Partner with on campus operations management and school administration to provide an outstanding customer experience as well as deliver exceptional and innovative food service at Chicago's higher education institutions.Build strong and mutually beneficial relationships with key stakeholders. Manage contract creation, execution and analysis to maximize operational and financial performance. Focus on account growth, retention and long term strategic planning.

Provide retail industry knowledge, KPI analysis and operational guidance to improve customer experience and increase retention. Develop business plans for start up companies to support investor pitches, seed funding and applications to accelerator programs.

Build and develop relationships between Premium Retail Services, Google, and key retail partners. Identify creative solutions and growth opportunities to increase Google and OEM product sales in the US and Canada. Lead cross-functional team to implement strategies including hiring/staffing, merchandising execution, assisted sales, training, inventory management/fulfillment, analytics, forecasting, and business reviews. Communicate initiatives to all levels of the organization. Maintain high client satisfaction with execution while exceeding all service level agreements and key performance indicators.

Led strategic initiatives to improve the point of sale experience in all US stores through simplified processes, customer friendly policies, updated training, and new metrics that create consistency in every transaction. Responsible for operational execution and growth of "R"Us Credit Card, Loyalty, and Buyer Protection Program.Managed selection and allocation of vending machines at all Toys”R”Us locations.

Consulted buyers, vendors, merchandise planning, and visual merchandising, on the most effective use of third party labor for in-store execution, overseeing more than 400K visits annually. Negotiated contracts, RFPs and statements of work. Developed a scalable in-store demonstrations & events program to increase product awareness and drive customer traffic. Partnered with Manufacturers, Marketing, Buyers, and Planning & Allocation team to identify key items and cultivate ideas for the most effective customer experience. Created Certified Event Expert curriculum to identify and train Team Members to lead events.Partnered with Merchandise Planning, Visual Merchandising, and Fixture Planning teams to identify key elements/drivers for success for major reset initiatives then created tools to measure and confirm store execution. Responsible for all execution of all vendor retail merchandising team activities related to new store openings, remodels, and liquidating locations including planogram setting, team member training, displays/fixtures, and inventory shipment/removal.Responsible in-store execution of Return to Vendor requests.

Responsible for the consistent implementation of the company’s merchandising/visual presentation initiatives as well as outstanding execution of all field operations strategies through influential leadership in 13 Districts/166 stores across the Midwest and Pacific Northwest.

Led team of 2 Assistant Store Managers, 7 Department Supervisors and 75 associates with a $7M sales budget. Highest ranking store in the region for Buyer Protection Program and Credit Card Sales.

Completed 24-month rotational program, building a strong foundation of leadership, technical, and strategic skills to succeed as a store manager and beyond. Included classroom learning, job rotations and mentoring by company leaders, gaining exposure to all facets of the business.Led a team of 3 Assistant Store Managers, 12 Department Supervisors and 175 associates to highest year in sales ($40M), beating plan by 10% and reducing inventory shrink by 63.1%.

Implemented an employee web portal for General Motors, allowing over 180,000 employees to use work applications in a secure environment from any computer with internet access. Developed statement of work defining the client's business technical requirements for application functionality, internal/external reporting, and business/system process flow.

Determined client needs, legal responsibilities, and software restrictions to create business requirements for the GTE/Verizon benefits enrollment website, IVR, and written statements. Managed efforts between GTE/Verizon and third party administrators to increase employee plan participation from 50% to 95% through improved customer satisfaction and site usability. Selected to to participate on re-engineering project team. Changes implemented from this project resulted in more dynamic roles for associates and reduced overall costs by $14M annually.