James Strong Email & Phone Number

St. Paul, Mn, Us

Leading global data & reporting efforts for Food & Beverage division and Global Solutions• Leading business transformation efforts for data platform migration to Snowflake, as it replaces multiple legacy platforms including SQL Server and Azure• Managing divisional rollout of ThoughtSpot to Finance and Marketing teams to include Data Expert role (modeling) and training• Created dataflows for common reporting dimensions and facts that are available for re-use by multiple associates for analyses in downstream applications such as Excel or Power BI … yielding both single sources of truth and greater efficiencies• Created global sales and profitability model, harmonizing data from multiple source systems in Power BI. Single source of truth for numerous reports yields higher data integrity and user confidence. Automated workflow achieved time savings of 4 working days a month.• Developed a price-analysis Power BI model and automated production and distribution of over 2,000 customer-facing documents to support urgent communication of price increases• Led design and divisional deployment of Allocation Engine (SAP/PaPM). Achieved greater customer and product profitability insights and provides decision support for market and product mix management.• Enhanced sales pipeline reporting to include performance measurement of historical views, in turn driving improved pipeline quality and opportunity close rates. Dynamic Power BI report replaced PowerPoint documents for monthly global executive meeting, allowing regional sales teams to focus on selling rather than creating presentation documents

St. Paul, Mn, Us

Eden Prairie, Minnesota, Us

o Led credit portfolio forecasting activities for Fingerhut, Gettington and PayCheck Direct brands totaling $1.1B in credit accounts receivableo Developed algorithm-based solution to reduce sales forecasting time from 2 days to 2 hours, while simultaneously improving accuracyo Directed vendor engagement in vetting 3rd party forecasting toolso Introduced auditing procedures for validation of forecasting modelso Presented portfolio performance results and plan summaries to executive managemento Hired and developed credit portfolio analysts

Eden Prairie, Minnesota, Us

o Created risk- and vintage-based simulation model for forecasting new account performance to enhance accuracy and speedo Introduced new credit portfolio analyses to deepen understanding of key performance drivers and their impact on portfolio performanceo Engineered monthly reporting process to enhance accuracy and save 2 days’ production time per month

Menlo Park, Ca, Us

Menlo Park, Ca, Us

Conducted acquisition target research and modeling, implemented Essbase reporting and automation, team support.

Minneapolis, Mn, Us

Food & Beverage Division support filling 7 roles over 5 year span as a consultant. Functions included new deal analysis, sales planning modeling, acquisition integration, global team startup support, product penetration analysis.o Provided dedicated financial analysis support to the sales and marketing teams of the Food, Protein and Dairy marketso Executed pro forma profitability analyses on new business opportunities, analyzed accounts for optimal performance relating to product mix and pricing, product sourcing and freight optionso Created and presented quarterly business unit review financials to Ecolab executive managemento Developed penetration analysis to identify potential deepening of existing customer relationships. Created custom account manager reports to indicate prospective sales opportunities.o Designed and built an Excel tool to optimize product margins at existing customers. Based on current sales mix, application recommended replacement products and warehouse sourcing.o Designed annual sales budgeting process and account management tools. Provided easy budgeting for account managers and dashboarding of sales budget growth components.o Directed finance integration activities of acquired business Ecovation

Minneapolis, Mn, Us

o Coordinated overall monthly cycle to include activities: financial calendar communication, pre-close, close and forecast consolidation and analysis, development of monthly management report packageo Re-engineered reporting templates to reduce errors and automate monthly updateso Developed Excel tools to allow rapid analysis, including rate-volume, of monthly trends and variances to plan and forecast

Minneapolis, Mn, Us

Vice President Product Management Finance(2000-2006)Vice President Financial Planning & Analysis (1998-2000)Senior Financial Analyst (1996-1998)Financial Analyst (1995-1996)US Bank career highlights:o Strategic Analysis -- Created pro forma valuation analyses for new product development, promotions and pricing decisions, including a consumer checking product targeted to the senior market, a checking promotion targeted to existing credit card holders and pricing analysis of rate tests in selected markets.o Data Mining and Process/Reporting Development -- Developed and presented industry-leading analysis of overdraft revenue and associated key performance indicators. Performance metrics adopted by at least seven other banking institutions throughout the U.S. Front-to-back process involved mining of previously untapped transactional data, creation of Access-based data management process and automated output development.o Process Improvement -- Oversaw efforts to streamline, automate and document several reporting processes. Reduced processing time from two days to two hours for weekly certificates of deposit reporting. Instituted quality review process for weekly reports.o Tactical Analysis - Identified pockets of opportunity and risk within the small business checking portfolio after stratifying the account base along various dimensions. Discoveries led directly to initiatives such as a pro-active migration of customers to better-fit products and the elimination of monthly maintenance fees on selected products.o Key Performance Indicators -- Developed standard key performance indicators for home equity, car loans and other consumer credit products in order to better understand drivers and share with product/sales management. These reports were used extensively in monthly financial reviews with management as well as contributing to key analyses.o Leadership / Personnel Management -- Managed various teams of analysts in multiple positions

Master Of Business Administration - Mba, Finance, General

Bachelor Of Science - Bs, Industrial Engineering