SMITHA DAVANAM

Driven two clients projects (one at growth stage and another new product development) and 1 internal project (NPD)

• Product 1 Domain: Fin-tech (Portfolio Tracker - B2B SaaS - Growth Phase)
• Product 2 Domain: Ed-tech (School Portal - NPD)
• Internal Project: Driven in-house KMS (NPD) and Editorial Programs as a Strategic Assets
• Spearheaded the design and implementation of CRM strategy for fund-house management platform, resulting in increased operational efficiency and improved client engagement.
• Led a Globally Distributed Product Teams (Team Strength 45-60) and cultivated a strong leadership bench, ensuring high performance and providing guidance and mentorship to ensure successful product launches and ongoing success.
• Led the consolidation of different CRM solutions into strategic platform, impacting 31+ major sales channels across the globe.
• Led a global team of constituents to conceptualize / reimagine the next-generation suite of CRM solutions.
• Developed and executed a data strategy to centralize third-party data from hundreds of files onto a unified platform, creating a single source of truth for Sales and Marketing teams.
• Collaborated with the Data Science team to design and implement a sales data warehouse, enabling robust reporting and analysis capabilities. Generated over 60,000 sales leads, resulting in a 20% increase in high-quality client engagements.
• Collaborated with Directors of product, sales and marketing, Delivery Engineering Heads, Design Heads, Legal head - Lead cross-functional coordination with design, engineering, QA, support, data, and legal to deliver on-time, high-quality launches, to streamline development processes and improve time-to-market for launching products.
• Served as the bridge between platform engineering, infra, and product — enabling other teams to move faster through well-designed interfaces and reusable systems.
• Set API SLAs as part of microservices scaling strategies - Set quality standards for API design, system performance, scalability, and reliability
• Coached through challenges and comm. issues by setting a clear, actionable goals, providing consistent feedback & performing regular calibrations to ensure alignment & growth.
• Represented the needs of agencies, sub-accounts, and end contacts in platform and CRM decisions — ensuring we build with deep user empathy.
• Led migration of marketing email platform to new full-service provider, working with business and IT partners to develop requirements, redesign processes, and manage vendors and IT resources. Result: more efficient campaign process.
• Re-engineered integration of new email solution with internal/external systems to automate data processing, reducing data latency from monthly to daily.
• Led project finances and vendor negotiation for AAA.
  Collaborated with CMO to blueprint new database marketing organization to develop and implement future marketing strategies for AAA.
• Created an agile working environment, enabling rapid response to changing business needs without sacrificing quality or performance standards.
• Developed strong relationships with key industry partners, fostering collaboration and mutual growth opportunities.
• Directed design and execution of business transformation initiatives to drive performance, profit optimization and growth opportunities.
• Navigated complex regulatory environments to ensure compliance with local laws, standards, and regulations relevant to the business domain.
• Championed continuous improvement initiatives to drive operational excellence within the organization.
• Drove strategic improvements to enhance operational and organizational efficiencies.
• Grew talent pool by actively recruiting top performing candidates from diverse backgrounds while implementing robust training programs for skill development across all levels of product teams.
• Managed risk effectively by identifying potential threats, developing contingency plans, and implementing mitigation strategies in line with overall business objectives.
• Streamlined operations for increased efficiency with process improvements and automation.
• Enhanced internal communication channels, resulting in improved information flow and decision-making processes.
• Cultivated a culture of innovation by promoting creative thinking and encouraging employees to take calculated risks in pursuit of solutions.
• Performed continuous evaluations of business facility, teams and policies to keep operations efficient and consistent.
• Reduced employee turnover rates by creating a positive work environment with clear expectations and support systems in place.
• Defined clear targets and objectives and communicated to other team members.
• Established performance goals for employees and provided feedback on methods for reaching those milestones.
• Collaborated with the Product leadership to influence org-wide product strategy, culture, and planning cadences.
• Lead a strategic, quarterly and annual planning for the org — bringing clarity to priorities across technical debt, product innovation, and user experience.
• Acted as a strategic thought partner to engineering leadership in shaping architecture and development investment decisions, also the executional anchor for platform and core products.
• KMS platform teams are recognized as enablers — as other pods built faster - as they could use KMS system for research and streamlined the clients communication and documentation of processes.
• The organization experienced clean product ownership, predictable roadmaps, and fast decision-making under my leadership. Collaborated with CPO on product vision and strategy, influencing decisions as part of Senior Leadership Team
• Collaborated with Product Marketing on effective GTM strategies

Domain : Fin-tech (NPD : Sales-Rep’s interface and integrated workflows with it’s Broker’s App)

Job Responsibilities:

• Strategic Leadership
• Product Development and Management
• Product Development Lifecycle
• Product Team Management
• Stakeholder Management
• Market and Customer Insights
• Revenue and Growth
• Cross Team Collaboration
• Metrics and KPIs

Job Responsibilities:

• Spearheaded the Product Development and driving the product Solutions.
• Proven success in driving Product Strategic Initiatives and Shaping Product Strategies to align business objectives, goals and market demands to enhance User Satisfaction and driven Revenue Growth increasing ARR.
• Collaborated with cross-functional teams, including developers to define Project Requirements & Deliverables.
• Collaborated with Designers & Research team and Conducted User Research, Market Research, Usability Testing.
• Conducted Data Analysis on Product Data & User-Behavior Data Analysis to identify areas of improvement.

Achievements:

• Developed and implemented solutions to drive business growth, improving customer
  satisfaction by 25% and revenue growth by 30%, through human-centered design approaches,
  product innovation and market development.
• Demonstrated ability to drive business outcomes through effective decision-making, achieving a
  15% reduction in costs through process improvements, a 30% increase in sales within 6 months of
  joining, and 45% YoY growth consistently over the next years, informed by design-driven insights and product analytics.
• Utilized User Experience and Design Skills to craft intuitive and user-centered solutions, resulting in a 40% increase in customer engagement and a 25% reduction in customer complaints, showcasing expertise in Product Leadership and Product Development.

Driven four clients products in the time span of 3 years, all at growth stage.

Domain - 1: Healthcare (Teleradiology System: Radiology Diagnosis SaaS SW - Image Processing and Diagnostic App for Radiologists)

Domain - 2: Logistics (Route Optimization SaaS SW for a Shipping and Logistics company)

Domain - 3: Ed-tech (LMS Software, Parents Portal and Transportation Portal)

Domain - 4: Healthcare (Event Driven "Med-Noter" for Critical patients Vital Signs tracking System)

• Driven growth phase for the above projects
• Meeting high-value, ICPs Bi-weekly once during Customer/User’s Meeting for maintaining retention and meeting changing needs.
• Collecting feedback from high value churned customers to know the underline reasons and to fill the gap and meet the possible valuable needs, keeping long term impact in mind.
• Analyzing Product Analytics to keep up on the Market Trends and Sustainability in the Competitive Market.
• Fostering Innovate culture and creating growth loops.
• Differentiating, Positioning and maintaining Distribution channels and Establishing Different Revenue Streams for Product Growth.
• Developed and implemented comprehensive design strategies, influencing cross-functional teams and driving design quality across multiple products.
• Employed a user-centered design approach, utilizing design research methods, service design principles, and feature prioritization to deliver innovative solutions.
• Coordinated project planning and execution with team members and team leads.
• Thrived in fast-paced, highly-adept team to develop and prioritize product features and build product roadmap.
• Communicated effectively with team members to deliver updates on project milestones and deadlines.
• Managed stakeholder expectations effectively to meet the growth targets.

As a Co-Founder - HRBP and P&C Advisor (July 2010 - April 2019):

• Worked as a Co-founder for about 9 years in Jobbing Studio Startup providing HRBP Services.
• Spearheaded Operations, Product (Design, Development and Deliveries), and Internal team Management.
• Oversaw and managed day-to-day operations (ensuring 95% uptime), product design & development and internal team management.
• Implemented Processes and Systems, resulting in 35% increased efficiency.
• Providing HRBP Services, as a HRBP End-to-End Talent and Organization Partner and Service Provider.
• Onboarded Client Partners [P&C Advisor Teams and COE Org Teams - TA, C&B, L&D, DEI)] and Job Seekers
• Collaborated with Founder on:
• Defining and Refining the Company’s Vision, Mission and Value Propositions
• Developing and Executing on Business Strategy and Growth initiatives, driving 50% YoY growth.
• Identifying and Mitigating Risk
• Making Key Decisions
• Collaborated with product teams, developed and executed Product Roadmap, resulting in 28% revenue growth.
• Established Key Partnerships.
• Developed and implemented Operational Strategies, reducing costs by 20%.
• Responsible and Accountable to the Pre-sales/Proposal Cycle and was responsible for the Deliverables
• Risk Scoring & Risk Management (Under Information Security Management System of Risk Management Standardization (ISO 27001)]
• Client Relationship Management
• Conducting various offshore and onsite meetings, trainings and seminars for cross-functional collaboration and team alignment.

Achievements as a Co-Founder:

• Acquired HRBP and P&C Domain Expertise.
• Acquired entrepreneurial skillsets.
• Achieved 50% YoY Revenue Growth.
• Acquired Operational Skills and Product Development and Management Skills.
• Acquired multiple teams management, team building and hiring skills.
• Acquired Product Design and User-Experience Skills and also was promoted to Product Design Manager Role.
• Developed Customer-First, User Centric skills along with Product Innovation Skills, Problem Solving Skills and Information Architecture (IA) skills.
• Fine-tuned Customer Relationship Management Skills, SaaS Product Development Skills.

As a HRBP and P&C Advisor:

As a Co-Founder, HR Business Partner (HRBP) and People and Culture (P&C) Advisor, I was a key contributor to manage the employee life cycle by working closely with the P&C partners and the COE Org's like Talent Acquisition (TA), Compensation and Benefits (C&B), Learning and Development (L&D) and Diversity Equality Inclusion (DEI). In this role I was also responsible to work on P&C Analytics, Dashboards, Audit, Employee engagement and project management across various P&C initiatives, and supported the P&C partners through the process of job requisitions, performance management, org design, exits and other talent management processes.

Achievements as a HRBP and P&C Advisor:

• Spearheaded employee lifecycle management, improving employee engagement by 25% and reducing turnover by 30%.
• Developed and implemented Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives, increasing diverse hiring by 40%.
• Collaborated with Senior Leadership to design and implement performance management processes, resulting in 20% improvement in employee performance.
• Ensured 99% data integrity through regular Workday updates and audits.
• Fostered strategic partnerships with global teams, driving business outcomes and talent development

As a Business Analyst - Discovery to Launch Phase (July 2010-April 2015): (Accountable for Pre-Sales Cycle in various activities/stages)

• Business Requirements gathering for in-house platform development of a SaaS HRBP - Human Resource Business Partner product
• Reviewing and Analyzing MSA Requirements and ensuring alignment with business objectives.
• Identifying potential risks and opportunities.
• Collaborating with stakeholders for clarifying MSA terms.
• Developing Business Use Cases and ROI Analyses.
• Outlining Reporting Requirements (Progress, Financial and Performance Reports) to ensure transparency and accountability to align with business objectives.
• Provided inputs on engagement Terms, Billing rates and SLA’s of Master Service Agreement, MSA
• Identifying Key Stakeholders Roles and Responsibilities levels (RACI Matrix) during Project initiation.
• Requirements Phase Estimation Planning using WBS for complex projects at Project Planning phase in collaboration with SMEs, with one of the Scope Documents (Statement of Work, SOW’s or Business Case Documents, BCDs).
• Requirements Elicitation, Analysis and Documentation of both Functional and Non-Functional Requirements in BRDs to ensure delivery approvals from SME’s and Application/Solution Owners.
• Requirements Communication and Management(Scope): Functional and Non Functional Requirements (NFRs) with Technical Architects-TA’s, Design, Dev and QA teams for design, development and solution validation.
• Responsible for Risk Management and Scope Management for Change Requests (CRs) with Change Management Process Framework and mitigating Scope Creep Risk, by base-lining the BRD to keep track on efforts, timeline and scope impact and dependencies impact.
• Managed & Maintained Traceability Matrix, for both Vertical and Horizontal Traceability Requirements, identifying and tracking dependencies and keeping in check the impact on the dependencies at design, dev and validation stages for successful delivery of the project.
• Business Model and Value Propositions.
• Collaborated with QA team for Functional Testing to provide inputs.
• Enterprise Planning

Achievements:

• Make A Difference Award (2012)
• Promoted to Product Design Manager (2015)

As a Product Design Manager - Growth Phase (May 2015 - April 2019) :

• Led Product Design for NPD of Rewards and Badges Systems for Job Applicants, driving 50% increase in User engagement and 30% increase in applicant conversions.
• Collaborated across cross-functional teams (Product, Engineering teams & QA teams) to ensure seamless Product launch of Rewards System, resulting in 25% revenue growth.
• Driven User-Experience enhancement initiatives in creating User-Centric and Innovative Product functionalities and increased Customer Satisfaction by 40%.
• Mentored Junior Designers and analysts to foster a culture of innovation.
• Driven End-to-End Service Design for the clients, as a HRBP.

Achievements:

• Customer Centric Award (2015)
• Employee of the Year (2016)
• Innovation Leader Award (2019)

• Domain: Title Insurance
• Business Function: Real Estate Escrow Services & Underwriting Services
• Team: Oracle Technology
• Team Size: 50-60
• Forms and Reports development for Title Insurance customers in Oracle ERP Modules (OM, INV, AR).
• Developing Custom SQL & PL/SQL functions for database updates, API's, Oracle Reports, BI Reports along with performance tuning for extensive data reports.
• Collaborating with other stakeholders for Peer Review, QA and UAT, until its deployed in Production.
• IC for two migration projects (Clients DB migration project and Company's DB migration projects)
• Documentation of Technical Requirements, Functional Requirements, UAT and Migration Documents (Oracle AIM)
• Post Production Support (for errors fixing and New Custom Requirements developments)
• Data Analytics, Visualization and BI Reports Generation
• Provided exceptional support for clients during implementation, resolving technical issues promptly.
• Trained end-users on new applications and reports usage, promoting ease of use and maximizing ROI on technology investments.
• Collaborated with cross-functional teams to develop optimal strategies that aligned with organizational goals.

Achievements:

• Best Performance Award (2007 and 2009)
• Employee of the year (2008)
• Best Migration Support Award (2009)
• Best Debugger Award and appreciation and thank you email from Onsite team manager as well (2010)

• Domain: Title Insurance, Mortgage Insurance and Property Insurance
• Business Function: Order Processing
• Team: MISG - Refund team
• Team Size: 500-600
• Processing the Orders and Streamlining the Operational Process with Refunds and 2nd hand Orders with IDBS.
• 3 times Role Promotion with multiple best performance awards, employee of the year award (2006)
• Transition to Oracle Software team through IJP - Internal Job Promotion after extensive training of internal and external trainings post job hours/shift timings (My Main Career Pivot - 2007)
• Identified modifications to processes and procedures that would promote better efficiency (IDBS) and order completion

• Domain: Banking - Consumer Products (Consumer Loans)
• Business Function: Sales
• Team: Loans
• Team Size: 20
• Handled multiple DSA's PL, VL, HL, CC, BL Applications Screening to Delivery of the Check/Card.
• Acquired new skill of Credit Underwriting for Business/Company Loans and Managed 4 teams of total strength 20.
• Initiated for digitization of documents for the DSA's
• Promoted a positive work environment by fostering teamwork, open communication, digitization of documents logging and employee recognition initiatives.