Iryna Charkovska. Resume.

I love solving complex problems and working with interesting people. I have extensive experience in project and program management, operational planning, performance measurement, continuous improvement, and business intelligence. I strongly believe in a growth mindset and thrive in a rapidly changing environment.


Career

Alberta Energy Regulator

Single regulator of energy development in Alberta, Canada - from application and exploration, to construction and operation, to decommissioning, closure, and reclamation. aer.ca


Planning Advisor and Program Manager

Jun 2018 - present

Work directly with VP and directors to align the work of the 100-member department with the strategic direction of the 1200-member organization.

Support transformation of the department’s strategic direction from function-centric to program-centric:

  • Designed a systematic approach to planning, monitoring, and reporting;
  • Developed and deployed the performance measurement strategy to monitor progress towards desired outcomes and to inform business decisions;
  • Presented proposals, provided status updates, and facilitated collaborative conversations for the leadership team.

Provided strategic advice to a senior leadership team during the creation of a brand-new Innovation business unit. Guided the team through the identification of its mission, vision, strategic priorities, functional areas, setting up processes and reporting systems, and positioning within and outside of the organization.


Senior Project Manager

Mar 2018 - May 2018

Simultaneously led three major cross-functional regulatory development projects designed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Alberta energy regulatory system. Project results contributed to 281MM annual savings to the regulated industry (e.g., supported the development of the first outcome-based regulatory instrument that encourages achieving certain outcomes, rather than following a particular process).

Analyzed the needs of various stakeholder groups: oil & gas companies and associations, different levels of government, landowners, members of the general public, and indigenous people (e.g., led an extensive analysis and synthesis of 800+ comments from stakeholders to identify areas of concern, risks, and opportunities).

Built a strong partnership between the regulatory development unit and the operations division to enable rigorous analysis and timely delivery.


Business Partner, Continuous Improvement (CI)

Dec 2015 - Feb 2017

Advised senior leadership teams on developing high-quality project proposals and prioritizing project work based on its impact and alignment with organizational strategic direction.

Developed a strategy to integrate CI mindset for problem-solving and process improvement into day-to-day business activities of the 700-member operations division.

Participated in the development of the CI training strategy and delivered targeted training sessions to more than 200 people across 12 regional offices.

Coached and mentored CI project managers on the application of Lean Six Sigma methodology, project management, and team management. Initiated the program for preparing CI project managers to ASQ Lean Six Sigma certification. Designed curriculum and led group and one-on-one training sessions based on my experience of being the first black-belt certified practitioner in the department.


Project Manager, Continuous Improvement (CI)

Jun 2015 - Nov 2015

Planned and managed multiple cross-functional process improvement projects that contributed to $224MM in annual savings to the regulated industry. Used Lean, Six Sigma, and Agile methodologies to fit the problem at hand.

Worked directly with internal and external customers to deeply understand their pain points, needs, and potential areas for improvement. Focused on workflow design, waste and backlog elimination, defect reduction, and quality improvement.

Used statistical, analytical, and creative problem-solving approaches to identify root causes of problems and develop appropriate solutions (e.g., achieved 25% efficiency gain as a result of designing a sampling strategy that enabled complex data collection and analysis in less than one month).

Oversaw the implementation of solutions to ensure timely delivery, change adoption, and sustainment. Project results include streamlined processes, increased process capability & predictability, improved company credibility.

Continuously worked on negotiating and building consensus across various internal functions: operations, strategy, regulatory development, law, communications, and IT.

Utilized facilitation and team-building techniques to motivate geographically distributed project teams (e.g., facilitated daily stand-ups and coordinated sprint planning sessions while working on a software solution to automate publication of application notices on the company web-site).


Business Intelligence Analyst

Nov 2014 - May 2015

Used data analytics and visualization to depict business unit’s performance.

Developed and executed a strategy to enhance business unit’s data collection, data management, and reporting capabilities (e.g., leveraged Tableau to automate three-level reports to satisfy the needs of executives, business unit managers, and technical experts).

Gathered system requirements, designed, developed, and rolled out a solution that enabled the integration of data from multiple systems and simultaneous review of files by numerous technical experts.

Piloted the first continuous improvement project to showcase benefits of process improvement methodologies.


Business Analyst

Sep 2013 - Oct 2014

Created a monthly performance report for a senior leadership team showcasing the progress and performance of a business unit.

Developed a framework to evaluate the effectiveness of a newly created compliance program.

Volunteered to represent my business unit during the development of the cross-organizational continuous improvement framework. Designed a prioritization model to triage project ideas based on their costs and benefits.


Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy

Centre for advanced education, research and training in policy and administration. schoolofpublicpolicy.sk.ca


Researcher

Dec 2011 - Aug 2013

Assessed the effectiveness of existing programs and policies, identified regulatory gaps, and evaluated alternative policy options by using statistics, modeling, forecasting, cost-benefit analysis, and impact assessment methods. Results of “Economic Integration of the Aboriginal Population in Canada” study presented at the conference in Amsterdam, Netherlands and included in “The Economics of Cultural Diversity” publication.


National Technical University of Oil and Gas

Centre for advanced education and research in oil and gas industry. nung.edu.ua


Researcher

May 2009 - Apr 2010

Applied multivariate regression analysis to assess the financial performance of oil and gas companies.


Education

Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy


Master of Public Administration

Sep 2011 - Apr 2013

Coursework included: decision making in organizations, governance and administration, quantitative and qualitative methods, public policy analysis, public sector financial management, economics for public policy analysis.


National Technical University of Oil and Gas


Master in Business Economics (honors)

Sep 2009 - Jun 2010

Coursework included: strategic planning, operational planning, risk management, marketing, project management, advanced statistics, econometrics, programming, mathematical methods and models in planning, petroleum engineering.

Bachelor in Business Economics (honors)

Sep 2005 - Jun 2009

Coursework included: business strategy, operations management, enterprise resource planning, performance measurement, innovation, financial management, business law.


Continuous Education & Certifications

Software Product Management Specialization

in progress

Coursework includes: introduction to software product management, software processes and agile practices, client needs and software requirements, agile planning for software products, reviews & metrics for software improvements, software product management capstone.


Performance Measurement

issued Dec 2018

PuMP methodology supports the development of performance measures, metrics or KPIs that are meaningful, aligned to strategy, implemented efficiently and focused on driving performance improvement. It can be applied to measuring strategic performance, operational performance, project performance, business process performance, team performance, and the pursuit of any goal.


Lean Six Sigma Black Belt

issued Mar 2016

Body of knowledge includes six sigma philosophies and principles, organization-wide planning and deployment, organizational process management and measures, team management, all aspects of the define, measure, analyze, improve and control (DMAIC) model, and lean enterprise concepts. Black belt leads problem-solving projects and trains and coaches project teams.


Change Management

issued Dec 2016

The Prosci methodology uniquely integrates individual change management and organizational change management to ensure that business results are achieved.


Other
  • Project management bootcamp
  • Executive leadership program (University of Alberta)
  • Facilitation skills
  • Coaching skills
  • Conflict resolution

Tools

  • Statistical data analysis (Stata, SPSS)
  • Business intelligence (Tableau, SQL, VBA, MS Access, MS Excel, ArcGIS)
  • Project management (Asana, Clickup, MS Project)
  • Business process management (Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect, MS Visio)
  • Mind mapping (Mindjet, XMind)

Contacts