Diwakar Varadha

Experience

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  IBM Global Services

  Jul 1997 - Jun 1998

  Software Engineer
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  Target

  May 1998 - Aug 2004

  Systems Analyst - Store Ops
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  J.P. Morgan

  Sept 2004 - Oct 2008

  Sr Systems Project Manager

  - Enterprise Infrastructure upgrade program: Piloted the upgrade program for Credit division which included the hardware refresh - Business continuity and recovery project: Spearheaded Site recovery project to establish compliance to regulatory requirements. Developed a process for future Site recovery tests for compliance standards. - DMX4 SAN migration: Managed the SAN migration of all enterprise applications to new technology for cost efficiencies. - Vendor support transition program: Successfully completed the transition of support model and helpdesk operations and streamlined the operations model.- Storage optimization project: Successfully completed the Data storage optimization project and delivered the future architecture for Storage strategy. Show less

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  Safeway

  Oct 2008 - Dec 2011

  IT Program Manager/ Sr Project Manager-V

  - Enterprise remodel Program: Delivered multiple tracks of remodel effort to build out Oracle Weblogic platforms to support the migration of legacy applications- Service Management: Led the deployment of end-to-end business service monitoring solution for financially significant business services. - Enterprise Batch Schedule Integration: Delivered multiple project streams for the integration of job schedulers on multiple platforms to an Integrated enterprise-wide scheduling system.

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  Walmart.com

  Jun 2011 - Jul 2012

  Sr Program/Project Manager

  - Led projects to deliver Multi-Channel capabilities and integration with existing organizations and strategic growth plans.- Lead the Web Analytics program to deploy and roll out analytics tools and capabilities to align with business strategy and Merchandising planning. - Oversee consultants and vendor project managers to ensure delivery and quality. - Developed resource demand and forecast plans, Project and program budgets and periodic financial reports at project and program level. Working in conjunction with Portfolio Management to draw out the yearly budgets Show less

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  Kohl's

  Jun 2012 - Jan 2020

  - Led a multi-year portfolio strategy, prioritization of 15 Business initiatives, and capital planning ($100M) to align with business and technology roadmap.- Owned and delivered 20+ programs across business units while effectively managing risk and complexity.- Oversaw the release management practice to ensure weekly/monthly releases with speed and quality demonstrated with reporting dashboards and KPI’s. - Strategically administered a $100M annual budget, meticulously executing and regularly reporting on portfolio performance to executive leadership, ensuring steadfast alignment with strategic business imperatives and financial governance.- Chaired the executive status reporting to cross functional leadership teams and steering committees, facilitate and negotiate strategic decisions while understanding stakeholder motivations, politics and organizational impacts.- Negotiated vendor relations for optimization and rationalization of products and labor resources driving 3M in savings from run rates and contracts in alignment with technology roadmap.- Coached and developed 30+ winning agile teams with empowerment to deliver consistently leveraging a common framework and processes.- Observed strict compliance and promoted process maturity of the company’s project management lifecycle governance and tools.- Engaged in corporate diversity and inclusion program for Asia-Pacific business resource group to foster inclusion and mentorship programs for Digital Center of 150 member team Show less

  • Vice President, Program Management (Platform & Data Science)

    Jun 2018 - Jan 2020

  • Director, Program Management (Platform & Data Science)

    Jun 2012 - Jun 2018
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  Innovation Consulting

  Aug 2020 - Jun 2021

  Program Management Office Consultant

  • Leading a Multi Partner (50M$) Cloud Transformation of platform, Front-Office and Back-Office for 3 Business Units• Responsible for driving the Organization Change Management across 3 business units and adoption thru Technology transformation for 18 workflow processes.• Drive partner relations and Stakeholder engagement ensuring alignment of the incremental business value delivery.• Accountable for developing 12 program processes and governance implementing KPI driven reporting frameworks for executive oversight. Show less

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  Nike

  Jun 2021 - now

  Sr Director

  - Ownership and accountable for programs (30+) and portfolio for Global, Direct and wholesale technologies enabling $50B+ Nike Revenue. Direct channels: all digital i.e. Nike.com/Nike App, SNKRS and NRC/NTC apps and wearables, all Retail POS, Marketing, Personalization, Consumer Identity/Privacy and store associate systems-Built a highly performant team in functions of Program, portfolio, Project and scrum master, to execute on Nike Direct agenda. Led a PMO organization of 65+ team members both onsite and distributed locations.-Owned and facilitated comprehensive annual budgeting cycle, overseeing a budget exceeding $250 million, while meticulously planning and executing insightful reporting aligned with organizational objectives and financial compliance standards.- Efficiently developed vendor relations, optimizing products and labor resources through strategic negotiations resulted in a 17% reduction in run rates and contracts in alignment with the technology roadmap.- Coached and mentored 145 successful agile squads, promoting consistent excellence through a standardized framework, automation of tools and streamlined processes and improving the Say/Do ratio by 18%- Championed the evaluation and pilot implementation of cutting-edge products and technologies to actively promote and enhance efficiency, driving 10% resource cost reductions. Leveraged Gen AI technologies to successfully eliminate 15% user errors and streamline processes Show less