Roberta Knutson-Ratto

Danville, CA 94526
925.698.0225 – robbieknut@comcast.net

DIRECTOR / VICE PRESIDENT – PRODUCT MANAGEMENT

Summary
Successful product management professional with more than 8 years experience del
ivering software solutions to Fortune 500 companies worldwide. Extensive backgro
und developing product strategies and roadmaps, advancing existing products, bui
lding and leading diverse product teams and interfacing with cross functional gr
oups at all levels. Experience in startup/small and large company environments
and working in minimal and high process oriented structures. Able to manage from
a strategic leadership or tactical hands-on approach. Leads by example and enjo
ys solving practical problems. Customer/user focused.
Selected Achievements
• Led, managed and contributed to overall product team responsible for designing C
larity Project and Portfolio Manager which was recognized by top analysts as a l
eader for 7 consecutive years.
• Collaborated with executives and other cross-functional senior managers to help
drive the customer base for Clarity Project and Portfolio Manager over 1000 cust
omers worldwide.
• Hired and collaborated with outside design firm to aid in a complete redesign of
the product user interface. Delivered a robust, clickable prototype to showcas
e the new design and conduct usability studies, providing valuable input to the
final design.
• Built and managed product content team to develop out-of-the box content and met
hodologies to provide a competitive edge in the marketplace and give our custome
rs an easier route to implementation. This increased customer satisfaction and
ROI in addition to increasing product revenues.
• Rebuilt and strengthened product team (product managers, UI designers and PMO) a
fter Niku acquisition with minimal disruption to the major product release in pr
ogress. Employee retention of those hired was 80%.
• Organized and led quarterly and ad hoc Project Portfolio Committee meetings for
all cross-functional senior managers (marketing, sales, services, operations and
development) to inform, collaborate and make decisions on future product direct
ion which resulted in increased company wide sponsorship for our product roadmap
.
Professional Experience
CA (formerly Computer Associates), Redwood City, CA
$4B IT management software provider.
Vice President, Product Management (2005 – October 2009)
Spearheaded product management for market leading product, Clarity Project and P
ortfolio Manager (SaaS and On Premise). Developed and managed cross-functional t
eams (22 reports) responsible for product management, technical publications, de
velopment PMO, user interface design, localization, and content engineering. Led
strategy and roadmap definition. Served on multiple customer and partner facin
g product committees. Cultivated alliances and evaluated acquisition candidates.
 Assisted sales from RFP to contract. Experienced in managing in agile and mod
ified waterfall development environments.
NIKU CORPORATION, Redwood City, CA
Project and portfolio management software provider. (Acquired by CA in 2005).
Senior Director, Product Management (2000 – 2005)
Led management of overall requirements and design of product suite. Oversaw the
cross-functional feature teams from concept to market acceptance for entire prod
uct suite. Built and directed team of five Product Managers. Identified custome
r and market needs to secure product advancement opportunities.
Director, Product Management (2003 – 2004)
Managed overall requirements and design of product suite, including specificatio
ns written by engineers and UI designers. Wrote PRDs and feature specifications.
Assisted VP of Product Management with building small team of three Product Man
agers. Participated in analyst meetings and prospect product overviews.
Director, North American Services Operations (2002 – 2003)
Managed North American consulting and education teams and all associated busines
s operations including revenue, forecasts and outside services /contractors. Int
erfaced closely with finance to develop and track quarterly budgets and revenue
targets. Supervised overall resource management function for 22 consultants. Ad
ministered statement of work process. Managed billing process. Defined and overs
aw incentive compensation plan for all consultants.
Senior Product Manager (2001 – 2002)
Recruited by head of product management to transfer into development and serve a
s primary Product Manager for product financial capabilities. Designed full mul
ti-currency capabilities for the entire product suite - one of the largest featu
res added to the product.
Project Manager (2000 – 2001)
Planned and managed web-based service relationship management (later known as Pr
oject and Portfolio Management) application implementations.
PRIOR ROLES:
SELF EMPLOYED and PARADIGM SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGIES (1998 – 1999) – Led detailed implementa
tions of project costing, billing and time and expense applications at various c
ustomer sites including management of project for budget, scope and time constra
ints.
TCSI CORPORATION (1995 – 1998) – Progressed through several accounting positions includi
ng Accounting Manager and Manager of Financial Reporting for global telecommunic
ations integrator and software provider. Helped take company from startup to pu
blic company.
Education
B.S., Business Administration (Finance), San Francisco State University, San Fra
ncisco, CA
Graduated Cum Laude
Architecture and Business Administration, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO