Resume
Sean Kopen – Resume and Experience
Experience That Connects Strategy, Operations, and Digital Growth
Over the past 20 years, I’ve led teams, systems, and digital transformation initiatives across retail, eCommerce, creative agencies, and consulting. My work blends operational excellence with digital strategy — aligning people, process, technology, and customer experience to drive measurable outcomes.
Below is a curated overview of my professional experience, with links to detailed case studies and role breakdowns.
TBWA\Canada
Led national resourcing, program management, and operational transformation across creative, strategy, and digital teams. Introduced standardized delivery systems, capacity planning frameworks, and AI-enhanced workflows that improved throughput, forecast accuracy, and cross-team alignment. Served on TBWA’s North American AI Steering Committee, shaping regional standards and adoption strategy.
Director – Resourcing and Program Management
August 2022 – Present
Built agency-wide program management practices including intake workflows, prioritization models, effort/impact scoring, and campaign roadmapping.
These systems improved visibility, reduced scope drift, and aligned teams around clear priorities.
Implemented standardized delivery frameworks such as SOPs, QA phases, approval steps, and post-mortem structures — elevating consistency across offices and improving on-time delivery.
Led national resourcing for a 27-person creative team, forecasting capacity, balancing workloads, and improving utilization accuracy across creative, production, and strategy functions.
Introduced and deployed AI-integrated processes, supporting project management, creative development, and planning workflows.
Served on the North American AI Steering Committee, helping define adoption standards, training protocols, and success metrics for the entire region.
Developed forecasting and operational reporting models that improved decision-making for leadership and improved planning across departments.
Strengthened cross-team collaboration by bridging account, strategy, digital, creative, and production teams through shared processes and operational alignment.
Cinder Consulting
Cinder is my independent consulting practice, supporting retail, sporting, healthcare, nonprofit, and service-based organizations across Canada and the U.S. The work spans digital strategy, lifecycle marketing, eCommerce optimization, AI integration, and operational transformation. With engagements ranging from short-term advisory to multi-year execution, Cinder provides flexible, senior-level expertise for teams that need strategic clarity, implementation support, or systems that scale with their growth.
Owner – Contractor
August 2022 – Present
Developed acquisition and lifecycle strategies for retail, sporting, and healthcare clients, improving repeat purchases, email revenue, and customer lifetime value.
Streamlined marketing and eCommerce operations, simplifying workflows, reducing manual effort, and improving execution speed across busy, resource-constrained teams.
Built digital reporting and analytics systems that gave owners and leadership teams real visibility into what drives revenue, engagement, and retention.
Optimized eCommerce performance, including UX adjustments, navigation improvements, product data hygiene, and conversion-focused content.
Implemented and customized CRM and lifecycle platforms (primarily Klaviyo), including segmentation, automations, and multi-stage customer journeys.
Designed brand messaging and content frameworks for websites, campaigns, and long-term content planning.
Supported AI adoption and workflow automation, helping teams incorporate AI for content, reporting, customer insights, and operational efficiency.
Provided fractional leadership, guiding internal teams through transitions, training new hires, and stabilizing processes during periods of rapid change.
United Sport and Cycle
Directed digital experience strategy and modernized the in-store ecosystem, improving shopper journeys and average purchase value. Led a multidisciplinary team across design, development, and digital marketing while managing full-channel performance and P&L accountability. Delivered substantial year-over-year improvements in traffic, engagement, and online revenue.
Marketing and eCommerce Manager
November 2021 – August 2022
Redesigned in-store and digital customer journeys, improving wayfinding, product discovery, and experiential engagement across key departments.
This included optimizing physical traffic flow, product zones, and retail storytelling moments.
Developed a channel-wide digital marketing strategy, including search, social, website content, and email — built around defined personas and repeatable campaign frameworks.
Owned P&L and budget planning for marketing, creating a data-driven spending model aligned to revenue objectives and category priorities.
Managed and coached a multidisciplinary team, fostering collaboration between creative, digital, and retail stakeholders and establishing a more unified approach to campaign execution.
Implemented UX improvements and site updates that enhanced product discovery, navigation, and conversion performance across the eCommerce platform.
Strengthened operational alignment between marketing, purchasing, and retail operations, ensuring consistent customer messaging and merchandising across channels.
Goodmorning.com
Oversaw 11 national eCommerce properties, coordinating agile sprints, site improvements, and GTM launches across marketing, engineering, and CX teams. Improved release pace, QA quality, and workflow consistency. Played a key role in optimizing the digital experience and supporting acquisition and retention goals.
Digital Product Owner
January 2021 – October 2021
Led sprint planning and backlog grooming across engineering, marketing, CX, and design teams, improving cross-team collaboration and ensuring priorities aligned with strategic goals.
Increased release cadence and reliability by implementing more rigorous QA cycles, clear acceptance criteria, and standardized deployment processes.
Coordinated multi-site product launches and promotional updates, ensuring consistency across all brand properties during major retail moments and seasonality-driven spikes.
Improved communication between marketing and engineering, turning ambiguous requests into structured user stories with measurable outcomes.
Identified UX friction points across checkout, product pages, and comparison tools, collaborating with UX and development to deliver meaningful improvements.
Developed lightweight reporting and visibility frameworks so stakeholders could track sprint progress, release status, and upcoming launch pipelines.
The Brick
Scaled online revenue from $18M to $100M+ and led two national platform migrations with zero downtime. Managed a 25-person cross-functional team covering development, UX, design, content, and operations. Built lifecycle systems, dashboards, and operational processes that elevated digital performance and improved cross-department delivery.
eCommerce Manager
July 2015 – December 2020
Scaled online revenue from $18M to $100M+, transforming eCommerce into one of the company’s highest-performing channels.
Led two major platform migrations with zero downtime, coordinating engineering, vendors, infrastructure teams, and content operations.
Streamlined the 50k+ SKU catalog, improving product data quality, taxonomy, imagery, and on-site merchandising — resulting in better discovery and conversion.
Developed and managed lifecycle email marketing to over 1 million subscribers, generating $10M+ in annual revenue from email alone.
Built weekly business reviews, dashboards, and operational reporting, enabling data-driven decisions across leadership and merchandising teams.
Directed sprint planning and digital production, aligning developers, UX, and marketing to improve pace, predictability, and release quality.
Enhanced site and checkout UX, fixing friction points that materially improved conversion rates.
Created scalable operational processes including QA workflows, change management, campaign setup procedures, and cross-functional approvals to support constant promotional activity.
Primal Tribe
Established the agency’s content strategy and SEO practice, adding new revenue streams and improving client outcomes. Designed digital ad products, managed multi-channel marketing programs, and strengthened the agency’s strategic positioning. Built a foundation that elevated content operations and execution across the team.
Content Marketing / Accounts
June 2007 – July 2013
Established the agency’s content strategy and SEO practice, creating structured methodologies for audits, keyword research, messaging development, and ongoing optimization.
Developed and managed multi-channel digital marketing programs for clients across retail, professional services, and nonprofit sectors, aligning content, SEO, and advertising strategy.
Created new digital ad products and service packages, contributing to higher-value retainers and diversified revenue streams for the agency.
Collaborated with design and development teams to ensure content and UX worked together across websites, landing pages, and campaign assets.
Delivered research-driven storytelling frameworks that helped clients refine brand positioning, improve engagement, and support long-term content planning.
Produced high-quality written content, including website copy, ad campaigns, blogs, thought leadership, and SEO-optimized editorial.
Strengthened internal processes, documenting repeatable workflows and content standards to support scaling production as the agency grew.
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