Industry: Fortune 1 Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), Post M&A, ways of working disparate
Scope: 35+ Websites | Digital Experience | Ecommerce | B2B | Healthcare Provider Platforms
Focus Areas: Enterprise Transformation | Product Operating Model | Organizational Design | UX & User Research | Global Partnerships
The Challenge
A global consumer packaged goods organization managing a complex portfolio of 35+ US digital properties needed to evolve how it structured, governed, and delivered digital experiences.
Spanning consumer-facing websites, ecommerce platforms, digital experiences, B2B channels, and healthcare provider websites, the digital ecosystem required coordination across multiple business functions, technical capabilities, and global teams.
However, product management, UX, user research, and digital execution capabilities were distributed across separate organizational groups within the market, with little to no partnership with global counterparts. Overlapping responsibilities, inconsistent ways of working, and fragmented ownership created opportunities to improve efficiency, strengthen collaboration, and establish a more cohesive approach to digital product management.
The business needed more than an organizational restructure. It needed a scalable product organization capable of connecting customer needs, business priorities, technology investments, and global execution.
The Strategy
I led the organizational and operating model transformation to establish a more mature, integrated digital product organization.
The transformation focused on bringing previously disconnected capabilities together, establishing clear ownership, and creating the structure and partnerships necessary to support a diverse, global digital ecosystem.
Five strategic workstreams defined the transformation:
1. Enterprise Organizational Design & Consolidation
Combined two organizational groups into a unified structure while redesigning the operating model of a third, overlapping group. Established a path toward eventual integration, reduced duplication, and improved alignment across previously disconnected functions.
2. Product Organization Development
Designed the future-state product organization, defining team structures, responsibilities, product ownership, and capabilities required to manage a portfolio of 35+ digital properties across consumer, ecommerce, B2B, and healthcare provider experiences.
3. Talent Strategy & Capability Development
Identified organizational capability gaps, recruited specialized talent, and transitioned existing team members into newly defined roles. Aligned individual strengths and responsibilities with the future-state operating model while developing the capabilities needed to support a customer-centered product organization. Responsibilities & Scopes defined, partner with HR to develop into formal JD’s and gain approval for headcount funding, through onboarding.
4. UX, User Research & Customer-Centered Product Practices
Integrated UX design and user research into product strategy and delivery practices. Strengthened the relationship between customer insights, experience design, engineering, and data, ensuring that digital decisions were informed by user needs rather than organizational silos.
5. Global Partnerships & Operating Governance
Developed stronger partnerships with global product, UX, and research teams to align capabilities, share expertise, establish consistent practices, and improve collaboration across markets and business functions. Alignment on core technology platforms led to sunsetting of 30% of the US portfolio to utilization of globally funded tools saving $500k annually.
Execution: Turning Organizational Strategy into Operational Change
Rather than approaching the initiative as a standalone restructuring exercise, I treated it as an end-to-end enterprise transformation. This required balancing daily business objectives with organizational design, talent development, operational processes, and stakeholder alignment.
Key execution activities included:
Executive buy-in and sponsorship of a future-state organizational structure, funding for headcount, job description approvals, and strategic objectives going forward.
Consolidating two organizational groups and redefining the responsibilities and operating model of a third sister organization prior to merger.
Evaluating existing team capabilities and identifying critical talent and resource gaps.
Recruiting new team members and transitioning existing employees into newly established roles.
Defining clearer product ownership, accountability, and cross-functional responsibilities.
Integrating UX and user research into product planning and decision-making. Deepened relationship with business executives and engineering to embed product as a practice.
Establishing global partnerships to align product, UX, and research capabilities.
Creating more consistent ways of working across a portfolio of 35+ digital properties and multiple digital business models.
A critical component was managing the human side of transformation. Organizational change required more than defining new reporting structures; it required helping existing employees understand their evolving responsibilities, establishing new working relationships, and building confidence in a different way of operating.
The resulting structure was designed to support both immediate organizational efficiency and the longer-term evolution of a globally connected digital product organization.
The Results
The transformation established the organizational and operational foundation for a more integrated, customer-centered digital product organization.
Organizational Impact
Two organizational groups successfully combined into a unified structure.
A third overlapping group transitioned toward a more efficient, integrated operating model.
New roles, responsibilities, and product ownership structures established.
Existing talent repositioned and specialized capabilities recruited to support future-state needs.
Establishment of MBR & QBRs for consistent executive showcasing of results as well as quarterly planning sessions to develop roadmaps by brand.
Digital & Customer Experience Impact
Product organization structured to support 35+ websites and digital properties.
UX and user research integrated more directly into product strategy and delivery.
Stronger alignment across consumer, ecommerce, B2B, and healthcare provider experiences.
Global partnerships established to improve consistency, collaboration, and knowledge sharing.
Operational Impact
Reduced organizational fragmentation and overlapping responsibilities.
More consistent cross-functional ways of working.
Improved alignment between business priorities, customer needs, and digital execution.
Foundation established for continued organizational consolidation and scalable digital operations.
The Broader Impact
Enterprise digital transformation is not simply about modernizing technology or reorganizing teams. It requires connecting people, processes, technology, and customer experience around a shared business strategy.
This initiative demonstrated how organizational design, product leadership, UX integration, and global partnerships can work together to transform fragmented digital capabilities into a more cohesive, scalable operating model.
The objective was not simply to build a product team. It was to establish the organizational capabilities and operating foundation required to manage a complex digital ecosystem, deliver better experiences, and support the evolving needs of a global enterprise.
Key Takeaway: Successful digital transformation starts with the right operating model. When organizational structure, talent, product ownership, and customer experience are aligned, enterprises are better positioned to turn strategic priorities into sustainable execution.
