Rachel Gross

Experience

• 

  R&R Solutions

  Oct 2010 - Oct 2015

  Provide customer facing support for gathering requirements, cultivating growth, and developing a trusted partnershipTranslated strategy into a tactical plan & implement the planCreated appropriate internal documentation to support projects that effectively communicates project/task goals, issues, timelines, meeting notes, etc. to project team and business unitsConducted inventory management to include bill of materials creation, equipment financial tracking, forecasting and initiate internal audits for reporting accuracyGathered and monitor account intelligence, document account plans and collaborate with account managers on financial forecastsAccomplished human resource objectives by recruiting, orienting, assigning, coaching, counseling, and disciplining employees, communicate job expectations, review job contributions; planning and reviewing compensation actionsMet financial objectives by forecasting requirements, prepare an annual budget, schedule expenditures, analyzing variances and implement corrective actionsUpdated job knowledge by participating in educational opportunities and reading professional publicationsEnhanced department and organization reputation by accepting ownership for accomplishing new and different requests; explore opportunities to add value to job accomplishmentsMaintained company warehousing and distribution operations by initiating, coordinating, enforcing program operations and personnel policies and proceduresMaintained company production work flow by monitoring steps of the process; observing control points and equipment, implementing cost reductions; developing reporting procedures and systems; facilitating corrections to malfunctions within process control pointsInitiated and fostered a spirit of cooperation within and between multiple departments Show less Support multiple teams in various aspects of project kickoff via data set-up in content tools and managing asset hand offs for project needsMaintain regular communication with both the customer and internal teamsRequired decision-making, organizational, planning and problem-solving skills with proven ability to identify and prioritize critical issuesPerform and complete assignments on time while multi-taskingProvide the client and account manager with real-time status on all projects as needed/requested.Maintain project spends and identify OOS to keep project at expected GPM.Complex scheduling to maintain tight deadlines and utilize resources effectively.Track project milestones and deliverables. Show less

  • Program Manager

    Sept 2012 - Oct 2015

  • Project Manager

    Oct 2010 - Sept 2012
• 

  Cisco

  Oct 2015 - now

  High impact, cross functional leader accountable for successful delivery of complex portfolio of contracted professional services at Cisco’s largest customers. Interface with C-suite, VP level roles to resolve, perform updates, gather requirements, prioritize initiatives, and maintain trusted partnership. Leveraging AI to allow myself to show up in the best way possible for my team and customers. Understand customer business priorities and demonstrated mastery to align and scale delivery resources to realize customer business outcomes. Enable and manage a team of 80+ Lead architects, technologists and PMO leaders to meet expected customer outcomes without delay or disruption through controlling delivery risks, issues, escalations, and fine-tune project and program execution. Nurture strong customer executive relationships to develop insightful understanding of immediate needs  Review and sign off on monthly compliance initiatives set by internal and customer senior leadership  Provide advice and insight to customer and internal team on portfolio delivery expansion and potential renewal/upsell opportunities as input to overall account strategy. Responsible for financial forecasting rollup, reporting and budgeting for $240M year account to ensure P&L profitability Evaluate quotes, LoE’s, service design, margin, and other deal terms to ensure a proposed engagement can be delivered successfully and with the contract boundaries Provide leadership and hold customer accountable to deliver programs on-time, within budget, with high quality while achieving customer satisfaction Superior ability to influence, manage, and lead matrix teams Solutions-driven leader – mitigates risks to drive timely and accurate delivery of product. Diplomatic, confident, and effective communications and negotiation skills to resolve/prevent over/under delivery in a manner that ensures stakeholder delight Show less Provide customer facing support to gather requirements, prioritize initiatives and maintain trusted partnershipMaintain projects across 6 technology domains during all phases of development: Wireless, RT/SW, Collaboration, Cloud, Data Center and SecurityMake vital decisions and drive decision making across projectsDevelop customer relationships to gather requirements, plan project sprints and manage expectations.Manage entire program process with P&L responsibilityFacilitate discussions with key stakeholder contacts to define project vision and direct implementationCollect, comprehend and challenge business needs; translate identified business needs into detailed and clearly articulated specifications via process flows, use cases, and/or requirements specificationsProvide strategic direction for program initiatives to ensure team can meet cost, time-frame, scope and resource objectivesLeverage experience to develop complex project plans / schedules that anticipate all critical path items and potential risk areas. Drive risk mitigations that may involve external or senior management involvementEnsure program is aligned with the organizational strategy and objectivesUnderstand and leverage financial modeling principles in order to identify key cost and benefit drivers; communicate benefits to senior leadershipDirectly or indirectly supervises a large global, cross-functional team of local or remote project managers Show less

  • Services Delivery Manager

    Nov 2021 - now

  • Program Manager Delivery Lead

    Oct 2015 - Feb 2022