Rachel Urso, Mba, Pmp Email & Phone Number

Libertyville, Il, Us

Hoboken, New Jersey, United States

Product Development & Operations Consultant at TerSera Therapeutics, Deerfield, IL Provide strategic and tactical oversight for operational planning, financial management, performance reporting, and departmental process documentation. Direct the execution and delivery of all Development projects, ensuring alignment with timelines, budget constraints, and organizational goals. Enable the organization to meet targets through robust project management, process optimization, and effective cross-functional collaboration.

Chief of Staff for the VP of Medical Affairs, Oncology. Provided strategic influence within medical operations, crucial to advancing the goal of transforming cancer care for patients. Successfully aligned operational strategies with the overarching mission, driving impactful results in oncology initiatives & ensuring seamless execution of high-priority projects. • Guided & inspired US/Global Medical Operations team (9 direct reports) to align with strategic goals, fostering a collaborative environment and driving operational excellence.• Partnered with VP of Medical Affairs to navigate complex organizational changes, ensure alignment across key business cycles, drive effective planning & execution, while safeguarding sensitive information between competing partnered products.• Key advisor & operations lead on the Senior Leadership Team (SLT), guiding the execution of critical initiatives and facilitating smooth adaptation to evolving challenges.• Proactively supported Therapeutic Area Heads in securing funding and resources for future initiatives during annual medical functional planning processes, ensuring strategic foresight and resource allocation.• Directed the integration of three acquisitions, implementing the first plan to unify teams while introducing efficiencies that enhanced overall effectiveness and collaboration.• Managed a $60+MM budget within a variance of ±2% and resource managed over 200 FTEs, continuously monitoring progress, assessing risks and adapting strategies to meet organizational needs.• Drove significant improvements in employee engagement by advocating for transparency, agility, innovation, diversity and inclusion. Recognized with the “ONE” award for being a unifying voice and advancing the organization’s culture during reorganization and leadership transitions. • Successfully orchestrated large-scale meetings with up to 200+ participants, ensuring a patient-focused and impactful experience that reinforced strategic objectives.

Leader in strategic operations, cross-functional coordination and financial planning. Directed and developed a team of 10 Health Economics and Outcomes Research (HEOR) operational support personnel. Oversaw the worldwide execution of HEOR strategies and financial plans, managing across therapeutic areas to foster collaboration and optimize the global execution of HEOR research.• Directed HEOR strategic operations, addressing key concerns and establishing consistent processes to streamline portfolio management, while ensuring external spend met targets within ±2%.• Ensured annual strategic and financial alignment between HEOR and Finance, R&D Portfolio Program Management, Global Marketing and Commercial Operations and Commercial Excellence.• Cultivated middle managers, ensuring people leaders were fully equipped to supervise, motivate, and provide career development and mentoring to their teams, fostering a culture of growth and engagement.• Prioritized staff development and strengthened team culture through effective capacity planning and workload prioritization, ensuring a balanced and productive work environment.

North Chicago, Il

Leader in process optimization, financial planning, and team development. Directed and developed 12 Project Managers in the Portfolio Program Management Operations – Planning & Portfolio Support group. Maintained a comprehensive knowledge of the full AbbVie Pipeline to ensure high-quality data and timely delivery of reports to leadership and governance bodies, facilitating efficient decision-making.• Fostered business process improvement initiatives and facilitated seamless business integrations within R&D, with a focus on optimizing project management and portfolio support.• Streamlined project planning processes, ensuring accurate data capture for project communications, control, monitoring, and continuous improvement.• Directed the integrated financial and portfolio planning calendar, supporting comprehensive asset planning and budget cycles for the R&D organization.• Prioritized the escalation of critical issues, including portfolio optimization and resource or funding constraints, ensuring alignment with broader organizational strategies.• Drove improvements in team performance by coaching on project management best practices, effectively presenting how to influence stakeholders to achieve organizational goals.

North Chicago, Il

Highly skilled manager with technical expertise in managing R&D drug development programs across oncology, renal, pain, antiviral, and immunology therapeutic areas. Provided strategic contributions through cross-functional process improvements, translating strategic objectives into actionable development plans. • Spearheaded a cross-functional initiative to create a unified infrastructure for Clinical Study Planning which harmonized business processes, provided critical path analysis, and established standardized study metrics and timeline visualizations. Developed secure system access protocols, comprehensive training programs, and obtained software licensing for the R&D organization.• Established standardized Oncology planning and forecasting tools in collaboration with external partnerships, ensuring consistent and accurate execution of critical activities to meet launch timelines.• Optimized technology systems supporting drug development planning, clinical study planning, regulatory submission planning, and resource tracking, driving efficiency across R&D.• Established centralized processes and tools for reporting, enabling clear and consistent status updates for global project teams, senior management, and executive leadership.• Launched an internal program to support peers in obtaining Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, raising team visibility and enhancing project management capabilities.

Responsible for coordination and support of global pharmaceutical research & development projects by developing, implementing and maintaining centralized reporting processes and tools. Provide routing and adhoc status reports to senior & executive management. Manage & optimize technology to support drug development planning, resource tracking management and reporting across the R&D portfolio. Foster collaboration and implementation of process improvements for the global project planning & tracking systems.

Responsible for managing and analyzing current outbound & inbound transportation spend both domestically and globally. Lead & participate on Six Sigma process improvement initiatives to establish hazardous materials compliance and improve supply chain operation ratios. Develop baseline spend & metrics including mode, route efficiency and spend construction across the transportation category. Contain and improve transportation costs through procurement, negotiations and utilization of transportation management / routing software. Manage carrier compliance, rate tariffs and associated service agreements.

Managed all domestic and international inbound and outbound transportation spend. Responsible for adherence and compliance with government regulations. Oversaw carrier compliance, tariffs, and service agreements. • Managed the Transportation and Logistics Team (4 field & 3 corporate associates). • Managed private fleet driver compliance (60 employees and 300 contractors). • Researched government requirements to establish operating policies and procedures in compliance with the Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Office of Hazardous Materials Safety (HAZMAT) and Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) regulations. • Wrote, implemented & trained employees on operating policies and procedures for Hazardous Materials Operating Procedures, Private Fleet Driver Safety Driver Drug & Alcohol Testing, Hours of Service Records, Driver Safety & Driver Qualification Files, and Private Fleet Equipment Inventory &Permit Renewals.• Achieved SOX compliance through establishment and adherence of internal controls. • Achieved the highest DOT “Satisfactory” rating through the management and facilitation of a voluntary DOT audit. • Developed KPI metrics to measure customer and program profitability including establishing baseline metrics, measuring route efficiency and carrier performance, and optimizing costs with transportation management software. • Led Six Sigma initiatives to improve supply chain efficiency resulting in recovery increases and expense reductions netting $40MM in savings over a 3 year period.• Improved annual freight recovery across $3.7B in sales and $147MM in freight spend through realignment of customer programs based on volume and partnership level.

Trained, licensed, and experienced insurance sales agent, excellent communication with clients, knowledgeable about various insurance plans. Handled and processed claims, collections, policy renewals, payments and deposits. Advised clients on policy features, advantages, benefits and limitations for all four lines of insurance; Life, Health/Disability, Property, Casualty.

Mba, Project Management

Graduated with Distinction

Pmp, Professional Project Management Certification

Bachelor'S Degree, Logistics & Supply Chain Management

Activities and Societies: Phi Theta Kappa & Delta Mu Delta National Honor SocietiesGraduated Suma Cum Laude