Experience

LG&P Agency

• United States
• Business Consulting and Services
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Senior Account Manager

  • May 2022 - Present



Boutique Bev

• United States
• Beverage Manufacturing
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Director Supply Chain Management

  • May 2020 - Present



Lux Therapy

• United States
• Wellness and Fitness Services

• Founder / CEO

  • Jan 2020 - Present



Kovicak Consulting LLC

• Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States

• Supply Chain Consultant

  • Jan 2019 - Present



OUTFORM

• United States
• Design Services
• 200 - 300 Employee

• Account Manager, Outform at Google

  • Jun 2016 - Jul 2019

  Project lead for Global Google Play Gift Card Fixture program, responsible for daily operations and development of long-term relationships with key business stakeholders and management. Successfully managed multi-cultural global program, via coordination of global effort between multiple company locations. Acting liaison between client and internal teams to ensure timely and successful launch of products. Managed product development of new items and programs. Working directly with creative and engineers in concept, development, and launch of customer products. Translating global needs into a cohesive strategic campaign. Show less



Meijer

• United States
• Retail
• 700 & Above Employee

• Senior Brand Manager - Automotive, Camping, School Home Office, Toys

  • Apr 2010 - Apr 2015

  Work closely with development and support teams including developers, researchers, marketing, creative agencies to make sure company brand values and image are adhered to. Main categories supported are camping, hunting, school/home/office, automotive, and DIY.

• Category Manager / Buyer : Toys

  • Aug 2013 - Apr 2014

  P&L responsibility for $65MM business including boys construction, remote control, role play, action figures, science, diecast and preschool construction. Selected product assortments and developed category strategies to drive total business. Utilized Consumer Insights to pinpoint focal drivers within categories and to support over arching company goals and objectives.

• Senior Brand Manager - Grocery

  • Jun 2012 - Aug 2013

  Work closely with many development and support teams including developers, researchers, marketing, creative agencies to make sure company brand values and image are adhered to. Supported many categories included direct branding exposure to Cereal, Spices, Sauces, Oatmeal, Frozen Meals, Canned Foods, and Commodities (sugar, flour, oil, etc).

• Product Development Manager - Foods

  • Jan 2010 - Jun 2012

  Worked on a startup team to foster and develop Product Development infrastructure. Implemented new processes and procedures for category reviews and assortment selections.Implemented seasonal program for Own Brands & Private Label, and worked through sourcing, selection, and product life cycle management. Worked on startup of new Meijer Own Brand foods team. Trained and led team of individuals on new processes and organizational structure.Worked on team to implement new facility (Grid 70 – Grand Rapids Innovation Development) and roll out new process for team. Led category review, negotiation, and assortment selection on total spices/seasons/herbs category. Since implementation, spice category growth (27%) has outpaced rest of market by 2.5 times. Reduced cost of goods by $2.5MM annually, while increased direct margin (8% increase over previous year) for total category. Resulting new portfolio expanded 40+ Meijer brand products including Organics, Premium, Value and Main Stream products. Worked with external service departments/organizations to renegotiate service and stocking process. Cereal Strategy development and implementation. Worked with National Brand suppliers on development of strategy. Utilized internal and external resources to identify consumer need states, strategy optimization and product development platforms. Worked with supplier on development of 23 new products, and expanded the overall portfolio by 44% to 77 total Own Brand products. Analyzed and repositioned core Organics & Naturals brand portfolio. Reviewed and made recommendations on the following categories: Pizza, Pasta, Spices, Gourmet Chocolate, Cookies & Crackers, Fruit Snacks. Implemented new process for low volume imports.Worked with analytics team on category breakdown and analysis of consumer insights. Toured current vendors and potential vendors manufacturing facilities to verify quality systems and rate overall excellence of varying manufacturers. Show less



Gordon Food Service

• United States
• Food and Beverage Services
• 700 & Above Employee

• National Lead Buyer

  • 2003 - 2010

  - Canadian National Lead Buyer – Grocery & Produce January 2007 - December 2010 - US Category Analyst – Grocery & National Brands February 2005 – December 2006 - US Negotiation Buyer – Grocery & National Brands January 2004 – February 2005 - US Category Buyer – Produce, Appetizers and Potatoes January 2003 – January 2004 - Successfully realigned largest commodity product set within GFS (Oils) that resulted in increased margin of $3.5 million and improved category performance in a mature/declining product set. - Analyzed customer sales, market research and industry trend information to develop and launch brand extensions within product categories: Salad Dressings, Oils, French Fries, Rice, Sandwich Sauces, Fresh Soups, Pickles, Spices, Soup Bases and others. Completed successful category negotiations for multiple product sets: Pickles, Appetizers, Soups, Soup Bases, Fresh Mushrooms, Fresh Spices, Potato’s, Value Add Lettuce, Oils, Pan Sprays, Rice, Sugar, Olives, Canned Fruit, Condiments, Ethnic Sauces and Salad Dressings - Conceptualized, sourced and implemented Specialty Produce product set. Provided same day ordering capabilities that provided products customers wanted/needed, to be best at fresh and compete in fast paced high end restaurant industry. Implemented new purchasing and pricing patterns model that increased product costing accuracy and efficiency of volatile commodity type products - Worked on cross functional teams outside of main product categories to add strategic sourcing perspective and drive National Cost Savings: Customs Brokerage, Promotional Materials, Human Resource Software, Freight/Transportation, etc. - Researched electronic sourcing options that would fit the model for our current procurement process. Re-designed procurement process. - Toured vendors and potential vendors manufacturing facilities to verify quality systems and rate overall excellence of varying manufacturers Show less



Motorola Solutions

• United States
• Telecommunications
• 700 & Above Employee

• Product Manager

  • Aug 2000 - Jan 2003

  - Product Manager – Maintenance, Repair & Operations (MRO) October 2001 – January 2003 - Product Manager – Global Semi-Conductors August 2000 – October 2001 Successfully negotiated complicated MRO categories of training, electronic peripherals, event planning and maintenance contracts. Participated and provided strategic sourcing perspective for new product development and roll-out of Blockbuster Set-Top Box. Worked on global purchasing team to facilitate and provide product sourcing for all Motorola Semi-Conductor Fabrication Plans. Implemented global costing savings system that resulted in incremental savings of over $7 million / year. Implemented Global Electronic Catalog Ordering System. Initiated, ran and rolled-out electronic procurement for electronics and MRO commodities. Participated in successful conversion of global purchasing system to SAP. Implemented Global Cost Savings tool that resulted in incremental savings of over $7 Million per Year for Motorola. Effectively communicated and presented Cost Savings mechanism to corporate team for approval. Effectively Managed Supply Chain for Motorola new product development team. Facilitated vendor selections and product evaluations with design engineers, project managers and sales organizations. Successfully launched new product to North America under budget and within initialized time lines. Key contributor in implementation of Global Database Systems: SAP Enterprise Resource Planning and Electronic Catalogue Ordering System. Helped in training and facilitating of systems integration and global roll-out strategy. Successfully negotiated & implemented North American contracts across multiple product sets: Event Planning, Computers/Laptops and Electronic Peripherals. Show less