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ROOPA UNNIKRISHNAN 
e-mail: roopaonline@gmail.com 
web: www.roopaonline.com
cell: 917-226-0183
blog: RoopaRecipes.blogspot.com

See pdf version

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.