Rakesh Arun

SENIOR TECHNOLOGY EXECUTIVE
Creating teams that inspire innovation, increase productivity, and improve the bottom line

Inspired, driven leader with expertise strategizing and leading organizations at the brink of change and growth. History of leveraging existing and emerging technologies, uncovering opportunities, and directing trailblazing strategies to improve operations, develop leading-edge products, and increasing marketability for forward-moving companies.

Unique career combines software development, program and portfolio management, and people management for Fortune 50 companies like Walmart, Boeing and Dell

Hands-on, transformational executive with a talent for balancing strategic vision with in-the-trenches leadership to engage cross-cultural teams, vendors, and diverse stakeholders.

 

“Rakesh is not just a manager, he’s the epitome of a true leader and I hope that I can one day be an inspiration to others as he has been to me.” Vendor Management Consultant, Boeing

“Most importantly he challenges the status quo & pushes to make his org and his team to be better every single day.” IT Manager, Boeing

“Rakesh was a large agent for change and improvement throughout our team. We implemented several automation efforts that gave hours of time back each week and reduced the fatigue from performing repeated busywork” Manager, Starbucks Technology

“While at F5 he built a solid exceptionally talented staff of TPM.  I count it as a truly meaningful time to have worked with Rakesh” Director, F5 Networks

CAREER HISTORY
Walmart | Seattle, WA | Aug 2018 to Present

Director, Global Business Services PMO

Lead the central portfolio organization within Global Business Services (GBS). Responsible for setting up the PMO office in an agile, product-line based culture. Oversee the PMO service catalog that provides services like investment stewardship, talent management, reporting, enterprise-wide program management, and portfolio/program management best practices. Represent the PMO on the GBS Next program to influence a 15,000 plus organization across the globe. Manage a portfolio of over $2B and partner closely with finance to establish AOP plans, long range business plans and monthly tracking against those plans.

8  Offer 8 services within the PMO service catalog.

8  Drive the financial transformation program (chargeback / consumption based, product-based planning)

8  Responsible for adoption, governance and evolution of portfolio related tools.

8  Oversee day-to-day portfolio operations and liaise between the CIO and 9 pillars within GBS.

8  Drive transparency via reporting (financial, technology and services portfolio, IT controls, key initiatives)

 

 

F5 NETWORKS | Seattle, WA | Aug 2016 to Aug 2018

Manager, Program Management

Lead the Program Management team responsible to bring new products and services to market. Develop standards, manage demand via product lifecycle governance, develop Tableau based dashboards that tell stories and promote transparency with sales, marketing and services. Mentor, coach, and lead 12 employees through corporate transitions.

8  Introduced repeatable and reusable best practices broadly adopted across the product development organization.

8  Drove the deployment of a new PPM tool (CA PPM) across product development

8  Reshaped the team to inspire collaboration, ignite creativity, and add real value to the business. Every member of the team is currently pursuing a new degree or certification.

 

 

STARBUCKS COFFEE Seattle, WA | Apr 2015 to July 2016

Manager, Strategic Technology Practice

As part of the office of the CTO, govern a $400M+ Starbucks Technology (ST) portfolio, partnering with IT Finance and the CFOs office. Ownership of MS Project 2013 PPM, setup project execution governance and reporting, rationalized technology investments to ensure strong alignment with company strategy. In addition, using Apptio, drove the Technology Business Management (TBM) roadmap to enable TCO across the technology stack.

8  Led a team of Sr Business Analysts to create and grow a Tableau centre of excellence generating over $1M in savings

8  Partnered with Finance to deploy an automated reconciliation workflow using Alteryx to save over $700K a year

8  Deployed the Apptio product to bring about visibility to the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) across IT applications

8  Enhanced PPM adoption by standardizing process and establishing ease-of-use

 

THE BOEING COMPANY St Louis, MO | May 2009 to Mar 2015

IT Sr Manager/Executive (Dec 2012 – Mar 2015)

Directed an organization of 77 personnel responsible for three Centre’s of Excellence (CoE):

8  Business Intelligence & Analytics – Measure, manage, and optimize business efficiency and financial benefits via the use of Business Intelligence and Analytics. Provided consulting, project start-up and proof of concepts, training and education, product administration, and product management (SPSS, SAS, Tableau, and COGNOS).

8  User Experience – Provided creative solutions that followed a user-centered process. Understood user needs, defined user goals, and transformed information into a solution that ensured user productivity and improved Boeing’s bottom line.

8  Test & Evaluation – Designed, evaluated, and executed value-added test services across the enterprise, ensuring IT products and services met highest standards of quality and reliability using HP suite of products

o    Streamlined the demand in-take process via a common storefront using ITSM (IT Service Management) principles, increasing performing work by 80%.

o    Setup supplier partnerships to leverage cost-efficient, flexible delivery models with applicable economies of scale, improving throughput by 120%.

o    Partnered with Enterprise Architecture on defining standards, roadmaps, and common processes, realizing cost avoidance with disparate platforms.

o    Developed key performance metrics to enhance transparency, thus winning customer trust and increasing repeat business four-fold.

o    Led programs around workforce placement in low-cost centers, saving $2M in labor costs.

o    Cultivated a customer obsessed, innovation-focused workforce, producing over $500K in productivity savings.

o    Administered budget of $60MM.

 

IT Sr Manager/Executive (June 2009 – Nov 2012)

Directed Strategy, Planning, and Portfolio Management organization for Boeing IT Business and Supply Chain Systems. Managed a $315M portfolio and instituted best practices (automation, self-service reporting and workflow implementations) to execute and track top programs. Developed an outsourcing strategy and stratified supplier base. Sought by senior executives to lead strategic “coded” programs. Drove benchmarking efforts against industry to seek best practices on project execution, vendor management, and workforce planning

8  Leaned out the long-range business planning process via a value stream mapping (VSM) exercise with stakeholders to save more than 800 hours of labor.

8  Conducted Statement of Work (SoW) analysis and stratification of suppliers, established appropriate domains, and enhanced sourcing strategy thereby cutting 12 weeks from the sourcing process.

8  Drove employee engagement, diversity, workforce planning, and mentoring efforts.

8  Successfully led a program for IT Boeing Australia (in-country) to assess and recommend cost savings ($35M) opportunities surrounding people, process, and technology.

8  Directed program for recruiting students from North Carolina State University (NCSU) and the Institute of Advanced Analytics in Raleigh, NC; hired 30+ personnel over 4 years.

8  Supervised 30 personnel and one manager.

8  Received high-profile recognition for implementing new HR related efficiencies.

8  Established open lines of communication with global executives. Worked across organizations in establishing lasting global processes and orchestrating day-to-day operations.

 

DELL INC. | Round Rock, TX | May 2000 to June 2009

Senior Technical Program Manager

Initiated, planned, executed, monitored, and closed large, global cross-functional programs for several Dell software applications within the manufacturing and retail spaces. Worked with global teams on budgeting, forecasting, requirements gathering, task prioritization, schedule development, risk management and stakeholder communications. Utilized traditional and agile project management methodologies to drive successful deployments worldwide.

8  Technical program manager for two global retail programs. Oversaw vendor activities, SOW creation, review, and approval of change requests and invoices. Tracked overall spend, schedule, cost, and quality.

8  Managed three global cross-functional programs in EMEA and APJ regions, thereby enabling Dell to outsource manufacturing process to various original equipment manufacturer (OEM) / original design manufacture (ODM) providers.

8  Led global rollout of class 1 manufacturing IT applications:

·         Merge center in Nashville, TN – increased production capacity by 60%.

·         Manufacturing plant in Hortolandia, Brazil – launched three new manufacturing lines.

·         Portables fulfilment center in Reno, NV – significantly enhanced capacity and productivity.

·         Manufacturing plan in Penang, Malaysia – launched product on 7 manufacturing lines.

 

EARLIER EXPERIENCE | 1993 to 2005

Previously held positions of IT Architect / Senior Developer (Dell – 2000-2005, Round Rock, TX), Lead Software Developer (Southwest Securities – 1996-2000, Dallas, TX), and Software Developer (BFL Software – 1993-1996, Bangalore, India).

EDUCATION & CREDENTIALS
Master of Business Administration (International Business) | Saint Louis University

Bachelor of Engineering (Computer Science) | MS University, India

Training & Credentials:

Certified Project Management Professional (PMP 324933) – Project Management Institute (PMI) (expires April 2022)

ITIL® V3 Foundation certificate in IT Service Management (3178702)

Executive Presence & Presentation Skills | Inside Out Learning

 

TECHNICAL SKILLS
Processes: ITIL V3 Foundation, Value Stream Mapping, Root Cause Analysis, Non-Advocate Reviews, CMMi, Agile /Scrum (PSM I), Program and Portfolio Management, Kanban, SDLC Governance, FP&A, Forecasting, Workflow Automation, ETL, Performance Management, Technology Business Management, SOA, Product Lifecycle Management, Executive level presentations and storytelling

Tools, Database, Languages: Tableau 10.5 (desktop and server), Alteryx, SQL Server 2012, Microsoft Suite, Milestone Professional, Clarity PPM, Python (in progress), QC / QTP, Loadrunner, Performance Center, Alteryx, K2, Atlassian (Confluence), JIRA, Tandem, Non-Stop SQL, Enscribe, VB, ASP, XML Pathway, HTML