Rachel A Denning

Rachel Denning

3943 NE 76th Ave, Portland, OR 97213

Tel: (310) 308-0709, Email: racheldenning@gmail.com

Education Durham University, Durham, UK. BSc in Physics

Professional Summary

Experienced digital project manager specializing in design, development and management of web and app properties and applications, in additional to design, development and management of CMS systems. Experience includes:

Digital Project Manager, 503 DEV (Current)
Web Operations Manager, Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. (13 years)
Manager, Online Strategy, Herbalife International of America, Inc. (2.5 years)
Directv (1.5 years)

Proven ability to work well with people at all levels and bringing technical and design digital projects to satisfactory completion working with business, development and QA teams and third party vendors. Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Certified co-active coach with ongoing successful coaching business.

Certificates / Certified Co-active Coach, CTI

Training Certified yoga teacher

Skills Language:

English: Mother tongue
Italian: Fluent
French: Good working knowledge of language

Software:

Proficient in Adobe Creative Cloud products.
Proficient in multiple project management tools and bug tracking tools.
Proficient in Microsoft Office.

Professional Experience

05/19-present 503 DEV, Portland, OR

TECHNICAL PROJECT MANAGER / PRODUCT MANAGER

• Technical project manager for software development agency – client facing and management of internal team of developers.
• Design and build of new software system with customer facing Web and App that implements data gathering, user tracking and personalization.
• Implementation / management of Contentful CMS.
• Requirements gathering working with client stakeholders.
• Design / UX / UI work using Photoshop, Illustrator, Adobe XD.
• Overall management of project timelines, tasks and sprints using Agile technology and Jira software for a team of 5 developers.
• Management of client feedback using Jira Servicedesk / Zendesk integration.
• Ongoing reporting to client stakeholders.
• Production of online training documentation and in-person training with client.
• QA / QA management.
• Launch planning and management.
• Working with third party integration service providers and requirements definition for implementation.
• Development of project metrics, milestones and success criteria.
• Strategic planning for future projects.

I joined the project after it had been running for 5 months. At this point, project requirements were still not clearly defined and there was limited reporting structure in place. Working with the team, I developed and implemented requirements, process documentation, change order processes and documentation and initiated a regular reporting structure.

09/15-Present Gradient Coaching

IT PROJECT MANAGEMENT. BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEUR COACHINGIn 2015, I trained and worked as a life coach in addition to working in the following professional IT positions:

• Consultant IT project manager: gathering and documenting business requirements, developing use cases, developing wireframes, managing teams of developers and designers, change management, QA management including development of test scripts, launch planning and execution, social media integration.
• Development and execution of workshops focusing on IT project management best practices and improving project management skills.
• Business coaching covering: Project management skills, leadership development, team building, communications workshops, developing your voice and messaging for marketing / promotion.
• Venue, property and event management.

02/13-09/15 Herbalife International of America Inc., Torrance, CA

MANAGER, ONLINE STRATEGY

• Management of both mobile and desktop projects.
• Working closely with business units to strategize and document requirements.
• Identification of users and development of user stories.
• Information architecture, including production of wireframes and comps.
• Management of teams of developers and designers.
• Ownership of all project documentation.
• Change management.
• Management of QA effort for all projects including development of test scripts.
• Launch planning.
• Social media integration.
• Development of training materials.
• Monitor industry trends and evaluate new technologies for implementation in Herbalife suite of sites.
• Agile Project Management utilizing TFS with focus on the eLearning vertical including daily stand up meetings and bi-weekly sprint planning meetings.
• Requirements definition, TFS user story creation, developing functional specs, procedures and other related project documentation.
• Project management including exploration phase, developing project plans, tracking progress, user reviews and sign-off and production and distribution of regular status reports.
• Using Primavera as a project management tool for budget and resource management.
• Release planning for all site launches and site enhancements.
• Managing a team of 3 direct reports working on rollouts of 88 myherbalife.com redesigned sites.
• Managing the external consultants and vendors.
• Developing project metrics, milestones and success criteria.
• Reporting on project status to relevant IT and business personnel.
• Achieving projects on time and on budget, including ongoing budget management.

12/11-09/12 Brightsolid Online Publishing (US) Inc., Venice, CA

WEB PROJECT & PRODUCT MANAGERBrighsolid is an established internet company in the UK in the genealogy field. As Project Manager, I was responsible for project management, implementation and overall web-site development for the new US site.

• Internet and e-Commerce strategy development.
• Product management for findmypast.com site.
• Project management including exploration phase, developing project plans, tracking progress, user reviews and sign-off and production and distribution of regular status reports.
• Developing project metrics, milestones and success criteria.
• Reporting on project status to relevant IT and business personnel.
• Working closely with business units to understand and document requirements, including identification of users and development of user stories.
• Development and production of wireframes and comps.
• Management of teams of developers and designers.
• Ownership of all project documentation.
• Change management.
• Development of QA test scripts.
• Launch planning.
• Achieving projects on time and on budget, including ongoing budget management.
• Managing the team of project developers and external consultants.
• QA (including development of test scripts) and management of user testing and system/load testing.
• Researching new online and mobile software technologies and solutions.
• Developing training materials and running training classes.
• Writing RFPs and executing vendor selection processes.
• Ongoing vendor liaison.
• HTML, CSS, PhotoShop and Illustrator design work.

I was the first employee at the US office and was responsible for setting up the Los Angeles business. Responsibilities in the business manager role included: obtaining business licenses payroll set-up, office sourcing and lease negotiation, office interior design, and day to day office management amongst others.06/10-12/11 Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc, Long Beach, CA

WEB PROGRAM DESIGN/OPERATIONS MANAGER

In this position, I managed multiple web projects simultaneously that cover a range if web disciplines from technical to creative. I managed the design and implementation of the Vignette CMS at Pioneer in the early 2000s. My last project with Pioneer involved project management, production and launch of the revamp project to apply a new look and feel to the Pioneer Electronics consumer web site. This included working closely with multiple business units to define and document requirements, identification of users and development of use cases, graphic design for site templates, information architecture and wireframe development, project documentation (technical and design), strategy, recruiting of skilled resources for the project, HTML and .css, coordination with IT operations, technical configuration of content management software, vendor management.

• Product manager for pioneerelectronics.com, Pioneer B2B site, image library and multiple Pioneer branded microsites.
• Project Manager for all web related projects.
• Point of contact with multiple business units to understand and document requirements.
• Web and e-Business strategy development.
• HTML and .css.
• QA management and development of test scripts.
• Daily management of web department including recruiting of new staff and resource coordination.
• Documentation of training materials and training of staff and external resources.
• Vender liaison.
• Budgeting and budget management.
• Project management for other IT projects as required.

01/09-06/10 DIRECTV Inc, El Segundo, CA

PROJECT MANAGER Working in a fast-paced and technically complex environment, this position required playing an instrumental role in bringing complex projects to successful completion.

• Work with business to define and document project requirements. Project management for cross-divisional initiatives.
• Pulling together requirements from multiple divisions and executing projects to successful completion.
• Project management on initiative to establish an enterprise solution for delivering all new projects in an accelerated time-line through segmentation of functionality.
• Dealing with daily small projects and requests.
• Change management.
• SharePoint site design, development and administration. Implementation of new company-wide processes using SharePoint sites, forms and work-flow.
• Training, training documentation and support.
• Coordination between multiple complex internal systems and troubleshooting of integration issues.
• Ability to work well with people at all levels in often complex negotiation/deadline situations interacting with multi-disciplinary groups.

08/08-10/08 LEVEL Studios, El Segundo, CA

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE/SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER

Consulting position with an interactive agency based on the California central coast.
Employed in the position of Internet project manager / account executive for the task of opening up a new office in LA. Duties included locating and coordinating new office in LA, project management, establishing processes and procedures, business development and coordination/logistics.

07/98-08/08 Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc, Long Beach, CA

WEB OPERATIONS MANAGER/E-BUSINESS PROJECT MANAGER

As web operations manager I was responsible for strategic planning, project conceptualization, project management, working with business units to understand and document requirements, identifying users and development of use cases, art direction, information architecture and production of wireframes, implementation of business/marketing requirements, owner of all project documentation, QA management and writing of test scripts, customer liaison, vendor management, implementation of legal guidelines, training and production of training documentation, new web technologies research, production management, day-to-day management of Pioneer web sites.

• Product manager for pioneerelectronics.com, Pioneer B2B site and multiple Pioneer branded microsites.
• Design and implementation of a new CMS for Pioneer using Vignette CMS in 2001.
• Project management and business analyst for the rebuild (migrating from Vignette V/5.0 in Tcl code to Vignette V/6.0 in JSP) of the 3000+ page company consumer web site.
• Project management for migration of company’s suite of web sites from Vignette V/6.0 to V/7.0. This project included a complete re-write of all web site code and templates, implementation of new content management interface, migration to new server environment and training of all staff.
• Project/production management and art direction for company’s consumer web site revamp. Managed an internal team of developers and production/QA staff and four separate external design agencies.
• Project management for multiple new functional enhancements to the company’s suite of web sites including: on-line fit guide for car products, image gallery, dealer locator, product comparison and product registration.
• Management of all legal issues related company suite of web sites.
• Project management for the rebuild of two Canadian 3000+ page sites in English and French.
• Design and implementation of e-mail marketing campaigns/eCRM using Responsys.

References available on request.