Cory Ebert, MBA

Director of IT Operations at Corporate Imaging Concepts, managing six employees across SAP, LEIF, Infrastructure, and Security. Co-lead the IT department with the Director of Application Development, reporting directly to the CEO and jointly overseeing IT budget and strategy. Bring 15 years of Microsoft experience across Surface hardware, diagnostics, repair engineering, and support operations, with $3M+ in operational savings, 57% faster repair turnaround, and program leadership spanning 800+ technical specialists across 83 locations. Combine enterprise technology leadership, product operations, analytics, and AI automation with hands-on program delivery.

Core Skills

IT Leadership: People Management, IT Operations, Department Strategy, Budget Oversight, SAP, LEIF, Infrastructure, Security, CEO Reporting

Program Leadership: Program and Portfolio Management, Roadmap Ownership, Budget Ownership, Executive Communication, Change Management, Training and Adoption, KPI and OKR Frameworks

Delivery: Client Implementation and Transition Management, Requirements Definition, UAT and Release Management, Data Migration, Compliance Controls

Vendor and Commercial: Vendor and Contract Management, RFP Management, Enterprise Technology Strategy

Platforms and Tools: SAP ECC 6.0, Coupa, Azure DevOps, Smartsheet, Google Analytics and GTM, Power BI, Looker Studio, SQL, Python, AI Governance and Enablement

Professional Experience

Corporate Imaging Concepts, Stanwood, WA

Director of IT Operations, July 2026 to Present

• Manage six employees across the SAP, LEIF, Infrastructure, and Security teams.
• Co-lead the IT department alongside the Director of Application Development, reporting directly to the CEO.
• Jointly oversee IT budget and strategy with the Director of Application Development.

Information Technology Program Manager, November 2024 to July 2026

Led enterprise technology programs across CIC's client portfolio and internal platforms, including delivery and wind-down of the company's largest client account, spanning analytics, procurement, compliance, data migration, e-commerce operations, vendor and contract management, and partner workstreams. Owned the development backlog in Azure DevOps and partner execution in Smartsheet, coordinating roadmap priorities, technical requirements, implementation sequencing, stakeholder alignment, launch readiness, training, adoption, and executive visibility.

• Led end-to-end wind-down and transition of CIC's flagship enterprise client program to a successor platform, decommissioning three storefronts on schedule with same-day cutover execution, and directing gift program resolution, customer and executive communications, inventory disposition, and post-contract governance.
• Directed the client transition data migration and archive delivery, engineering 2.6M+ row extracts with an 88.3% verified cross-file match rate, resolving customer identity duplication across 2M+ records, and securing client alignment on a 3-year active data load with an 8-year flat-file archive.
• Architected an AI-assisted multi-tenant e-commerce platform using TypeScript, NestJS, React, PostgreSQL, Redis, and microservices, and a SaaS ticketing and workflow platform with SLA tracking, automation rules, audit logging, and multi-tenant data isolation.
• Delivered margin intelligence platform integrating SAP and sales data in Power BI and Looker Studio, surfacing 0% to 77% margin discrepancies and enabling leadership decisions on pricing, cost drivers, and sales process improvements.
• Performed vendor contract risk analysis and due diligence across SLA structures, liability caps, usage metering, and renewal terms; drove a tax-compliance vendor dispute to executive-level resolution, including remediation and reimbursement demands.
• Served as technology advisor to the CEO, preparing executive briefings, client review materials, competitive platform assessments, and escalation strategy for vendor, contract, and account decisions.
• Coordinated Coupa onboarding across client workflows, including automated invoicing, procurement process alignment, stakeholder training, vendor/system readiness, and adoption planning.
• Led client implementation and onboarding programs from kickoff through requirements approval, UAT, launch, and hypercare—four storefront launches and two platform migrations to date—spanning SSO integration, multi-location billing design for 43 locations, and training documentation.
• Deployed Google Analytics and Looker Studio reporting across 90+ partner storefronts, diagnosed and resolved revenue tracking defects, and designed bulk tag migration across approximately 90 GTM containers using the GTM API, Python, and Azure DevOps Pipelines.
• Administered CIC's enterprise AI program, including governance, standards, and skill development; designed AI-assisted development and review workflows using agentic patterns, Model Context Protocol, and structured lifecycle automation; led monthly IT development sessions and company-wide AI/LLM training.

Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA

Technical Program Manager, Device Repairability Engineering, September 2020 to September 2024

Owned repairability programs for Surface hardware, including Surface Laptop 7 and Surface Pro 2024, across consumer, commercial, and authorized service channels. Served as Product Owner for repair guides, service content, diagnostics, governance workflows, supplier execution, compliance deliverables, and launch readiness tied to hardware release timelines.

• Owned product roadmap, program budget, iFixit vendor contract, RFP, vendor selection, pricing negotiation, deliverables, and quarterly VP/Director reporting.
• Managed 3 to 5 vendor employees for Surface repair training guide development, including role definition, hiring input, termination decisions, performance evaluation, and deliverable quality.
• Built global service content delivery framework with Tier 1 and Tier 1.5 suppliers, reducing external partner expenditures by 100% and accelerating production timelines by 60% through stage-gate governance.
• Delivered $3M+ in operational savings and 80% cost reduction versus internal options through strategic vendor partnership, contract negotiation, and program model redesign.
• Designed launch governance model for repairability content, including review workflows, acceptance criteria, decision gates, and sign-off across engineering, legal, safety, supplier, and partner teams through influencing without authority.
• Built executive scorecards tracking CSAT, repeat repair rate, partner readiness, schedule risk, and program financial performance for leadership reviews.
• Owned compliance workflows for French repairability score documentation, Right to Repair legislation, environmental and safety requirements, and export controls for repair tooling.
• Led cross-functional diagnostics programs for Surface hardware, reducing customer-generated repair tickets by 27% through KPI-driven product and service improvements.

Technical Program Manager, Technical Support Operations Management, October 2017 to September 2020

Managed operational programs and culture for 800+ Tier 2 and Tier 3 technical specialists across 83 Microsoft Store locations supporting Surface, Xbox, and Windows. Operated under a split-management model with store managers owning local hiring and scheduling while owning Answer Desk role definition, onboarding, training, performance expectations, service policy, operational KPIs, escalation workflows, partner readiness, support transformation, and customer-facing service outcomes.

• Designed and owned operating model changes for Answer Desk service delivery, including role standards, service policy, technician workflows, escalation paths, readiness expectations, and operational KPIs.
• Led COVID-era transformation from physical retail support to remote delivery across 83 locations, including CRM migration, operating model redesign, team restructuring, and change adoption.
• Hired and managed 10 employees to launch and operate COVID-era device recycling program, including candidate selection, role definition, training, safety practices, quality control, and day-to-day management; delivered 1,500 devices cleaned, re-imaged, and donated to Washington schools within three weeks.
• Reduced repair turnaround time by 57% through KPI ownership, escalation management, process redesign, and operational governance.
• Established Microsoft's first authorized repair partner program, increasing repair capacity by 40% through business case development, vendor alignment, contract execution, and partner readiness planning.
• Managed six-person escalation recovery team through backlog elimination, role definition, KPI definition, training, and performance management, reducing 1,000+ open tickets to under 100 and improving response times from 3 to 5 days to under 24 hours.

Technical Program Manager, Factory Repair Engineering, February 2016 to October 2017

Drove product development and process optimization for Microsoft's global Surface repair and refurbishment network. Product Owner for Surface Diagnostic Toolkit and Software Repair Tool, partnering with engineering, quality, manufacturing, and repair operations teams to improve readiness, throughput, and service quality.

• Owned Surface Diagnostic Toolkit from requirements through release, improving diagnostic accuracy by 43% across repair facilities.
• Shipped Windows repair automation tooling for Surface devices, achieving 17% ticket deflection.
• Led device imaging system integration within 3 months, reducing imaging time by 60% and customer wait time by 35+ minutes.
• Developed testing standards and acceptance criteria for returns, repair, refurbishment, and service quality at Tier 1 Microsoft-owned facilities.

Technical Advisor, Microsoft Stores Answer Desk, September 2009 to January 2016

Provided Tier 2 support and hands-on device repair for Surface, Xbox, Windows, and Microsoft 365; maintained 90%+ customer satisfaction and was promoted into Microsoft's corporate TPM organization.

Education

Master of Business Administration, Western Governors University, October 2025
Excellence Award, Management Communications

Bachelor of Science, Business Administration, Management, Western Governors University, 2025
Capstone Excellence Award, WGU Excellence Award

Technical and Business Systems

Enterprise Platforms: SAP ECC 6.0, Coupa, Azure DevOps, Smartsheet, Jira, Confluence, SharePoint, Microsoft Project

Analytics and Reporting: Power BI, Looker Studio, Google Analytics 4, Google Tag Manager, SQL Server, PostgreSQL

Development: TypeScript, Python, SQL, C#, PowerShell, React, NestJS, Node.js, REST APIs, microservices, Redis, Docker, GitHub Actions

AI and Automation: Agentic AI Workflows, LLM Tooling, Model Context Protocol, AI-Assisted Development, Workflow Automation, AI Governance