifications

    • ITIL v3

    • PMP

      Project Management Institute