Sharon Steele is a senior operations professional with over 25 years of experience managing projects and operations across multiple channels including call centers, web, direct mail, and email. She has a strong technical background and is able to bridge the gap between business and IT. Her experience includes continuous process improvement, project management, expense reduction, customer experience improvement, and change management. Currently she works as a senior consultant helping clients improve customer experience and assess website usability.

1. SHARON R. STEELE, PMP
931 S. Humphrey Avenue, Oak Park, IL 60304
srs931@comcast.net 708-738-7771 www.linkedin.com/in/sharonrsteele
SENIOR OPERATIONS PROFESSIONAL
Integrate Technology Solutions That Improve Operational Efficiencies and the Customer Experience
In a Multi-Channel Environment
Recognized as an operations professional with a strong technical aptitude and the ability to bring the business
perspective to the IT professional. Adeptly comfortable in the IT space, able to bridge the technical with the
ultimate customer experience, while optimizing overall operational efficiency, quality and compliance.
Consistent, demonstrated success in managing the project lifecycle, with cross-functional teams, across multiple
channels, i.e., call center, web, direct mail, email. Experience includes:
Continuous Process Improvement| Project Management| Expense Reduction & Management| Client Services|
Data Management| Customer Experience Improvement| Vendor Management| Situational Leadership|
Resource Optimization| Product Management| IT Service Management| Regulatory Compliance| Gap Analysis|
Risk Management| Lean Six Sigma| Agile Methodology| Change Management| Program Management|
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
THE NORTHRIDGE GROUP, Rosemont, IL 2015-Present
A leading management consulting firm, working with Fortune 200 companies and market leaders, specializing in customer
experience solutions and business transformation initiatives, utilizing data analytics and business process redesign to deliver
results.
Senior Consultant
Customer Experience and Web Development and Design, management consultative services
 Assess the quality of the client’s overall customer experience identifyingcustomer pain points and process gaps
to enhance, streamline and improve processes, build strategic relationships and improve the customer
experience
 Assess website usability and design to identify opportunities for SEO, user experience, improve Net Promoter
Score and profitability
SEARS HOLDINGS CORPORATION, Hoffman Estates, IL 2002-2015
A leading integrated retailer focused on seamlessly connecting the digital and physical shopping experiences for its
customers, the $31B corporation is the #1 Appliance Retailer in the US.
Senior National Operations & Data Quality Manager - PartsDirect (2011-2015)
Managed operations of $300M+ parts and accessory business. The multi-faceted role included omnichannel
leadership across call center,web and directmail,deliveringconsistentyear-over-year profitability post-merger and
in the midst of an industry downturn
 4M annual orders| Inbound Sales| Customer Support| Offshore Chat Support| Online Sales and Care|
Consumer and Commercial clients
 Managed business relationship with diverse, cross-functional IT teams, and offshore developers, delivering
improved customer experience and operational efficiencies
 Defined business requirements across major projects – delivered process, software and hardware solutions
 Managed cross-functional businessrelationships – Member Services, Marketing, Retail Store Process,Channel
Management, Logistics, Supply Chain, Product Engineering, Sourcing – to drive business results
 Authored and implemented policies and procedures supporting profitability, and operational efficiencies
 Implemented program to measure and analyze customer satisfaction ratings, and to drive targeted customer
service improvements

2. SHARON R STEELE srs931@comcast.net
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 Delivered operational excellence through expense management and continuous process improvements
 Created project charters, defined business requirements, conducted root-cause analysis
 Coordinated and managed project lifecycle phases: Initiation, Planning, Execution and Closure
 Improved overall data quality by 85%and customer satisfaction ratings by 39%through implementation of data
management program, which included data validation, cleansing and standardization
 Implemented, managed subscription automatic reorder program, 460K+ enrollees, less than 5% cancellations
 Defined business requirements for the remediation, development and ongoing maintenance of website
 Leveraged Agile methodology for website development-scrums, iterations (sprints), retrospectives
 Communicated business results and updates to senior leadership, via reports and oral presentations
 Led multiple projects and motivated teams to exceed project deliverables; on time, in scope completion
 Managed, mentored and led remote operations team, consistently exceeded performance objectives
 Skilled at conflict and issue resolution, engendering an environment of cooperation and productivity
Sales and Operations Manager – PartsDirect (2004-2011)
 Conceived, designed and implemented innovativeinfrastructureprojects that modernized and strategically
transformed call center operations from manual to fully digitized
 Improved customer retention by 23% and reduced post-order call volume by 34% with the development and
implementation of transactional email order status communication program, and account management email
communication process
Call Center Vendor Operations – Home Services (2002-2004)
 Developed and managed outsourcing/insourcingstrategy for call center operations,supportand technology
 Managed RFP process end-to-end includingvendor invitation,proposal review,vendor selection,contract
reward and project oversight
 Negotiated contracts and Statements of Work, securingthe best rates and maximum services for the business
 Managed vendor relationship through the duration of the pilotand contractperiod; delivered on objectives
 Hired and managed team of auditors;oversawvendor operational reviews and audits
GE FINANCIAL ASSURANCE PARTNERSHIP MARKETING GROUP (formerly The Signature Group),
Schaumburg, IL 1990-2002
A leading provider of value-driven consumer products and services through direct response marketing.
Program Vice President –Customer Delivery Compliance (1999-2002)
Mitigated risk to the business by ensuringcompliancewith all regulatory,statutory and internal policies and
procedures, interfacingwith Chief General Counsel,Chief ComplianceOfficer and Risk Management, with
oversightof 28 call centers and multipleonshore and offshore third-party vendors. Oversawcomplianceaudits
and examinations of internal/external sites,taking appropriatecorrectiveaction based on established protocols.
Client Services& Planning Manager (1998-1999)| Telemarketing Program Administrator (1995-1998)|
Telemarketing Training Coordinator (1992-1999)| Unit Supervisor (1990-1992)
EDUCATION
University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, B.S. Management
University of Illinois, Champaign/Urbana, IL, Retail Clothing, Business Administration
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
ESI – Contractingfor ProjectManagers, Risk Management for ProjectManagers, Negotiating for ProjectManagers|
Management Skills for Leaders| Financefor Non-Financials| ComplianceAwareness| TrainingFacilitation| Lean Six
Sigma| Agile| Customer Advisory Board-SAS/DataFlux 2010-2013|
CERTIFICATIONS: PMP – Project Management Professional| ITIL FOUNDATION – IT SERVICE MANAGEMENT
SKILLS: MS Project| MS Office Suite| Visio| Tableau| Hadoop| Teradata| DataFlux| MySQL| SharePoint| JIRA|
Softeon| WorkLenz| Site Catalyst Omniture