Lara Levine, Pmp, Mba Email & Phone Number

Deerfield, Illinois, United States

Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States

Vernon Hills, Illinois, United States

* Coached and managed one full-time associate and seasonal interns who were responsible for approving freight carrier invoices* Structured framework to manage the freight invoice approval process more efficiently and avoid duplicate payments by way of new audit methods, creation of daily task lists, refund documentation, carrier compliance tracking, and monthly carrier account reviews* Resolved past due invoices and recovered duplicate payments made by previous business process owners* Rewrote supplier routing guide to provide more clarity around supplier shipping instructions and increase compliance; contributed ideas to enhance the supplier partnership program

Vernon Hills, Il

* Regarded within the company as a subject matter expert for the Transportation and Distribution teams, supporting software including the Descartes TMS, Descartes Route Planner On Demand, ADSI Ship-IT, and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)* Onboarded and tested EDI transactions 204, 211, 210, and 990 with new carriers* Represented the Transportation team’s interests in a 3-year companywide ERP transition from AS400 to SAP and conferred with outside project consultants to ensure the team’s needs were met with the new system* Collected data from various sources to estimate American Hotel’s annual carbon footprint to report to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)

Vernon Hills, Il

* Liaised between Distribution, Transportation, and IT teams championing system upgrades, enhancements, and projects during company IT project selection meetings* Comanaged final phase of project to implement new Descartes Transportation Management System (TMS) and managed subsequent system enhancements and upgrades* Documented requirements for Distribution and Transportation IT projects, authored test scripts, performed user acceptance testing, executed final implementation plans, and conducted post-mortems * Wrote SOPs and work instructions for Transportation/Distribution processes and software* Captained ASK (Associate Supplied Knowledge) program across American Hotel’s national distribution center network, engaging distribution center associates by soliciting suggestions to identify process improvements, drive efficiency, and reduce errors

Vernon Hills, Il

* Launched project management procurement program for new La Quinta Inn & Suites FF&Erenovation business; wrote program guide and standard operating procedures* Supervised as many as 10 La Quinta renovation projects at a time valued over $5 million* Visited properties to meet with hotel managers, determine project scope, and survey roomsfor new furnishings* Created Excel templates to calculate carpet quantities, validate invoices, track budgets andproject progress, and analyze product costs, freight costs, and vendor performance* Administered request for proposals (RFP’s) for logistics management and new FF&E items;reviewed and evaluated incoming proposals and made final vendor selections* Developed relationships with vendors and negotiated delivery dates to meet hotelconstruction schedules and openings - Administered request for proposals (RFP’s) for logistics management and new FF&E items; reviewed and evaluated incoming proposals and made final vendor selections

Elk Grove Village, Il

* Main contact for signage projects for national clients such as Liz Claiborne and Bosch* Monitored production of signs to ensure they were built to specifications, met qualitystandards, and were ready for on-time delivery* Issued “request for bid” documents to installers, reviewed incoming bids, and negotiatedpricing for 40-50% gross profit margins* Prepared itemized time and cost estimates for clients’ signage projects

Elk Grove Village, Il

* Consulted with Fortune 100 and 500 clients including J.P. Morgan Chase, AutoZone, andCase New Holland to execute their new build and rebranding signage initiatives* One of 10 project managers on $30 million program to rebrand Washington Mutual Banksignage to Chase; oversaw 30-50 projects simultaneously* Traveled to sites throughout the U.S. to meet with clients to understand project scope,standards, and budget requirements* Directed signage projects from kickoff to completion including conducting surveys, makingrecommendations to clients, procuring permits, creating manufacturing orders, selectingcontractors for install, identifying and resolving punch list issues, and final closeout* Recommended to management a new service process to handle client issues and requestsmore effectively and efficiently; new process successfully implemented and executedreducing service time by more than 50%

Chicago, Il

Not-for-profit organization providing free reading and recording services and educational and social programming to blind and visually impaired adults in the Chicagoland area.

Glendale Heights, Il

Mba, Business

Business

B.A., Elementary Education

Activities and Societies: President of SLATE (Student Leaders Association of Teacher Educators); Team Leader for Junior/Senior Scholars.

General

Activities and Societies: National Honors Society (NHS), Theatre Honor Society (THS), Spanish Honor Society, Theatre Sound Crew