Safira Walsh
Milton,ON
Summary
Results oriented Product Lead and Platform Lead with 15+ years of experience driving operational efficiency, fostering collaboration, and leading high-performing teams in fast-paced environments. Passionate about leveraging technology to optimize processes and enhance customer satisfaction, with a proven track record of delivering impactful results.
Experienced with agile project management, requirements gathering, and stakeholder engagement. Utilizes these skills to streamline product development and ensure alignment with business objectives. Track record of effective communication and team leadership, driving successful product launches and continuous improvement.
Professional with robust background in product management and agile frameworks. Known for fostering team collaboration and driving projects to successful completion. Reliable in adapting to evolving requirements and prioritizing key deliverables, showcasing strong ability to manage stakeholder expectations.
Overview
25
25
years of professional experience
Work History
Product Owner, Merchandising Product Family
Loblaw Companies Limited
09.2022 - Current
- Led a team of 3 Manager level resources to supply support, complete enhancements and address defects for Shoppers Drug Mart Merchandising applications.
- Achieved a reduction in repeated production incidents by engaging the team to perform root cause analysis and implement corrective/preventative code changes.
- Implemented BOGO & Members Only Pricing functionality that gave the SDM business the ability to easily deploy promotions and offers to customers, resulting in improved sales and margin.
- Successfully coordinated cross-functional projects, fostering collaboration among diverse technology and business teams.
- Managed budgets of over $2M, using financial tracking and reporting to ensure on-time and on-budget delivery.
Senior Manager, SAP Platform
Loblaw Companies Limited
10.2018 - 09.2022
- Enthusiastic People Leader for a team of 11 Developers, 5 Functional resources and additional contractors.
- Led end to end delivery of a new web application with a $0.5M budget, delivered 20% under budget and on schedule.
- Spearheaded Agile transformation by leading a Scrum team to deliver aging SAP Defects, resulting in a reduction in the Defect backlog and improved customer trust in the system tools.
- Drove user-centered design (UCD) principles, enhancing adoption and usability of new SAP enhancements and applications.
- Successfully coordinated cross-functional projects, fostering collaboration among diverse technology and business teams.
- Recognized for building a high-performing, innovative team culture that prioritized customer satisfaction, learning and continuous improvement.
- Played a pivotal role in mentoring team members, resulting in improved growth in technical skills and project delivery.
- Built diverse teams, increasing female representation by 50% and achieving 100% representation of people of color among new hires.
Senior Manager, Data Operations Business Process Expert
Loblaw Companies Limited
08.2013 - 09.2018
- Spearheaded critical data quality projects, reducing errors in master data by 25%.
- Established cross-training programs, leading to greater team flexibility and improved resource allocation.
- Pioneered initiatives to improve customer service ratings, achieving a significant 20% satisfaction increase.
- Partnered with IT and Change Management teams to implement standardized processes that enhanced reliability.
Business Process Expert, Master Data
Loblaw Companies Limited
01.2012 - 01.2013
- Revamped the Article New Hire Training Program, reducing onboarding time by 40%.
- Led data cleansing projects that resulted in improved data accuracy by 35%.
- Successfully tested and implemented new system functionalities, leading to a 10% improvement in user adoption rates.
Senior Analyst, Data Quality & Compliance
Loblaw Companies Limited
01.2011 - 01.2012
- Designed governance reports that streamlined data accuracy monitoring, leading to a 20% increase in compliance rates.
- Supplied expert-level support for SAP implementation, enabling the successful migration of master data.
- Recognized for developing efficient processes that reduced data processing time by 15%.
Team Lead, Process Improvement
Monessen Hearth/CFM
01.2001 - 01.2009
- Led a cross functional team who focused on web design, development, and retail analysis.
- Delivered a new Company intranet site to share communications, establish governance policies, and share SOP’s.
- Increased revenue by 30% for replacement parts by building an b2c e-commerce site and analyzing sales data, commonly purchased items, and costs.
Education
Certificate in Strategic Leadership - Digital Enterprise
University of Toronto
User Experience Design Certification Program - undefined
University of Toronto
Agile Mindset - undefined
Deloitte
Fostering Inclusivity - Workplace
519
Green Belt, Lean Six Sigma - undefined
Smarter Solutions
Bachelor of Science - undefined
University of Toronto
Skills
- IT & Digital Transformation → Agile Delivery, IT Strategy, Change Management
- Leadership & Team Building → Cross-functional Collaboration, Coaching & Mentoring, Stakeholder Engagement, ESG Pillar Lead
- Public Speaking & Engagement → Executive Communication, Speaker at SAP Sapphire & SAP TechEd conferences, DEI Podcasts & Panel Interviews
- Application & Product Development → Design Thinking, Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), Product Management
- Data & Systems → SAP, ERP Migrations, Master Data Governance
- Process Improvement → Lean Six Sigma (Green Belt), Business Process Optimization, Operational Efficiency
- Product backlog management
- Business analysis
- Roadmap development
- Release planning
- Agile methodology
- Stakeholder relationship management
- User acceptance testing
- Product planning
- Requirements elicitation
- Design thinking
Timeline
Product Owner, Merchandising Product Family
Loblaw Companies Limited
09.2022 - Current
Senior Manager, SAP Platform
Loblaw Companies Limited
10.2018 - 09.2022
Senior Manager, Data Operations Business Process Expert
Loblaw Companies Limited
08.2013 - 09.2018
Business Process Expert, Master Data
Loblaw Companies Limited
01.2012 - 01.2013
Senior Analyst, Data Quality & Compliance
Loblaw Companies Limited
01.2011 - 01.2012
Team Lead, Process Improvement
Monessen Hearth/CFM
01.2001 - 01.2009
User Experience Design Certification Program - undefined
University of Toronto
Agile Mindset - undefined
Deloitte
Fostering Inclusivity - Workplace
519
Green Belt, Lean Six Sigma - undefined
Smarter Solutions
Bachelor of Science - undefined
University of Toronto
Certificate in Strategic Leadership - Digital Enterprise
University of Toronto
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