EXPERIENCE

rachael.g.thompson@gmail.com

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The North Face, a VF Company | Denver, CO | 2023– 2026

Go-To-Market Operations Manager, Americas

I managed The North Face Americas seasonal go-to-market (GTM) process, from calendar creation through milestone execution, aligning Merchandising, Marketing, Commercial, Operations, and Finance around shared deadlines.

• Built and maintained regional critical path calendars for Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter, managing 3-4 seasons at once with overlapping milestones and shifting deadlines.

• Executed a biannual milestone event for 180 attendees, coordinating planning and logistics with internal and external partners.

• Kept milestone delivery on time through VF's company-wide "Reinvent" transformation despite changing priorities and team structures.

Nextbite | Denver, CO | 2021 – 2023

Program Manager, PMO

I oversaw end-to-end program management for enterprise virtual restaurant launches, leading cross-functional teams of 20+ remote employees from requirements gathering through implementation.

• Increased operational efficiency by 50% with Asana templates, interdependency mapping, standardized innovation and commercialization processes, and centralized project communications

• Reduced labor costs by 25% by clarifying roles with RACI frameworks and eliminating duplicate work

• Ran concurrent client programs with proactive risk mitigation and weekly status reporting

Program Manager, Food Experience

I built and managed workflows across Culinary R&D, Commercialization, and Supply Chain and implemented the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) to drive accountability

• Boosted Food Experience teams' operational efficiency 50% by standardizing innovation, new product development, and commercialization processes

• Created a Product Development & Commercialization Asana template with input from the Commercialization Director and Food Experience VP, and trained the team on it

• Created file organization and executed the migration of all company files to Google shared drives with managed permissions for better cross-functional visibility and document integrity management

• Planned department offsite at Nestlé Professionals' Innovation Kitchen

Senior Project Manager, Brand Development

I oversaw the concept-to-launch process for Nextbite's virtual kitchen brands, managing projects across the Brand and Culinary teams and coordinating with the Partnerships, Test Kitchen Operations, Creative, and Digital Menu teams. I owned timelines, project health, and stakeholder communication from scoping through launch on food delivery platforms.

• Led concept-to-launch for 23 virtual kitchen brands; 8 reached full-scale market launch

• Accelerated test concept speed-to-launch by 50% through process optimization, closing gaps between departments, and establishing Asana as the central project management platform.

• Built SOPs for menu development and content production, creating the financial case for an in-house production studio

• Planned and executed celebrity tastings and special events

• Managed and developed one direct report

Sterling-Rice Group | Boulder, CO | 2015 – 2021

Accounts: Almond Board of California, Alden’s Organic Ice Cream, Brewers Association, Daisy Cottage Cheese, Potatoes USA, Truly Grass Fed, San-J, National Honey Board, California Raisins

Producer

I managed integrated campaigns for 3-6 clients at once across digital, broadcast, in-store, trade show, and print, overseeing production from concept through delivery.

• Scoped work, hired production partners, and managed budgets, delivering on-strategy, on-time, on-budget across concurrent accounts

• Owned a global client's website end to end, including CMS development, content migrations, and client training, with daily QA and ticket resolution

• Managed external web development partners and approved statements of work while balancing client needs against budget

Assistant Account Manager & Junior Producer

I led project execution for 2-3 clients' digital campaigns as the main liaison between cleints, internal teams, and external partners.

• Wrote creative and execution briefs that aligned teams on strategy and deliverables

• Coordinated cross-functional teams and production partners so assets were trafficked to spec and published on schedule

• Tracked and reported client profitability to inform account strategy

• Managed social content calendars and sweepstakes applications (design, UX, execution, and post-sweepstakes reporting)