Information Systems Manager For A Specialty Retailer

How I Got The Job

My Education: BA, Business working on an MBA

My Prior Experience: I started out in finance as a financial analyst, budgeting manager and director of pricing. Then I moved to operations where I held jobs in vendor operations, contract negotiations and, currently, program management.

My Job Profile

My Company: Large specialty retailer with an on-line presence.

Job/Career Overview: I work in Information Systems (IS) for a large retailer (90,000+ employees), which has a website and sells to consumers as well as other businesses through our e-commerce channels.

I oversee 30+ systems projects across the globe that focus on integrating systems in the parent company with those of a large company we purchased. We examined what systems had overlap and picked one we were going to move forward on. This involved analyzing the pros and cons, including what costs were involved, how easy it was to use the system, and whether the vendors who supplied the system had a healthy financial future.

In the broader sense, though, my job entails collecting and analyzing status reports on all our projects and assisting with risk management or resource issues wherever needed. I make sure that the right people are receiving the right information at the right time. For example, if a project in Europe is already under way and a similar one is starting up in Canada, I share the lessons learned in Europe with the Canada staff. I would also make arrangements to bring the teams together so they could swap information and experience to make the process more efficient in both places. I would try to find out whether the same resources were being used by both teams and if the timelines for the projects complemented or hindered each other. In a large company like mine, it's not uncommon for a project team to have little or no idea how a similar project is progressing in another part of the country or the world.

I also report to our leadership team on the status of individual projects, highlighting risks and challenges as well as successes.

It's important that I understand some of the cultural differences between sites and individuals, since such differences can affect the process. I also need to add value myself. If I'm only asking for information and adding nothing of my own, it's difficult to get cooperation and collaboration from the project managers.