Reporting to the VP of Commerce Platform, the IT Strategist role plays a crucial part in driving organizational excellence through strategic oversight of culture, finance, communications, and operations. This responsibility involves aligning technology initiatives with business objectives, fostering a collaborative and innovative culture, and ensuring efficient resource allocation and budget management. Effective communication strategies are employed to facilitate seamless internal and external communications. By optimizing operational processes and leveraging technological advancements, I play a key role as Strategist in achieving organizational goals and delivering exceptional value to stakeholders.

As an IT Portfolio Manager, I specialize in strategically overseeing and optimizing technology portfolios to align with organizational goals. With a strong emphasis on resource allocation, risk management, and stakeholder engagement, I ensure efficient project delivery and continuous improvement in portfolio management practices.

Experienced Agile Product Owner for the Harmony Quick Impacts Product Team, leading a cross-functional team of 10 developers and Technical Account Managers within the Information Capital and Data Science Org. Skilled in managing product backlogs, prioritizing features, and aligning product vision with business goals, ensuring delivery on time and within budget. Proficient in collaborating with stakeholders to maximize product value and drive business objectives.As a Product Owner, adept at facilitating Scrum ceremonies, coaching teams in SCRUM and Agile best practices, removing blockers, and fostering a collaborative environment. Strong track record in driving continuous improvement, ensuring smooth project execution, and delivering high-value products that meet customer needs and expectations.Skills: Product Vision and Strategy · Backlog Management · Stakeholder Engagement · User Story Creation · Sprint Planning · Roadmap Prioritization · Agile Methodologies · Cross-functional Collaborations · Effective Communication · Leadership

Successfully project managed and deployed Merck's Global Managed Print Services using the waterfall model to 42 sites across 26 countries in EMEA, 17 sites across 7 countries in APJ, and 34 Merck Animal Health sites, delivering the project within time and budget, and achieving significant cost savings across Merck.Effectively managed cross-regional and cross-cultural teams to deploy lean, cost-effective MPS solutions that supported the changing needs of the business while ensuring minimal impact and maximum benefit.Provided leadership, direction, and coaching to Merck's matrix support organization on all aspects of the global program, including operational support, new project implementation, and program governance.Built and maintained strong relationships with regional, country, and site IT leads, IT support personnel, infrastructure groups, application teams, and account managers to design, deploy, manage, and maintain the output services program at Merck.Ensured that global standards and agreed pricing were communicated and enforced in all project designs, refreshes, and changes across all sites within EMEA and APJ.Effectively managed SLA agreements with external partners, ensuring globally agreed cost structures were implemented.Launched and championed a cost reduction/green initiative in Ireland for managed print services, resulting in substantial cost savings across Merck sites in Ireland and EMEA.Contributed to contract negotiations with the MPS partner for a two-year contract extension, resulting in significant cost savings across Merck.Project managed Merck's secure badge print project across 42 sites in 26 countries in EMEA, delivering the project within time and budget, and achieving significant cost savings and process improvements.Established global infrastructure standards around printing while working within the framework of existing corporate standards to implement managed print services.

Managed, Consolidated and Supported the office and production Windows Server Environments at the Merck Ballydine plant. Provided DBA support for all Oracle Databases and Oracle based local lab and production applications. Directed Global Technology Server consolidation project for all Merck sites in Ireland and the UK. Coordinated Windows server physical to virtual migrations and deployments for all Merck sites in Ireland.Project Managed and supported all IT, Automation and Lab Server infrastructure, including local data centre setup, co-ordinated IT hardware and software purchasing, communicated project deliverables, co-ordinated vendor activities and managed infrastructure budget during the project phase of new start-up sites in Carlow (Biologics), Dublin (Shared Business Services Centre) in and new R&D and Tableting facility at the Ballydine Bulk Manufacturing Plant.Supervised and Mentored external deskside support services at Ballydine in an efficient and cost effective manner ensuring a high quality of service. Trained DSS on site compliance policies and procedures.Managed within budget annual IT Infrastructure Support contracts for Deskside Support, Manage Print, Backups, Storage, Domain Names and Offsite media storage.Implemented Merck PC Life Cycle program at Ballydine. Provided accurate annual forecasting and worked with the business to ensure an effective and efficient stable End-User Computing environment within budget that aligns with the changing needs of the business.Developed a roadmap to migrate, consolidate and decommission servers across all seven the Irish sites. Resulting in significant annual cost saving and a reduction of 51 physical servers – 17 Decommissioned and 34 Virtualised.Managed Ballydine Oracle database migration to EMEA regional data centre, Authored SLC documentation and directed user acceptance testing. Decommissioning 11 HPUX servers with significant annual cost saving.

Administered and maintained local infrastructure for Windows, HP-UX, and Oracle environments, providing comprehensive system administration, support, and monitoring to ensure optimal performance and reliability.Managed critical production Oracle databases for HR, Finance, Maintenance, IT, and Manufacturing departments, ensuring adherence to stringent uptime, availability, and performance SLAs, thereby enhancing operational efficiency.Collaborated with global teams to design and implement IT strategies at the Merck Ballydine plant, successfully aligning local operations with international standards and best practices to drive continuous improvement.Skills:Technical Expertise: Windows Server, HP-UX, Oracle Database Management, SQL, System Monitoring Tools. Analytical Skills: Strong problem-solving and troubleshooting capabilitiesCommunication: Effective collaboration with diverse teams and stakeholdersProject Management: Skilled in managing IT projects and initiatives within timelines and budgets