Kaileen Millard-Ruff

• Seasoned sales & operations executive, leading teams across B2B channels and within multi-unit corporate and franchised retail. 
• Deep experience in organizational design, and change management, establishing the approach & execution for complex projects, including reporting & communications to stakeholders.
• Focused on driving sales & profitability through building high-performing teams, ensuring team recruitment, and development.
• Skilled at leveraging partners and technology, to help define a roadmap for organizational improvement, considering technology improvements and industry best practices. 
• Known for delving deeply and quickly to break down silos and identify opportunities across 360 Degrees of retail.
• End to end productivity improvement, partnering with the merchant teams - from manufacturing processes to inventory planning and logistics.
• Extensive financial planning, inventory management, and financial planning; managing projects 600M plus.
• Led reinventions from physical store design to in-store/ecommerce merchandising and consumer engagement marketing activities. 
• Collaborate with Finance, Real Estate, and IT to optimise real estate and technology investments. 
• Grass roots retail experience in fashion, beauty, footwear, hardlines, farm & automotive. A self-starting, systems thinker, process-driven hands-on approach to improvement. 
• Develop, implement, and build the infrastructure to monitor day-to-day operational systems and processes; provide visibility into KPI achievement and communicate the progress of key initiatives.
• Led the B2B practice for market research within enterprise SaaS companies, selling services, developing & presenting research, and insights to support product and inventory management for vendors and retailers. 
• Drove industry exposure and client revenue for NPD, GfK, Synovate; managed $20M+ in consulting services.
• Derived business insight from big data and translated it into fact-based marketing, in store /online merchandising & operational plans. 
• Human Resources partner, collaborating on comprehensive change management projects, CHRP candidate.

Insight Retail Inc. Mar 2022 – Present

Support various retailers and vendors – including fashion, soft goods, telco, electronics, and grocery. Transitioning into cross-Canadian, omni-channel retailers prepared for scaled expansion. Executing projects from field to HQ. Both corporate & franchised clients. Recognized for the ability to deep dive quickly, collaborate & design an effective plan for profitable change. Clients: Parkland Corporation, M&M Food Market, Cogeco, Walmart, Hallmark, etc.

Achievements

 Designed and implemented several efficient field support and in field retail organizations. Structured roles, and responsibilities to support anticipated growth. Recruited for key team members.

 Built agile integration plans and supported internal teams in planning for scale in ecommerce, bricks & mortar, ERP and logistics.

 Managed expansion planning for the rapid opening of new stores, renovations, and expansions with stores and DCs.

 Drove sales increases through the implementation of agile, integrated, omni-inventory planning and exception reporting.

 Initiated integrated merchandise planning and marketing processes that support corporate & franchise models.

 Established a PMO - project management framework and processes with systems and HQ team' integration with category management & business planning processes.

 Led all KPI and Operational Process builds with reporting and reviews, determined next steps for organizational optimization.

 Supported expansion planning for rapid location changes/opening, as well as developed the tactical marketing support and logistics.

 Lead the KPI, Training and Operational Process reviews to determine succession planning, identify diversity opportunities and competitive pay equity. Developed a SWOT framework for franchise and corporate stores.

Sr Vice President Retail, Peavey Industries, LP. Mar 2021 – Feb 2022

Privately held, Canadian, Omni-channel hard & soft goods retailer with over forty years serving Canadian consumers.

Achievements

 Led the transition of Peavey Mart, TSC, Ace Hardware from a merger position into a cross-Canadian, omni-channel retailer managing scaled expansion across multiple banners.

 Built the agile integration plan and support team to convert Ace Dealers into Peavey corporate Ace stores.

 Drove a 14% increase in sales through the implementation of integrated, omni-channel merchandise planning.

 Executed a labour optimization plan to operate fluidly, rebalancing the staff plan through the challenges posed by Covid.

 Restructured the field teams to align the two banners in end-to-end operation; ensuring roles, responsibilities, and pay equity alignment. Established strong service, health & safety protocols.

 Implemented a performance coaching & development strategy, enhancing staff productivity across all levels for sales productivity, loss prevention, and succession.

 Developed the planogramming and in-store marketing and construction department. Oversaw store construction, warehouse improvement, planogramming, fixture design, and visual merchandising.

 Contributed to the overall integrated EMPMO and financial planning, as well as the category strategy revitalization for home, farm equine, hardlines, apparel & footwear.

 Initiated the product content revitalization project to support omni-channel reinvention at Peavey.

Vice President of Retail, LeeValley Tools Ltd. Jan 2017 – Oct 2021

Privately held, Canadian Omni-channel retailer and manufacturer with over forty-five years serving Global consumers in Woodworking, Kitchen, Garden and Hardware.

Achievements

 Played a pivotal role in transforming Lee Valley into a customer-centric, omni-channel retailer, integrating digital and event marketing tactics to engage with new consumer groups.

 Championed the “Look what I made” drop in workshop movement across the store network to engage consumers and their families in woodworking, gardening, and other hand crafts.

 As part of the SLT, transformed Lee Valley from a catalog-oriented retailer to a profitable Omni-channel powerhouse, earning consecutive Leger WOW awards.

 Collaborated to build integrated marketing processes for e-commerce, catalog, and retail stores through content, event, and merchandise planning.

 Establishing an immediate omni-service model for curbside, private shop, ship from store, and accelerated e-commerce.

 Drove the "One Retail" customer experience strategy, overseeing customer segmentation research and unified business planning. Identified improvements in technology from POS to store & consumer applications and ERP recommendations.

 Designed new physical store shop concepts, managing physical design, floor planning, and fixture/pop and planogram design for both new and existing locations. Managed all facilities and construction improvements.

 Orchestrated the entry into the Quebec market, executing bilingual operations and a comprehensive operational plan.

 Developed standardized KPIs with an agile strategy for master data integration and daily reporting, implemented activities to drive operational efficiency and EBIDTA.

 Formalized systems for operations, HR, safety, loss prevention, and visual merchandising, drove significant EBIDTA change.

 Led customer segmentation research that supported the merchandising team, with new store/fixture concepts, including planograms, merchandise allocation, and space planning.

 Established a bilingual operation, ISM and training teams, creating content, and launching a new learning management system.

 Led all IT & POS system improvements, developing agile, integrated IT and logistical roadmaps to support the transformations.

Sr. Director for National Retail, OSL for Walmart Wireless 2012 - 2017

OSL partners with fortune 500 retailers & manufacturers to develop or replace existing sales & merchandising functions. Executing Store-within-a-store, Pop Up Retailing as well as field-based merchandising and sales teams.

Achievements

 As employee #1 at OSL, built the Walmart OSL Team in field and at HQ; developed and executed the plan for a $400M account business across Canada.

 Developed the strategy for a wireless “store-within-a-Wal-Mart-store” execution. Planned & executed launch, then the expansion into in additional 363 Walmart Wireless retail stores across Canada over an 18-month period.

 Implemented technology roadmaps and operational structures, including cloud-based data management and reporting.

 Managed support teams of 25+ individuals responsible for Human Resources, IT, In-Store Marketing, and Loss Prevention.

 Led the master data warehouse project for financial carrier reconciliation, KPI accountability, and client reporting.

 Developed policies/procedures and training programs, driving a 39% increase in overall retained gross profit.

 Built and executed the systems road map for Recruitment, Payroll and HRIS automation and launched ADP.

 Led the design & launch of the WOW Mobile 197 kiosk store program for Rogers & Telus in shopping centres. From kiosk & operational sales design to overall execution in market.

 Successfully expanded both initiatives into the Quebec for Walmart & WOW Mobile. Chartered the expansion into the 4,000 Walmart US stores.

 Developed the Walmart wireless merchandising assortment & operational plan, drove a 39% increase in GPROI.

 Built remote reporting & various “app” tools to solve for reporting, staff communications, expense management & on-site reporting.

Vice President Retail, GfK & Synovate Market Research 2010 – 2012

GfK & Synovate partners with fortune 500 retailers & manufacturers to leverage consumer and employee research techniques to fuel business strategy.

Achievements

 Represented GfK & Synovate across North America as the industry expert on retail for the Canadian market. Lead the sales, design, & development of syndicated & custom research products for clients with an interest in Canadian Retail.

 Led the product team to design and launch syndicated and custom research tools with supporting consulting services for Beauty, Fashion, CPG, Grocery, Specialty, Mass, and manufacturing clients.

 5+ years of experience as a product leader at a retail tech, enterprise SaaS company, managing $20M+ in consulting services.

 Developed and sold custom research plans for clients, combining POS, consumer, and custom research data to achieve and scorecard corporate goals.

 Developed Associate and Customer Satisfaction research tools and presented results to clients across multiple merchandise categories and retail formats.

 Presented results and insights to all levels of the organization from the field to the C-suite and the Canadian & US press/media.

Director of Fashion, Retail Industry Expert, The NPD GROUP 2005 - 2009

NPD partners with fortune 500 retailers & manufacturers to develop consumer & pos market research, with reporting & scheduled insight reviews to fuel business strategy.

Achievements

 Represented NPD across North America as a retailing industry expert for the Canadian market, delivering insights to clients within the C suite and SLT. Served as a keynote speaker at industry functions in Canada and the United States.

 Championed the development and sales of syndicated & custom research products, oversaw $30M+ in consulting services, combining POS, consumer, and custom research data.

 Engineered a B2B sales plan, the NPD Canada Fashion business became one of NPD largest lines of business, generating over $3M in profit within two years.

 Led SaaS product development for retailer/vendor merchandising teams to create a roadmap for market share growth. Drove client category improvement, our clients closed wholesale contracts exceeding $12-15 million for several global brands.

 Supported national retailers and manufacturers in optimizing product assortment, sizing, pricing, inventory allocation in both Canadian and U.S. markets.

National Retail Sales Director, Hallmark Canada 2003 – 2005

Director of Education, Retail Council of Canada 2000 – 2003

Education & Volunteerism

Executive Diploma - Retail Marketing & Business 2000-2003, Seneca College of Applied Arts & Technology

 Girl Guides Canada, Retail to E-Commerce Strategy

 Eventing/Equestrian Riding School, Volunteer & Parent Advisor

 The Canadian Pony Club, Volunteer

 The Ontario Eventing Association, Board of Directors

Education & Volunteerism

Executive Diploma - Retail Marketing & Business 2000-2003, Seneca College of Applied Arts & Technology

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