Walter MacDonald
New Glasgow,NS, Canada
Summary
Performance-driven Vice President with over 37 years of experience aligning systems with business requirements across numerous retail verticals. Passionate about applying excellent organization and communication skills to manage and lead teams. Results-oriented individual well-versed in interfacing and consulting on business processes to drive results based on sound overall business judgment. A tenacious, strategic leader with integrity, excellent people and team development skills, outstanding capacity for learning, and the ability to effectively communicate at all levels of the organization from the retail floor to the office of the CEO.
Overview
37
37
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Vice President, Strategic Retail Project Delivery
Sobeys
09.2020 - 12.2021
- Was given the opportunity to provide executive leadership from a technology perspective to ensure the successful delivery of Sobeys Project Horizon Retail Strategic Initiatives.
- Given my passion and expertise for all things related to retail technology I was thrilled to lead this role to continue to provide value to our retail teammates and end customers.
- Some project examples in this role included participating in Next Generation Store of the Future Strategic Planning and Smart Cart (Caper) Implementation.
VP, IT Shared Services & CISO
Sobeys
02.2020 - 09.2020
- As part of migrating to a more Product Focused Technology Organization was given responsibility for multiple COE's as well as the role of CISO.
- Responsible for Data & Analytics COE accountable for enterprise data architecture, governance and release of analytics to the business for consumption.
- Responsible for Cloud COE accountable for Cloud adoption and migration and to support the delivery and maintenance of Cloud solutions and services.
- Responsible for Delivery & Integration COE's accountable for design and oversight of delivery processes, leveraging relevant frameworks and methods to achieve business outcomes.
- Responsible for testing COE accountable for design, execution, and oversight of testing processes, leveraging relevant frameworks and methods to achieve business outcomes.
- In the CISO role, built the foundation for building and delivering a strategy Cyber Security Roadmap.
VP Customer and Store Facing Systems
Sobeys
06.2017 - 02.2020
- Responsible for the development and 3rd level support of national store systems including ISP, POS, WFM, FIM, and CAO to support our strategic direction across all banners, formats, and geographies.
- Collaboration with key functional groups to prioritize and deliver on solutions taking a more agile and product focused approach.
- Management of store deployments and application ecosystems.
- Manage IMAC activities for all stores.
- As well as store hardware roadmaps & technical support.
- Provide leadership in formulating and implementing Digital IT solutions which align with corporate digital strategies.
- Accountable for the product life cycle of the portfolio of digital applications working with various 3rd parties and agencies to provide capacity on demand associated with meeting the needs of our Digital portfolio.
- Manage digital eco-systems and cloud platforms along with Infrastructure Team from a DevOps perspective.
- Responsible for directing and coordinating a team of Developers, Business Analysts and Vendors in the delivery of a multi-year HR/HCM Program, including support and maintenance of these business applications.
VP - IT Analytics, Digital, Web Applications Delivery
Sobeys
07.2015 - 06.2017
- Participated in building a new IT Operating Model that created more Data and Digital focused teams that could help mature and transform Sobeys in these discipline.
- As part of this transformation was responsible for the development, implementation, and support of Analytics, Digital (Web Sites, Mobile Apps, and eComm Platforms), and Integration Platforms.
VP - Store Systems
Sobeys
10.2007 - 07.2015
- Responsibility for development, implementation, and support of all Store Technology within our organization (approx 1200 sites), This included all banners and geographical locations.
Director Store Systems
Sobeys
10.2006 - 10.2007
- Given responsibility for all of National Store Systems Team and Ontario Retail Tech Team.
- Team consists of approximately 44 resources responsible for delivering and supporting large scale projects within the Retail Technology Area.
- Successfully piloted ISP in Atlantic Region and positioned that region for full rollout.
- Developed transition plans for Quebec and West Regions to new ISP to support their SAP Implementation Plans.
Director BPO & Project Delivery
Sobeys
10.2003 - 10.2006
- Responsible for managing a portfolio of Business Process Optimization (BPO) initiatives across all lines of business within Sobeys.
- Reported directly into the Executive Vice-President of BPO and IT.
- Working with a formal BPO Team, created and maintained a BPO Roadmap that outlined all tactical initiatives and projects that would fulfill Sobeys Business Strategy over a 5-7 year duration.
- Reported BPO progress to senior management committees using newly developed BPO Dashboard and Reporting Tools.
Director of Business Analysis
Sobeys
10.2001 - 10.2003
- Directly responsible for managing national Project Managers and Business Analysts to ensure the successful delivery of various large scale, mission critical projects while following Sobeys Project Management Process.
- Successfully delivered multi million dollar projects including National Procurement (using E3TRIM); Employee Self Service Intranet Site (developed internally and linked into SAP HR); Document Imaging and Archiving (using IXOS), Ad Planning; Upgrade of Warehouse Management System (to include all 26 DC's); Relaunch of Intranet; Retail Pricing; Consolidated Accounts Payable; and other Leadership Committee Initiatives.
- Responsible for recruitment, training program development, and providing guidance to a diverse national group of IT Project Managers and Business Analysts.
- Responsible for expense and capital budgeting preparation as well as successfully managing to this multi million dollar budget.
Director of Retail Systems
Sobeys
10.1998 - 10.2001
- Responsible for providing national leadership and direction for all store level technology systems, both back office and POS.
- Successfully implemented NT Based ISP in over 300 stores in the Sobeys Ontario Region and positioned ISP for implementation in our Quebec Region (over 250 stores).
- Responsible for providing both technical and functional guidance as part of Sobeys strategy to bring commonality to their retail store systems.
- Successfully implemented projects such as Club Sobeys and Airmiles within the Sobeys Atlantic Region (100 stores).
- Also successfully replaced POS for Y2K in over 100 grocery retail stores in less than 5 months.
- Responsible for investigating and evaluating the latest technology trends in the industry to determine their feasibility within the Sobeys retail store environment.
Project Manager
Sobeys
10.1989 - 10.1998
- Responsible for managing project teams to ensure the successful delivery of large scale host and store level systems.
- These projects included functional areas such as; POS, Labels and Signage, Receiving Systems, Cash Management, Labour Forecasting, Retail Pricing, Time and Attendance, Payroll, Logistics and Distribution, Financials, and Merchandising.
Programmer/Systems Analyst
Sobeys
10.1984 - 10.1989
- Responsible for all areas of systems design, programming, documentation, and implementation of both mainframe and PC based systems.
Education
Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), Information Systems -
St. Francis Xavier University
Nova Scotia, CanadaSkills
- Retail Technology
- Vendor Management
- Process Improvement
- Leadership
- Strategic Planning
- Communication
- Digital Marketing
- E-Commerce
- Mergers and Acquisitions
- Contract Negotiation
- Operations Management
- Relationship Building
- Critical Thinking
- Coaching and Mentoring
- Complex Problem-Solving
Certification
- Master Certificate in Project Management - St. Mary's University
- Private Aircraft Pilot - Truro Flying Club
Timeline
Vice President, Strategic Retail Project Delivery
Sobeys
09.2020 - 12.2021
VP, IT Shared Services & CISO
Sobeys
02.2020 - 09.2020
VP Customer and Store Facing Systems
Sobeys
06.2017 - 02.2020
VP - IT Analytics, Digital, Web Applications Delivery
Sobeys
07.2015 - 06.2017
VP - Store Systems
Sobeys
10.2007 - 07.2015
Director Store Systems
Sobeys
10.2006 - 10.2007
Director BPO & Project Delivery
Sobeys
10.2003 - 10.2006
Director of Business Analysis
Sobeys
10.2001 - 10.2003
Director of Retail Systems
Sobeys
10.1998 - 10.2001
Project Manager
Sobeys
10.1989 - 10.1998
Programmer/Systems Analyst
Sobeys
10.1984 - 10.1989
Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), Information Systems -
St. Francis Xavier University
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