Candidates About

Mini Arora

SUMMARY

PMP certified, Project Manager with 10+ years of experience in the Information Technology (IT) organization in leading large cross-functional global teams on multiple multi-million dollar projects. Strong reputation for delivering projects on time and under budget in a fast paced, high-pressure environment, leading all aspects of project lifecycle from inception through implementation and close. Effective communicator, adept at acting as a liaison between business and technical teams, and influencing decision makers at all levels of management to drive results.

Key Skills

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Earthbound Farm, CA, 2/2017 – Present

Director Fulfillment Business Processes, Earthbound Farm, 8/2017 – Present

Drive business process and system changes to improve employee productivity, customer service outcomes, customer relationships, and operating costs across SC Fulfillment at Earthbound Farm (EBF). Define the EDI strategy and roadmap for EBF to drive efficiencies, manage current costs and reduce costs over time. Established prioritization tools and processes to manage EBF project portfolio across all functional units.

IT Business Relationship Manager (Contract), IT department, Earthbound Farm, 2/2017 – 8/2017

Led and managed the IT portfolio across all functions of EBF BU. Partnered closely with the EBF senior executives and developed short-term and long-range plan to support strategic business goals. Led a team of 9 developers and analysts to execute and implement IT solutions to drive cost efficiencies. Strengthened Business and IT relationships by ensuring effective prioritization, management and execution of IT work across all functions of EBF BU. Provided insights to DanoneWave Leadership on how to best develop and leverage IT Systems for the EBF BU.

General Mills Inc. (GMI), Minneapolis, MN, 2008 - 2016                                                                                                      

Project Manager II, IT Department, General Mills Inc., 11/2015 – 03/2016

Managed multiple projects totaling $6 million in budget, with an average of 20 cross-functional team members. Successfully delivered all projects on time and under budget. Excelled at managing project schedules, resources, scope, capital and expense budgets, risks, testing, vendors, and communications to all levels of the organization. Leveraged Agile and Waterfall methodologies to drive results.

Representative Projects:

·         Trade Planner Capabilities (TPC) project: Salvaged a troubled project that was critical in supporting the Trade Strategies to drive profitable volume growth.

o   Defined new project structure, built up team morale, identified and resolved major issues and delivered the system changes on time and within allocated budget.

o   Delivered administrative and CI savings for 450 system users.

·         FSS Finance Globalization project: Successfully transitioned global service delivery program for 4 business processes across 4 different regions (Europe, LATAM, AMEA and Australia).

o   Managed, mentored and coached 2 junior project managers leading the transition across 4 regions.

o   Partnered with our 3rd party vendor to ensure clarity on project expectations, adherence to our Global processes, issue escalation, issue management and resolution.

Manager – System Analysts, IT Department, General Mills Inc., 10/2014 – 10/2015

Promoted to lead a team of 10 system analysts that oversaw 5 key system platforms and supported 25 North American Manufacturing Facilities. Built client relationships, sponsored Manufacturing and Engineering projects, and managed stakeholders expectations. Effectively deployed resources against highest Return on Investment (ROI) initiatives.

• My team delivered 4 projects costing $3.4 Million, across 3 key systems in April 2015 saving over $600 K.
• Developed long range plans for Manufacturing and Engineering systems in partnership with internal Supply Chain

Leaders. Managed prioritization, alignment and changes through the strategic planning process.

Project Manager I, IT Department, General Mills Inc., 09/2012 – 09/2014

Promoted to Project Manager I to manage projects and strategic initiatives in the IT department. Managed multiple complex projects addressing business process change, systems development, enhancements and upgrades, infrastructure, divestitures, and global service delivery.

Representative Projects:

·         HANA Platform Implementation project – Led a $3 Million project and a cross functional team of 25 people to establish SAP HANA as a platform at GMI. The project was delivered flawlessly.

o   The first use case of implementing COPA Accelerator application on HANA in the ERP instance reduced the runtime for “Top Down Distribution” by 56% and for top 15 month-end profitability reports by 99% (reduced runtime from 13.5 hours to 9 minutes). The project team was awarded General Mills Champions award.

·         Divestiture Disintegration (Bronco) project – Led a global team of 30 to execute a divestiture of 7 Grain Elevators. The divestiture included disintegration of business, infrastructure and employees from GMI.

o   The disintegration was executed with no business disruptions, both, at the time of close and at the end of transition services agreement (TSA).

·         Re-Org Change Management: Created and enhanced processes for the newly formed Project Management Office (PMO) and GMI’s Project Management (PM) methodology ‘Advantage’ after the company reorganization.

o   Built and implemented changes to ‘Advantage’ to accommodate the unique need of Mergers/ Acquisitions/ Divestitures projects.

o   Partnered with PMO leaders to create a team of Analysts to complete smaller-sized projects.  Coached and mentored this team on PM methodologies and best practices, thus creating a pipeline of Project Managers.

Applications Analyst, IT Department, General Mills Inc., 05/2011 – 08/2012

Promoted to be a part of the strategic initiative of rolling out SAP ERP to the GMI locations in Greater China region (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan).

·         Led and managed Order Processing and reporting functionality rollout throughout the project lifecycle from Blueprinting through implementation and support transition.

·         Researched and implemented sustainable solutions that eliminated custom code and reduced manual effort.

Programmer Analyst I & II, IT Department, General Mills Inc., 02/2008 – 04/2011              

Quickly promoted to Programmer Analyst II to lead multiple projects and enhancements for the SAP Order to Cash functionality and deliver ~$2 Million in business savings.

·         Led a project to create a custom transaction to reduce order touches. This project saved ~2,500 hours annually for the business team. The project team was awarded the “ICS August CI Champions Award” in 2010.

Analyzed, designed and implemented Oracle database changes to provide a robust and streamlined web based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution for the Convenience and Food Service division.

VOLUNTEER LEADERSHIP ROLES

·         Chair, Women in GBS (WGBS), General Mills Inc.,                                                                                                           2013 – 2014

·         Lead, Virtual Campus Recruiting, General Mills Inc.,                                                                                                                       2013 – 2015

·         Co-Chair, Cultural and Awareness committee, South Asian Network, General Mills Inc.,                               2008 – 2010

CERTIFICATION & EDUCATION

·         PMI certified, Project Management Professional (PMP, #1914276), 2016

·         Certificate of Advanced Study in Software Programs, University of St. Thomas, MN, USA, GPA: 4.0

·         Master of Science in Mathematics & Computer Science, Jamia Millia Islamia University, Delhi, India, Class Rank # 2

·         Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) General, Gargi College (Delhi University), Delhi, India, Class Rank # 1