Program Manager  |  Business Analyst  |  Operations Enthusiast    

Hello. My name is Richard Blackman.
I help businesses define and develop applications, and manage operational processes.

Detail-oriented professional with 15+ years' experience driving technical solutions and business processes by leading requirements development, and collaborating with cross-functional teams to successfully deliver project goals and objectives.

About Me

I'm a huge music lover, and after university I created a business plan and secured a government Youth Venture Loan to open an independent record store with two partners. We achieved an 80% inventory turnover rate, and decided to end the business after a year due to falling profit margins.

A year later, I moved to the Cayman Islands where I managed Profit & Loss for three private retail liquor stores and a distribution warehouse, consistently exceeded the stores' gross profit margin targets while increasing inventory by 15%, and learned how to successfully manage business operations.

This was during the 'dot com' days and I became fascinated with the opportunities of using technology to engage with customers on a one-to-one basis. I returned to Canada and landed a Business Development role at a digital agency (Grey Interactive), where I learned how digital applications are built, and how to communicate proposed technical solutions for clients.

I moved into E-commerce product management and business analysis, and gained valuable hands-on experience collaborating with stakeholders and technical teams to define and implement digital solutions and operational processes.

My recent experiences have been focused on digital transformation and data management initiatives for both corporate and non-profit organizations, helping them uniquely understand and communicate with their customers, prospects and constituents.

Strengths include:

   
Understanding Project Goals: I'm logical and curious by nature, and ask a lot of questions to fully understand stakeholders' requirements, needs and goals.
Leadership & Collaboration: Have a diverse background in leading successful cross-functional teams without direct authority, and can handle stressful situations and urgent deadlines extremely well.
Research & Analysis: Experience researching and evaluating technologies, making recommendations, creating business cases and cost/benefit analysees, getting buy-in, and leading the adoption of solutions.
Data Management: Collaborated with business and IT teams to organize and maintain data structures and processes to drive efficiencies and continuous service improvements.
Operations Management: Process oriented with experience creating standard procedures for administering Content Management Systems and CRM platforms, and managing E-commerce and online Non-profit fundraising operations.

Skills

Program Management95%
Business Requirements90%
Business Analysis85%
Operations Management95%
Data Mapping90%
Data Analysis85%
Process Modelling90%
Fit/Gap and Cost/Benefit Analysees85%
Collaboration95%
Communication95%
Problem Solving90%
Stakeholder Management95%

Resume

Summary Education
Solutions-driven IT professional, passionate about understanding business needs to deliver project goals with a track record for achieving measurably successful results.

Download Resume

Honours B.Sc., Mathematics and Physics (double major)
University of Toronto | Toronto, ON

Introduction to Microeconomics and Macroeconomics
Ryerson School of Continuing Education | Toronto, ON

Professional Experience Highlights

Digital / E-commerce Consultant | RBM Consulting
Provide website development and Digital solutions, strategy and execution. Projects include:

  • Evaluated EuroHome Decor website's metadata, product categorizations, internal and organic search results, and updated the site's search functionality to enhance usability and search results.

  • Provided requirements for the Huntsville/Lake of Bays Chamber of Commerce to fix search and usability issues caused by the multiple references of similar content across their 2 complimentary websites: Chamber of Commerce Business Directory | Adventures Tourism

  • Created an end-to-end guide for S. Sutton & Associates Inc. to create free and 'for fee' webinars viewed through a webinar platform integrated with their website.
2018 - present

EuroHome Decor: EuroHome's Alexa site popularity rank has almost tripled (from being ranked 6,678,188 to 2,451,133) since the changes in August, 2019, and as of December 2022 have reached Google's top 10 results for 'wallpaper toronto' searches, which accounts for 77% of all keyword searches that send traffic to their site.


Huntsville/Lake of Bays Chamber of Commerce: Created requirements to implement a WordPress Multisite Network to decouple the sites, enable unique domains, share content between the sites, and administer the sites from a single dashboard.

Junior Associate (Consultant) | S. Sutton & Associates Inc. (a network of nonprofit consultants)

  • Created detailed scope/budget documents outlining proposed technical solutions and operational processes for non-profit clients and prospects, and consulted on clients' projects including the US Green Party.

  • Created requirements for internal programs, including an integrated SalesForce Formstack survey form and Calendly consultation meeting scheduler for prospective clients.
2019 - 2020

Provided data analytics for the US Green Party. Captured 2018 and 2019 donation metrics to update their rolling 5 year fundraising Key Performance Indicators. Queried the donor database to capture donation metrics and trends, segment donor groups for campaigns, and created interactive visuals for GPUS to explore metrics across donor segments.

CRM Project Manager / Business Analyst | Doctors Without Borders Canada
Managed CRM operational projects and led the review and assessment of the Direct Fundraising team’s digital ecosystem, business processes, and vendor relationships.

  • Elicited and gathered the team's omni-channel fundraising technical and operational processes and created detailed flow maps, business process models, and a master data / system integration map for internal and vendor fundraising applications.
2017 - 2018 (contract)

Collaborated with the Program leads and vendors to audit the processes, document change requests and requirements for future enhancements, and created a standardized file format to eliminate vendor specific data processing rules, and produce consistent reports per program..

IT Project Manager | Deloitte Canada (formerly Cornerstone Group of Companies)
Collaborated with IT and the Fundraising Services and Database Marketing teams to manage clients' CRM development and data integration projects in a structured Agile DevOps PMO environment.
Launched 85% of projects on time and budget.

  • Maintained all project documents including status reports, client communications and milestone reports, and the overall project portfolio schedule.

  • Met with the Executive Steering Committee monthly to assess all project timelines, risks, and resource allocations, and weekly with the departments to plan for their new initiatives.
2016 - 2017 (contract)

Managed a $1.5M data migration / integration project of Hyundai Canada's vehicles, sales, marketing, and service data into an integrated communications, analytics, and marketing automation CRM application with custom SAS reports, that provided a 360-degree view of their customers and prospects and enabled enterprise wide marketing communications.

During a pilot program, a major Hyundai dealership group achieved an 87% rise in appointment requests, and a 14% jump in sales.

Web Application Architect / Support Analyst | Heart and Stroke Foundation
Managed website architecture, development, and technical support for the Foundation’s fundraising websites on 3rd party cloud-based CRM and CMS platforms.

  • Lead admin: Researched, recommended and obtained buy-in from business owners to alter the platforms' configuration options to customize the websites’ CMS and CRM features, and payment processing options.

  • Partnered with the program teams to develop their website requirements and project plans, and managed the site builds and maintenance.

  • Created KPI report templates for the program teams, reconciliation reports for Finance, system reports for Tech Support, and trained all teams to customize their reports.
2013 - 2016 (contract)

Managed the implementation of 50+ Peer-to-Peer and Special Event fundraising websites per year.

Implemented a Duplicate Management module that automatically flagged and/or merged possible duplicate constituent records. 7% of the contact records were duplicates and merged at launch, and an average of 4% of new records per week were merged.

Set up and administered the Blackbaud platform's Payment Gateway service and individual Merchant accounts for all national and provincial fundraising programs that reduced the Finance team's reconciliation workload by approximately 65% (5 days to 2 days).

Digital / E-commerce Business Consultant | RBM Consulting
Provided E-commerce and Digital Media solutions, strategy and execution; site architecture and development, and product marketing for websites and mobile devices. Projects include:

  • Walls Republic: Developed a 1-year online marketing plan proposal for a home décor manufacturer’s new Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) E-commerce website through a mix of online advertising, email marketing, promotions, and Social Media campaigns. www.wallsrepublic.com

  • Showcase Canada: Developed an online strategy for Showcase to create an interactive community of shopping enthusiasts via web, mobile and social media. www.showcasecanada.com

  • Researched digital strategies and provided business plan guidance and financial forecasts to a venture developing an iPad B2C E-commerce comic book portal.
2010 - 2013

The overall theme of Showcase Canada - particularly the in-store experience - was of interactivity and entertainment where consumers in a retail environment could "try it before they buy it." The online strategy included: revamping the Showcase website to allow customers to interact with the company and view product demonstrations, facilitate customer generated product demonstration videos, and embed purchase links on social sites to compliment and reinforce the interactivity theme.
As at September 2022, Showcase Canada had over 20.5M product demonstration videos - primarily in-house along with roughly 2,000 user generated videos, and have grown an enthusiastic online community.

E-commerce Product Catalogue Consultant | Rogers Communications Inc.
Enhanced the rogers.com sales funnel for Wireless Small/Medium business customers, and the Self-Service funnel for all Wireless customers.

  • Assessed the website code, fixed problems, updated business rules and product catalogue data to display new product and service categories within the Sales and Self-Service funnels.

  • Collaborated with the E-Commerce Content team and the offshore IT Operations team to manage all product and promotional launches and updates post implementation.
2008 - 2010 (contract)

Created a product catalogue manual and a technical specifications document for the E-Commerce Content and offshore IT Operations teams, and trained both groups to transition the product onboarding operations and application maintenance to the group.

Achieved a 35% increase in monthly Self-Service transactions over 18 months, and a 6% year-over-year increase in product sales.

Hardware Product Marketing Manager | XM Satellite Radio Canada Inc.
Collaborated with XM U.S., OEM hardware partners, Canadian distributors, graphic design vendors, and offshore factories to manage the production and distribution of satellite radios and accessories for Canada.

  • Created product positioning, competitive comparison documents (XM versus Sirius), sales sheets, and training materials for XM's distributors, retailers, and business teams.
  • Defined the training modules for XM's e-Learning portal that enabled retail partners' sales employees to become trained and certified to sell XM's products and services.
  • Conducted quarterly new product presentations for the business teams and the Retail Field Representatives, and supported the Sales team on corporate initiatives.
2006 - 2007 (contract)

Managed a $1M annual hardware distribution budget and successfully launched 7 satellite radios over 18 months on budget and schedule.

Led the redesign/standardization of product packaging artwork, reducing final production timelines and costs by roughly 30%.

Gave product demonstrations at the 2007 Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show and helped secure Belkin as an accessory vendor.

E-commerce Product Manager / Business Analyst | Rogers Communications Inc.
Managed the end-to-end sales and support user experience on rogers.com/wireless.

  • Partnered with the Wireless division's stakeholders and subject matter experts to define the digital product roadmap, business and functional requirements, and the 3PL Fulfillment vendor's operational processes for the custom rogers.com/wireless E-commerce website / platform.

  • E-commerce representative on all cross-functional product launch teams for key strategic projects and quarterly marketing program launches. I created the online requirements, project and test plans, and partnered with IT to manage the builds.

  • Collaborated with stakeholders across Finance, Legal, Customer Service, and Logistics to create the Customer Service and E-commerce anti-fraud processes including an automated fraud detection application.
1999 - 2006 (contract)

Credited as a driving force behind:

  • 13% yearly average increase in Wireless products' online revenues

  • 5% yearly average increase in Wireless products sold online.

  • Generating an average of $400,000 per month in Wireless price plan gross revenues, through combined phone and price plan purchases.

  • 6% average year-over-year decline in the number of chargebacks, and stopped an average of $230,000 per year in fraudulent online purchases through automated and manual processes.

Portfolio

Here's a few examples of my work, and I welcome the opportunity to discuss my track record and expand upon my skills and experiences with you.

Hyundai Canada: CRM Development & Data Integration

CRM Development & Data Migration


Doctors Without Borders: Business Analysis

Business Process Review & Analysis


Automated Duplicate Management

Automated Duplicate Management


Rogers Communications: SDLC

E-commerce SDLC


E-commerce Data Management

E-commerce Data Management


Heart and Stroke Foundation: Technical Program Support

Technical Program Support


Heart and Stroke Foundation: Financial Program Support

Financial Program Support


United States Green Party: Fundraising Data Analysis

Data Analysis


XM Satellite Radio: Product Management

Product Management & Operations


 


Communications With Stakeholders

Communication with Stakeholders


 


Contact

If you would like more information on how I can help your organization, please feel free to contact me.
I'm available for full-time opportunities, contracts, and freelance projects.