Sara Ciotti Email & Phone Number

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

Vowinckel, Pennsylvania, United States

As co-founder & partner of Sweet Forest Breeze, I offer strategic guidance in design, marketing, and operations to enhance overall business performance. Through cross-functional collaboration, I ensure alignment with and achievement of overarching business objectives and goals.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

As VP of Strategy & Process Excellence, I was chosen to lead enterprise strategic planning, program management office, and operations planning and engineering (OP&E) teams, overseeing key workstreams and the connection to the retail labor budget with three direct reports. I aligned the Project Management Office (PMO) and spearheaded cross-functional teams to manage key workstreams associated with strategy implementation. Through developing and implementing a new organizational structure, I integrated strategy, enterprise program management, process excellence, change management, and operations planning & engineering to optimize synergies and enhance overall efficiency. I also created a framework for measurement mechanisms to monitor and assess strategy progress.Elevated employee satisfaction and retention by spearheading the enterprise-wide new employee discount savings program, scaling from 10 stores to 400+ stores within an aggressive timeframe of 8 weeks, positively impacting 36,000 team members.Created visibility for a more strategic reduction of retail labor expense and improved operational efficiency by implementing an overarching strategy to align operations and engineering through process excellence and change management initiatives.

Pittsburgh, Pa

In 2022, I was chosen to spearhead the company's transition from legacy systems to cloud-based solutions, particularly overseeing the Oracle ERP transformation. I established and directed a global team of five direct reports comprised of key leaders, including the director of the Oracle Center of Excellence, the director of merchandising systems and technology, the director of ERP Oracle initiatives, and two business process leaders. Together, we supported the seamless transition to and ongoing maintenance of Oracle Cloud activities, ensuring alignment with organizational objectives and optimal performance.• Orchestrated the successful rollout of the ERP within an aggressive 2+ year timeline, maintaining alignment with set milestones and budgetary constraints.• Achieved remarkable talent retention with a 100% retention rate in the US; spearheaded the professional growth of the team with 5 promotions, driving a solid leadership pipeline to strengthen the organizational workforce.

Pittsburgh, Pa

As VP of merchandising operations, I spearheaded the management of all merchandising operations, orchestrating a successful transition from a decentralized, US-based model to a fully centralized and global team structure. Under my leadership, a team of five direct reports implemented a comprehensive transformation of merchandising operations. This initiative covered various aspects, including data integrity for ads, optimizing space management, upgrading systems, and enhancing merchandising communications.• Successfully navigated the complexities of bringing merchandising operations into both a central and global model, ensuring streamlined processes and efficient execution of tasks across different regions.• Achieved significant cost savings of $1M by optimizing General and Administrative (G&A) functions. • Established and integrated a global team based in Bengaluru, critical for expanding capacity for the success of ERP initiatives.• Strategically designed and implemented a Vendor Partnership & Negotiations Team, poised to deliver an annual cost-of-goods of $10 million through effective vendor partnerships and negotiations.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

From 2018 to 2021, I spearheaded efforts to optimize inventory outcomes and guarantee sufficient in-stock availability, spanning both warehouse and retail environments. Leading a team consisting of five direct reports, 60 associates, and a 250-member third-party team, I orchestrated the execution of inventory and replenishment strategies for an $11 billion organization. I oversaw sales planning & operations, demand planning, replenishment, macro & micro space planning, store resets, and data governance.• Gained substantial market share from numerous competitors by strategically managing supply distribution and labor to successfully navigate significant growth during the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.• Generated a $10M revenue increase and significantly improved supplier performance by implementing the Traverse Non-compliance supply chain tool, establishing a closer tie between fees and sales loss. • Led implementation of the Total Inventory Management model for retail inventory across 220 locations and 50,000 items.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

In 2014, I was promoted to assume leadership over procurement and merchandising operations within a newly formed role of SD of procurement & merchandising. Tasked with establishing and guiding a high-performing team, I oversaw five direct reports responsible for space planning, procurement, inventory demand planning, and ensuring data integrity.• Successfully established and implemented a centralized framework across 10 lines of business, optimizing inventory management processes and procurement strategies, resulting in a 15% reduction in General and Administrative (G&A) costs. • Increased inventory turns 10% and enhanced service levels to stores. • Generated a $2M annual cost savings by implementing a new markdown process to optimize on-shelf discontinued markdowns.

Greater Pittsburgh Area

Developed organizational structure for procurement and demand planning for wholesale purchasing for center store grocery. Responsible for wholesale service level, inventory turns, and inventory levels. Supported over one billion dollars in retail sales annually. Lead thirty team members.

Pittsburgh, Pa

Managed $300 million inedible business, including paper, laundry, & household categories. Responsible for wholesale and retail sales & margin, income and procurement.

Pittsburgh, Pa

Managed $100 million category including seasonal, front-end, and everyday candy. Managed vendor relations for front end services including dry cleaning and state lottery.

Greater Pittsburgh Area

Partnered with business leaders in identifying and driving initiatives that improved the total cost to serve.

Greater Pittsburgh Area

Managed human resources strategy and execution for approximately 3,000 Team Members in pharmacy operations. Partnered with the business to ensure that all facets of human resources aligned with the business strategy.

Bridgeville, Pa

Provided guests with great food and customer service.

Pittsburgh, Pa

Managed full employment life cycle for over 230 employees in four human services programs. Responsibilities included full cycle recruitment, orientation, training, and employee relations.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

Responsible for recruiting students through lead generation and conversion to full-time students.

Women'S Executive Leadership

Executive Education

Mba

Bs, Finance