Gale Schmidt Email & Phone Number

San Jose, California, And Austin, Texas United States

Promoted to senior procurement / sourcing professional to take on lean on programs while continuing to perform all procurement, sourcing, and multimillion-dollar contract negotiation and management duties. During the merger of IBM Corp (USA) and IBM Canada Ltd (2022-2024),  Trained, mentored, and guided Canadian buyers on USA procurement policies, procedures, systems, etc. Within 6 mos., Canada team was successfully working in sync with USA team.  Drove business process transformations, workload design improvements and mitigation initiatives. Worked with the IBM Canadian Treasury regarding currency decisions, tax issues. As Canadian SW Procurement Focal, investigated and resolved issues to improve client satisfaction and procurement processes.As Program Lead/Focal for NA Software Cost Savings and Spend (2018-2024),  Created forecasts, tracked actuals against targets, and prepared and presented information to all levels of management.  Individually contributed $2M to $4M in cost savings each year. Ensured cost savings were a minimum of 8% of spend. Consistently exceeded yearly cost savings plan expectations by $9M to $32M.  Delivered cost savings training sessions to NA Software Procurement Buyers enabling the team to achieve or exceed the target goals for each quarter and year. Served as subject matter expert for software cost savings initiatives to assist buyers in calculating cost savings to claim, creating documentation, and gaining approvals. As Program Lead for G2O (Green to Open), a software cost reduction program (2014-2021), Created, developed, and ran the G2O program that encouraged employees to use CIO-approved, open-source vs. commercial software. This program saved the company an average of $23M per year for the term of the program.  Trained and led the G2O program team. Assisted in creating a database to store open-source programs, giving employees easy access to downloaded approved open-source products.

San Jose, California, And Austin, Texas United States

Negotiated Enterprise Software License, SaaS, XaaS, and maintenance and support contracts -- valued from ten thousand to several million dollars -- with suppliers / vendors for purchase for IBM internal use, for use in Developed Solutions, and as a Reseller. Contract types included: SRA (Supplier Relationship Agreement), SOW (Statement of Work), SSPA (Supplier Security and Privacy Agreements), DPA (Data Processing Agreement), GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations), PAECI (Procurement Agreement for Exchange of Confidential Information), S&EMS (Social Responsibility and Environmental Management Compliance), and others. Worked in conjunction with Services and Hardware Procurement. Also worked with internal client teams to assist in completion of RFXs. Provided sourcing, procurement, and delivery needs to meet internal client and supplier requirements.  Defined terms and conditions of agreements / contracts. Partnered with internal Finance, Legal, CIO Team, Programmers, Project Managers, Finance, and SSRM (Supplier Security Risk Management) during negotiations to resolve open issues and come to agreement on non-standard terms. For all agreements executed and inherited agreements, performed contract management and administration. Executed amendments and handled renewals and terminations. Developed and maintained supplier / vendor and internal cross-team relationships.  Executed end-to-end and global procurement strategic sourcing and client strategies consistently meeting expectations. Reviewed, resolved issues, and approved purchase requisitions. Ensured purchase orders were created in a timely manner. Resolved blocked invoices and expedited urgent payments.  Complied and adhered strictly to stringent standard business controls and remained audit ready.  Applied Agile methods and automation to reduce cycle time.  Drove cost savings while negotiating then claimed cost savings per guidelines.  Prepared and discussed internal Business Reviews.

Menlo Park, California, United States

Bachelor'S Degree, Business Administration, Marketing

Associate'S Degree, General Education