Operations

I have run a 300+ person organization, led program management for Board- and C-level initiatives, and built the operational infrastructure for multiple scaling technology businesses. Operations is not where I started — but it is where much of what I have built has been held together and scaled. I bring the same human-centered lens to operations that I bring to everything else: organized, transparent operations are one of the most direct ways to ensure that employees, and ultimately customers, are satisfied.

At ZS Associates

One of the things I am most proud of from my ZS tenure is that I built seven new teams or revenue streams — each starting from near-zero and scaling deliberately. The pattern was consistent: identify the gap, write the white paper, prove the concept with a small investment, run a pilot, and scale. I did this for UX in product, T2 Technical Support, Software Licensing, UX in consulting, Custom Development, Business Analysts, and Power Platform.

Running a 300+ person organization across multiple functional areas and geographies required rigorous operational infrastructure. I managed an annual planning cycle, established quarterly business reviews, and required direct reports to maintain both a pipeline and a milestone plan — which kept me informed without pulling me into the details. I taught my leaders how to create structure and goals for their respective areas, which gave them ownership and ensured alignment before we moved forward.

I also led the global LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group — Pride@ZS — from a handful of people to an award-winning global organization with formal governance.

Pride@ZS: Mobilized, led, and grew the global LGBTQIA+ Employee Resource Group for community-building and engagement.

Building and sustaining a community at that scale is an operational challenge as much as a cultural one, and I applied the same discipline to it that I brought to everything else.

At SAP

In SAP’s Operations Board Area, I created and executed programs aligned with corporate strategy during a period of significant organizational transformation — growing from 11K to 85K employees. My focus was consistent: revenue generation, cost containment, and customer satisfaction, both within the North America subsidiary and later on a global basis.

I developed the business case for a new Operations function responsible for portal maintenance and other repeatable services, and a follow-on business case for offshore services delivery. Under my direction the team assumed global, cross-Board area responsibility for portal-related services in less than two years.

I was also the business owner for the Sales and Marketing Intranet — managing intranet presence, content governance, and communities of practice for more than 10K Sales and Marketing employees worldwide.

Portfolio Management for the Board Area: Improved SAP’s operating margin and employee experience through Knowledge Management engagements.

SAP CRM Usability case study: Usability testing and proposed improvements that generated ~$200K in annual bottom-line improvement..

What This Means for Clients Today

I know how to build the infrastructure for operational excellence, enabling a scaling organization to move fast without losing coherence: planning cycles, performance metrics, clear ownership, and the processes that keep people aligned without creating bureaucracy. If your organization is growing faster than its operational model, I can help you build the foundation that makes the next stage of growth sustainable.

© 2026 Natalie Hanson