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ROOPA
UNNIKRISHNAN
e-mail: roopaonline@gmail.com
web: www.roopaonline.com
cell: 917-226-0183
blog: RoopaRecipes.blogspot.com
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More than a decade of experience in strategy and organizational change; experience with senior teams delivering significant organizational results
Oxford MBA; Rhodes Scholar; significant non-profit board/ trustee experience
EXPERIENCE
Pfizer, New York, USA April
2007-present
Vice President, WBB Talent and Organization Development January 2009 – present
- Deliver the global People and Organization strategy for the pharma business
- Lead global team, having restructured it to meet financial commitments and
global/regional needs
- Establishing strategic workforce plans for growth and change markets
Senior Director, Worldwide Talent and Organization Development Sept - Dec 2009
- Established the Integrated Talent Strategy statement, that was leveraged in
the Pfizer Talent Report
- Redefined the Portfolio Review process to drive for greater effectiveness,
accountability and impact
Senior Director, Worldwide Strategy and Innovation July 2008 - Sept 2009
- Lead the development of company-wide Innovation tools, culture and selected projects (confidential nature of projects prevent sharing of further details)
- Established the Innovation Advisory Council which includes tech pioneer Esther Dyson, Noberl Laureate Muhammad Yunus, etc.
- Validated multiple innovation spaces including: VC investments in global access models, physician practice management, alternate pharmacy benefits, eHealth strategy, etc.
Director, executive leadership team technology strategy April 2007–June 2008
- Technology point-person for the Corporate Strategy team
- Leader of the Financial Impact team that identified $100MM in cost savings through analytic work and cost-focused workshops, and in line to deliver such cost savings for the ’08 calendar year
Citigroup North America,
CitiCards Division, New York, USA
April
2006 - April 2007
Director/ SVP, Strategic Planning Group, Enhancement
Services
Strategic lead to a $1B revenue-generating unit that cross-sells
non-financial products to credit card base. Key responsibilities and
achievements in the first year in the role has been the development of
a Product Council that generated and delivered significant new product
ideas (expected delivery of ~$20 MM in 2007), definition of key
outside-of-the-base opportunities and leading cross-affiliate efforts
for the cross-sell group.
Katzenbach Partners
LLC, New York, USA
March 1999-April 2006
Practice Lead, Outsourcing Practice – current
title; previously, engagement manager and consultant
Employee #6 in an organization and strategy-focused
consulting firm that has grown to more than 120 employees. Specialize
in senior management and people strategy for Fortune 100 and Fortune
500 companies spanning pharmaceuticals, health insurance, financial
institutions, energy, prestige beauty and skincare, airlines and media.
PAST PROJECTS:
- Collaborating with the
leadership of a top-ranked Business Process Outsourcing company to
structure its strategy and people development processes and systems.
- Visioning the future for the
central research library and associated investment implications for a
top-tier US university.
- Published a widely-quoted study
on the Relative Value of Growth TM (RVG) expectations of in India, US
and Europe-based outsourcing companies. Interviews/citations in several
TV programs and business publications, including BusinessWeek.
[ read about the study here - PDF ]
- Defined appropriate development
and evaluation systems for two sales groups (one, newly created; the
other, newly reorganized) within a Fortune 100 retirement planning
company with more than $300 billion in assets under management.
- Managed team working on
year-long effort around strategic initiatives within the technology
division of leading pharmaceutical company, including efforts to
develop a portfolio management process and to revise the people
management and development program.
- Defined appropriate development
and evaluation systems for two sales groups (one, newly created; the
other, reorganized) within a Fortune 100 retirement planning company ,
managing more than $300 B in assets
- Designed and piloted a
governance process for the technology group of a leading pharmaceutical
company, to prioritize and ensure appropriate trade-offs between
projects to meet strategic priorities. Also worked with the group to
define an appropriate talent portfolio to meet the evolving business
and support model.
- Developed talent management
processes of one of the largest manufacturers and marketers in the
prestige beauty and skincare industry. Responsibilities included
creating a succession planning process for the U.S. corporate
functions, and development strategies for top talent
- Managed team working on
strategic initiatives to take the technology division of leading
pharmaceutical company to the next level of excellence. The year-long
project helped the organization set a new technology strategy, develop
a portfolio management process and revised the people management and
development program.
- Part of team helping set the
strategy for a Fortune 100 company that is a leader in the health
insurance field. Managed the initiative to set a corporate vision and
develop a change process. Project work included competitive analysis
and development of a corporate values statement. Helped introduce new
strategic options to the top 100 leaders of this organization.
- One of two creators of an
online Team Assessment Tool (patent pending in U.S. and Europe) with
intense involvement in the design and creation of the assessment as
well as the mechanics for automating the assessment. Have also led
application of that tool to diverse clients. The assessment is a
central offering of a fully-owned Web-based enterprise that has been
created to deliver consulting services online.
- Designed an expert-based
knowledge management system for the marketing department of a leading
pharmaceutical company from analysis of information needs and
behavioral analysis. Managed the development and drove the
implementation of the system within the client. Work involved intense
outreach within the client organization to gather content as well as
design input.
- Created a common architecture
for integrating new hires and training them for the above-mentioned
company.
INTERNAL PROJECTS:
- Developed strategy for
identifying partnership opportunities with other specialty consulting
firms and boutiques. As part of this process, supervised a team of
Wharton MBA students who researched the potential partnerships.
- Member of 10-person client
leadership team involved in developing strategy around business
development and problem solving focused on a major pharma client.
- Led recruiting effort for
experienced consultants and MBA candidates. Set the recruiting strategy
and created infrastructure and relationships to ensure an "automatic"
and self-sustaining recruiting effort at multiple business schools;
created the first new-hire integration and training program for the
firm.
INTERNSHIPS
Bank of Jamaica and the
Financial Sector Adjustment Company (FINSAC)
Kingston, Jamaica (Oxford Business School project) July-Aug
1998
Analyzed the Jamaican financial
sector crisis focusing on the banking sector's involvement in
real-estate investments. In-depth study of senior management decisions
at NCB, the National Commercial Bank, which controlled 60 percent of
the country's financial sector. Made presentations to the Minister of
Finance and senior officials of the Central Bank on NCB-specific
findings as well as findings on systemic deficiencies based on unique
data collected by the team.
Gillman & Soame
Ltd.
Oxford, UK (Oxford Business School project)
Dec 1997- March 1998
New business development project
with Oxford-based photography firm - as part of MBA training.
Analyzed economic and technical feasibility of introducing digital
imagery into the business. Formulated a business plan for establishing
a strategic business unit, constructed a financial model and made
presentation to the board of directors.
EDUCATION
University of Oxford,
Balliol College
Oxford, UK
1995-98
- Rhodes Scholar: Selected as
India's 100th Rhodes Scholar.
- Master of Business
Administration
- Electives in Finance, Investment Banking and International Business
Strategy.
- Served as a contact for new applicants from India and New York.
- Master of Philosophy in
Economic and Social History
- Emphasis on economic trends in Indian and South Asian History.
- Courses on European demographics and Historic socio-economic changes
in South Asia and Africa.
- Researched the economics of environmental policy-formulation for M.
Phil. thesis on evolution of wildlife conservation policies in the
Madras Presidency 1880 to 1947.
University of Madras,
Chennai, India
1989-95
- Master of Arts in History at
Ethiraj College
- Medalist, ranked second overall in the entire University (1,200
historians).
- Extensive course work done on Indian, East Asian, European and
American History.
- Researched social and economic determinants of female behavior using
sports in Tamil Nadu.
- Bachelor of Arts in History,
Politics and Economics at Women's Christian College
- Pithavardian Prize for securing the highest marks in Economics.
- Lily Pithavardian Prize for Archaeology, Art and Architecture.
- Medalist and ranked second overall in the university (800 students).
- Student representative on the academic council for determining
syllabus policies.
SKILLS
- Computers: Excel, Access,
Powerpoint, MS Project, Word, SPSS.
- Languages: Fluent in English,
Hindi, Malayalam and Tamil. Conversational French; studied in college
and high school.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Sports Rifle Shooting
- Won the Arjuna Award, India's
highest sporting prize (equivalent to sports hall of fame); presented
by India's President in 1999.
- Gold medal and record in the
XVI Commonwealth Games, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1998, in women's prone
sports rifle; Gold medal at the Asian Shooting Championships, Bangkok,
Thailand, 1999; Silver medalist at the World Shooting Grand Prix, Ft.
Benning, Georgia, 1998; Silver medalist at the XV Commonwealth Games,
Victoria (Canada), 1994, in women's three-position sports
rifle; Represented India in rifle shooting at world and Asian
competitions, 1987-2002; hold several records at the South Asian level.
- Captain of the Oxford Women's
Shooting Team; received "Extraordinary Full Blue" at Oxford
for achievement in international sports; represented the combined
British Universities in inter-university matches.
Volunteer work & Extracurricular
- Trustee, Taraknath Das
Foundation, nonprofit that works for better Indo-US relations and
provides scholarships for needy Indian students who wish to study in
the U.S. 2005-present
- Run a food blog, RoopaRecipes.blogspot.com.
- Former Board Chair, Sakhi for
South Asian Women. One of the leading nonprofits in the South
Asian community, Sakhi works to end violence against women. As chair,
responsible for overall development of business plan, people policies
and long-term strategy.
- Former Board member, Metro
International, nonprofit providing a cultural bridge between foreign
students and New York educational groups.
- Co-coordinator of New York
Chapter of Oxford Business Alumni, 2000-2002.
- Occasional book reviewer
(published four reviews in New York Post).
- Poems published in the American
Anthology of Poetry in 1991; gold medal in the All India Poetry
competition, 1989.
- Speaking engagements at
national conferences around outsourcing, talent management, events
around women in business, community events and non-profit related
events.