Emma Verhagen
Verified Expert in Project Management
Project Manager
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Toptal member since August 6, 2019
Emma is an experienced senior manager of digital transformation, a global project leader, release and transition manager, and has been the product owner for companies such as Unilever, Accenture, Philips, and KPN. She is skilled at bridging business and IT through effective Agile project management. Emma has received the Top 5 Best Young Professionals award from the Netherlands in 2017. She is also a Scrum Master, and PRINCE2 and ITIL certified.
Project Highlights
Education Highlights
Certification Highlights
Expertise
- Management
- Mobile Apps
- PRINCE2
- Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
- Requirements Analysis
- SAP HANA
- Scrum
- WP eCommerce
Work Experience
Senior Manager of Digital Transformation and Global Digital Project Leader in R&D
Unilever
- Led the SAP Improvements project with a budget of €10 million, and over 60 resources split into nine DevOps teams, each having a product owner, business analyst, DevOps manager, and techno-functional developers.
- Responsible for the project end-to-end, including business case creation, team setup, designing, building, testing, deploying, communicating, and Business As Usual (BAU).
- Delivered 120 improvements in six months though monthly Agile releases.
- Delivered the SAP S/4 HANA Implementation with the least number of defects from all previous yearly releases.
- Created and received funding for a Business Case with a value of €10 million per annum in terms of productivity (the equivalent of 48 FTEs), savings, speed to market, and growth through continuously improving the Data Backbone of R&D.
- Responsible for the project to create a new product data management system that spanned marketing, supply chain, R&D, procurement, and eCommerce.
- Developed a new process and ways of working for cross-functional teams.
Digital Product Manager
Unilever
- Managed eight different digital R&D product teams on effort, resources, plans, and progress to delivering an IT solution in accordance with the business needs.
- Led monthly releases and was the design-build test lead for +/-50 resources.
- Worked as the user acceptance test lead for over 100 testers in SAP PLM across geographies and categories.
Project Manager, Deployment Manager, Transition Manager
Philips through Accenture
- Oversaw nine systems and over 50 interfaces as the release, deployment and cutover manager. I was also the IT project manager and transition manager for large JDA project.
- Utilized Agile methodologies for a large SAP implementation.
- Worked as the global program manager for the IT Career Workshops for 60 resources.
eCommerce Product Owner (and other roles)
KPN and Telfort through Accenture
- Oversaw five Scrum teams with the highest Scrum maturity level as product owner and IT consultant.
- Led Agile coach sessions with eight people. I was also the organizer of Scrum Master Workshops for fifty people.
- Oversaw the project as the Agile documentation manager and architect with a registered savings of €90,000.
- Oversaw the project as the functional designer, lead of impact analysis, and transformation specialist.
Project Manager
Royal Dutch Mint
- Set up a balanced scorecard and dashboard, also within the Finance department.
- Responsible for the competitor analysis and benchmark.
- Oversaw the anti-counterfeit strategy and genuine goods research.
IT Tutor, Mentor and Web Designer
Rotterdam School of Management–Erasmus University Rotterdam
- Tutored 40 students in IT.
- Mentored 18 students.
Project History
SAP PLM Improvements Project
Led the Improvements Project of an SAP PLM and delivered 120 improvements in six months by leading a team of over 60 members.
- Project Leader of the SAP Improvements Project with over 60 resources split into nine DevOps teams, each having a product owner, business analyst, DevOps manager and techno-functional developers.
- Responsible for the project end-to-end; from business case creation to team setup, designing, building, testing, deploying, and communicating and Business As Usual (BAU).
- Delivered the SAP S/4 HANA Implementation with the least number of defects from all previous yearly releases.
- Created and received funding for a Business Case with benefits in productivity (the equivalent of 48 FTEs), savings, speed to market, and growth through continuously improving the Data Backbone of R&D.
Transition to SAP HANA
Led the SAP S/4 HANA Implementation with the least number of defects from all previous yearly releases.
This was a very complex transition given the amount of customization done in a system that had to be migrated to S/4 HANA one-by-one. The go-live exceeded the expectations of the business by the low number of defects.
FlinderFly App
Initiated a disruptive mobile app and implemented it in the Netherlands.
- Designed, developed, and marketed the FlinderFly App that makes it possible for users to support a charity of their choice 100% free of charge.
- Collaborated with more than 50 very well-known eCommerce shops that accepted the opportunity to be part of the FlinderFly platform (Coolblue, Wehkamp, AliExpress, Hema, and MediaMarkt, to name a few).
- Found win-win-win opportunities for shops to increase the loyalty of their consumers; for app users to donate free of charge, and for charities to receive more donations.
- Continuous improvement of the business idea with a team of three people.
- Conducted market research and ran the day-to-day operations of the company.
- Programmed the Android version of the FlinderFly App and oversaw the development of the iOS App (including Firebase Cloud Functions and five interfaces with public APIs).
User Acceptance Test
Led the User Acceptance Test for landing the SAP PLM system in four continents with a total of 110 Testers.
Led several user acceptance tests across multiple years.
B2B and B2C eCommerce Platforms
Was the product owner and IT consultant for five Scrum teams with the highest Scrum maturity level.
- Two of the Scrum teams were B2B eCommerce teams.
- The teams were using Intershop as a platform and had several internal and external API connections.
- One of the teams was for B2C Omnichannel eCommerce and used a custom-made platform that was shared with the customer services department.
Education
Master's Degree in Business Information Management
Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University - Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Bachelor's Degree in International Business Administration
Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University - Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Certifications
PRINCE2 Certification
APMG-International
Agile Professional Certification
Accenture
ITIL Certification (100% passing score)
EXIN
Scrum Master Certification
Scrum.org
Oracle Certified Java Programmer
Oracle
Oracle Academy Database Programming
Oracle
Skills
Tools
WP eCommerce, Jira, Trello
Paradigms
Scrum, Agile, Management, Requirements Analysis, PRINCE2, Change Management, Kanban
Platforms
Android, SAP HANA, iOS
Industry Expertise
Telecommunications, Electronics, Healthcare, High-tech Startups
Other
Loyalty Programs, Management Consulting, SAP, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Business Analysis, Requirements & Specifications, Mobile Apps, Manufacturing, Lean Startups, ITIL, Line Management, Customer Experience, Business Strategy, Strategy, Lean IT, Charity, Web Design
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