"My resume is but one set of threads in the tapestry that is my life. I bring immediate value to my clients in terms of my knowledge, skills, and experience. I add intrinsic value because of who I am as a person and the principles that guide my life."
I am a veteran project manager with a unique mix of business acumen and technical know-how. My hands-on experience with information systems includes business requirements, development, implementation, support, technical specifications, and data transformation. This positions me to consistently deliver project/task results on time and within budget.
My career has been multi-threaded with a history of success as a project manager, a leader, and as an individual contributor. Thus, I bring strength to a project team, as a PMP who can augment technical and functional resources when needed. The majority of my job history has been focused on facets of ADP HRIS and HCM systems, including Enterprise HR, PayForce, and Vantage HCM.
I have proven my ability to identify critical path, ascertain root cause, and conceptualize creative solutions to complex business problems. As an effective communicator and analytical thinker, I am able to bridge the gap between technical and business resources. As a collaborative leader, I work effectively with co-located and virtual teams. I am self-managing and highly motivated, with demonstrated success working remotely or in an office environment.
Having closed the door on a long and rewarding career at ADP, I have embarked on a new phase in my professional life. My skill set and experience uniquely position me to add value to clients in terms of project management and technical and/or functional expert assistance. For companies using HCM products and services, my knowledge and insight are an invaluable resource that can be leveraged to improve project results. At present, I am delighted to be a part of the Willory team.
Once I had logged the prerequisite 4,500 hours of practical project management experience, I began six months of self study to prepare for the PMP exam. This was a remarkable time of learning, as I aligned my personal business experience with PMI concepts and practices. I passed the exam in September of 2015, scoring as 'highly proficient' in all categories.
As a PM, I combined my technical know-how with my HR/Payroll business knowledge to achieve results. I led virtual teams to implement ADP Vantage HCM (HR, Payroll, Benefits, Time, Recruitment, Talent, and GL) for clients with over 1K employees. I was ideally suited for this role, as success required bringing together the lessons learned from all of my experience. My background also allowed me to fill technical and functional gaps to keep projects moving, despite resource constraints.
Having solidified my business perspective, I stepped back into Development to focus on bridging the gap between technical resources and the internal and external user communities. I added value to the development process by being able to articulate client usage patterns and pain points. I was proud to be part of ADP's entry into Agile methodologies and served as Scrum Master for the development of new security management user interfaces.
With implementation stabilized, I shifted focus to the product management of Enterprise HR, PayForce, the National Accounts Self Service Portal, and Identity Services (Netsecure). As an internal evangelist, I served as the primary subject matter expert to champion new features and expand product knowledge for clients and field teams. I helped drive product direction through backlog prioritization using inputs from Sales, Development, Support, and clients.
With a strong foundation of product knowledge, I transitioned to the business side of ADP to learn how HR/Payroll was implemented. The immediate challenge was to collaborate with regional experts to build a standard set of implementation processes and tools. Together, we created a common framework of best practices that resulted in shorter project timelines with higher quality and lower costs.
A move into the world of commercial software development provided a chance to experience 'real world' technology. As ADP entered the HR software market, I provided DBA support for the development group and built a team. We designed, supported, documented, and administered the database schema, utilities, and interfaces. I became intimately familiar with CSS HRizon - the product that my career has followed as it evolved into Enterprise HR, PayForce, and Vantage HCM.
Thirsty for an opportunity to legitimize my technical skills, I went to work for a defense contractor learning to program in C and Ada and becoming a skilled Oracle DBA and Unix system administrator. Working onsite for the U.S. Army Space & Strategic Defense Command honed my client-facing skills and instilled in me the importance of service excellence.
Eager for a chance to dive into technology and test my newly acquired business skills, I co-founded a consulting and software development firm. We developed and distributed PC-based accounting applications for banks and small businesses in the greater Los Angeles area. This was a great way to learn, first hand, what is required to run a business and manage employees.
I completed this program by attending night school while working full time. This, in tandem with my business experience, widened my perspective and changed my view of the world. One of my professors once noted that the acid test for an effective MBA program is whether or not it alters the way a student thinks.
While my resume focuses on positions held, with dates and details, I think it is beneficial to tell the story of my career in a narrative format. Read from the bottom up, this shows how each phase of my career prepared me for the next and how the sum of all parts has created the knowledge and skill set that I have today.
I believe it is important to communicate who I am, as a person, as it drives how I interact with others and what motivates me to set high personal standards. I chose ten images, with brief comments, that represent the most valued facets of my life, outside of my professional credentials.
Since we live in a world of “identifying” ourselves, let’s get the basics out of the way. I am a married white woman, a Christian, a mother, heterosexual, and over 55. I am college educated. I have voted for both Republicans and Democrats but lean towards Conservatism. I believe in the Constitution, I respect the Rule of Law, and I cherish the freedoms we enjoy in this country. Although I can be categorized in many ways, there are only two identities that truly define me: I am a child of a...