Dave Wargo

Enabling the Retail Industry to leverage Data as a Strategic Asset

Dave is a data-led functional architect, bridging the gap between business and technology to empower data as an asset. He applies tactical retail use-case driven approaches to create processes, standards, and disciplines to enable AL/ML and harden analytics, insights, operations, and optimal customer experiences. Dave is experienced in luxury, quick service restaurant, core retail, convenience, and curated museum merchandising. He has held both retail leadership and consulting delivery roles in data standardization, process overhaul and improvement, retail change implementation, product development, product assortment planning, brand planning, demand planning, and buying. 

Experience

Master Data Management

• Functional Lead: Designed global item menu master hierarchy and attribution model for global leader in the fast-food (QSR) industry. Crafted functional design for MDM installation and activation. Led market education and market mapping model for roll out and adoption.
• Project Manager(s): Created and led data strategy and reporting readiness strategies for a national fashion retailer, global general merchandise retail leader, and national home retailer. 
• Program Manager: Led design, transformation (data mapping), and governance model for a national home retailer’s product hierarchy across five business divisions.
• Project Manager: Restructured the merchandise hierarchy, defined ongoing processes, and led item file reclassification for a warehouse home merchant.

 Business Process Re-engineering

• Project Lead: Led work streams at a fashion discounter to: Orchestrate automated item upload into Oracle RMS | Define pack standards & merchandising standard terms | Enhance allocation warehouse splits | Restructure core roles & responsibilities and create a data management team.
• Project Manager: Centralized retail execution tasks to specialized teams for a national home retailer.
• General Manager: Developed and managed a global luxury company’s internal process to execute product development projects to meet assortment goals and launch dates.
• General Manager: Reinvented product merchandising in the largest museum merchandising operation.