Karen Gerow

Experience

• 

  Nielsen

  Dec 1993 - Jun 2018

  Create comprehensive project plans aligned with overall business strategy. Coordinate projects and manage the product development through the software development life cycle for custom web applications. Developed and delivered custom business solutions and information systems.Working cross functionally with internal and external partners to manage and guide tactical execution and implementation ensuring the solution met the documented business requirements.Served as the single point of contact for architects, engineering staff, quality control, and support specialists on new web-based product development translating business requirements into technical requirements aligned with product specifications.Effectively participate in strategic planning sessions to prioritize features, functionalities and deliverables. Write and archive final project reports that summarize project successes, challenges and lessons learned. Show less Managed 40 on and off shore global quality assurance team associates to implement simplification processes for test management activities while eliminating non-value work and related documentation. Managed and prioritized the defect database. Hands-on manager who actively participates in system testing including manual, integration, regression and user acceptance testing. Responsible for resource allocation across assigned projects. 90% decrease in data related defects achieved by thoroughly teaching associates business application, business processes, business rules and by providing use cases for the data.Established process improvement for product and system enhancements with quality assurance team estimates by incorporated best practices for estimation. 80% drop in the testing cycle attained by transitioning the team from waterfall to an agile-based testing approach using risked-based testing techniques and implementation of test automation. Actively participated in design reviews and developed appropriate test cases, test scenarios and test plans to support new features and functionalities which incorporated feedback from users experiences.Responsible for the go/no-go decision on each software release based on the test results. Show less Defined features and functionality for complex information system with a heavy focus on content management. Drove multiple change management and data socialization activities for transitioning clients to new products and services. Collaborate with highly technical teams to create and deliver web-based applications which were aligned to the platform strategy.Provided documentation, user testing and use cases for user interfaces.Identify and communication project risks and mitigation strategies.Publish regular status reports to provide transparency within and across the teams working on a highly complex reporting platform. Show less Guided clients on daily change management activities and participated in extensive contract negotiations with legal teams. Served as one of the leads managing transition work across operations, application development, product leadership, and professional services. $3 million to $5 million average deal amount for multiple contracts secured by delivering contracted products and services for large consumer packaged goods manufacturers. Used consulting approach to build win-win-win combinations of competitive packages of products and services Show less Delivered $30 million annually for the syndicated retail measurement deliverables. Transitioned clients and internal staff on moving from legacy modules to newer technologies.$19 million in sales with a 97% ROI recorded by conceiving / delivering a profitable and competitive product that prevented clients from going to others.Delighted dozens of clients monthly by creating and deploying a highly efficient ordering process for small manufacturing clients. Became a technical and business subject matter expert across the Nielsen product and service suite to serve as an authoritative problem solver for valued clients. Show less

  • Senior Product Manager | 2017 – 2018

    Jan 2017 - Jun 2018

  • Quality Assurance Manager | 2012 – 2017

    Jan 2012 - Jan 2017

  • Senior Product Manager | 2008 - 2012

    Jan 2008 - Jan 2012

  • Associate Client Director | 2003 – 2008

    Jan 2003 - Jan 2008

  • Senior Product Manager

    Dec 1993 - Jan 2003