MEET KNUT…

Accomplished leader with 30 years of experience in procurement, sourcing, expense management, BPO advisory and service delivery, shared transformation and globalization; in financial services, consumer products, retail, automotive, mining, health care industries; fluent in English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and French; with extensive experience in Europe, Asia, Latin America

SPECIAL AREAS OF EXPERTISE

  • Procurement Transformation – Source-to-Pay, P2P, compliance, vendor, performance management
  • BPO advisor in value analysis, transformation, vendor selection, governance design, lift/shift transition
  • Shared Services – strategy, design, governance, globalization, technology, post-deal “health checks”
  • Performance – financial & operational effectiveness, efficiency, risk, resources, supplier performance

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

KM STRATEGY CONSULTANTS, Managing Director/Owner 2015        Present (LA), 2002 – 2015 (NY)
KM Strategy Consultants offers consulting in procurement, sourcing, transformation and optimization

  •  2014: Swiss global pharma: global procurement cost reduction and operational improvement opportunities assessment, strategy development
  • 2013: Global mining group: Canadian mining strategy and operations improvement assessment
  • 2013-2014: West coast health services group: interim Head Procurement, led firm-wide cost and expense reduction and transformation programs, construction management outsourcing
  • 2010: Global business services corporation: Advised CPO and tem in HR cross-functional category sourcing initiatives, benefits outsourcing
  • 2002- 2003: European global bank: led team in expense reduction; procurement organization, process and systems redesign; implemented sourced categories, compliance and vendor performance program
  • 2002 – 2003: Webster Bank, led enterprise expense reduction program, procurement organization and process redesign, defined procurement systems requirements; achieved 12-15% annual savings

 ANN INC. (ANN TAYLOR), Senior Director, Global Procurement , New York              2010 – 2012

  • Built superior sourcing team for store development, facilities, operations
  • Led teams in multiple global sourcing initiatives for fixtures, supplies, services store supplies and construction service outsourcing programs
  • Achieved 15-35% savings, 50% supplier reduction; opening of China store development supply sources

 THE HACKETT GROUP, Senior Director, Globalization & Outsourcing, New York   2008-2009

  • Built and led Procurement Outsourcing (PO) advisory practice, expanded procurement operations benchmarks and led key account development programs – (Hackett discontinued PO/BPO practice in 2009)
  • For global mining company developed Procurement regional shared services recommendations for transition to offshore global shared services entity, to capture 40% savings over 5 years

SMART BUSINESS CONSULTING, head of Strategic Services New York              2006-2007

  • Financial services strategy consulting with focus on business transformation, shared services optimization, global vendor – (SMART discontinued Strategic Services consulting business in 2007)
  • For global investment bank, designed and implemented EU and NA regional shared services structure for ITO vendor service quality and SLA performance program

EVEREST GROUP, Head, Procurement Outsourcing, New York                      2004-2006

  • Led and built procurement outsourcing advisory business, conducted multiple PO and BPO advisory transactions – (Everest discontinued BPO advisory in 2006)
  • Re-negotiated global IT outsourcing contract for Asian airline, achieved 15% cost savings, refined vendor SLA performance assurance program, redesigned governance, improved service support
  • Advised leading insurer in first end-to-end procurement outsourcing deal through business case, scenario analysis, vendor selection, contracting, governance design and implementation oversight
  • Led teams in outsourcing value assessments for two global CPG companies and one national grocery retail mega-stores group; recommended transformation programs, identified 15-25% annual savings

DELOITTE CONSULTING, Director/Partner, Financial Services, New York         1999-2002

  • Built sourcing and procurement transformation business in U.S. and Europe, co-led U.S. financial services e-procurement/ERP integration business, served global accounts, led multinational and cross-functional teams in large enterprise cost and operations optimization programs
  • For global bank, generated $300 million expense reduction of $2.5 billion IT equipment and services global sourcing, vendor consolidation, demand management; enterprise procurement infrastructure, transformed processes, EU and NA testing and roll-out of ERP-integrated e-procurement solution
  • For leading life insurance company, generated $90 million annual expense reduction, built first corporate procurement organization, compliance, savings, and vendor performance scorecards

A.T. KEARNEY, INC., Principal, New York and Chicago                                               1988-1999
Financial Institutions Group, New York                                                                              1995-1999

  • Built strategic sourcing and procurement transformation capabilities; led multiple enterprise sourcing and transformation programs, design and implementation of procurement shared services organizations and best-in-class IT-enabled procure-to-pay processes
  • For insurer and regional bank achieved $100 million and $80 million savings; through sourcing, vendor rationalization, demand management, global contracts, enterprise procurement infrastructure, on-site training and knowledge transfer, compliance, vendor performance and savings reporting structure

 Manufacturing Industries Group, New York and Chicago                                          1988-1994

  • Led implementation of sourcing, procurement and manufacturing supply chain programs, product development cycle reduction, marketing strategy and post-merger integration programs
  • For global automotive manufacturer, led global direct sourcing team in Brazil, built sourcing organization, generated 15-20% realized annual savings

EDUCATION

  • Northwestern University – Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Evanston, IL
    MBA, finance/international business, management, organizational behavior; 1982
  • Universidad Catolica Andres Bello – School of Economics, Caracas, Venezuela
    Economist, econometrics, finance, accounting, real estate – 1978; one year post-graduate studies in economics (1978-79)

LANGUAGES

  • Fluent in English, German (native), Spanish, Portuguese, and French