Em Silbernagel, M.A.

Strategic Program Manager

I turn executive priorities into programs that deliver.

Over six years at Amazon building operating models, program governance and executive reporting for senior leaders in global organizations of up to 4,000+ people. With a master's in counseling psychology, I translate strategy into results that leaders and teams embrace and customers value.

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  • Chief of Staff
  • Strategy & Operations
  • Program Governance
  • Enablement
Em Silbernagel, M.A.
AWS Certified AI Practitioner

My edge

A therapist's EQ, a program manager's eye for systems.

My M.A. in Counseling Psychology taught me to listen closely and ask the right questions. I bring that same approach to operations: understand the people and their goals, then build the systems that support them.

01

Diagnose first

I identified an opportunity to grow the interviewer pipeline. The program I built became Amazon's global KPI standard.

02

Design for adoption

I design tools teams want to use. I launched 3 AI assistant tools with a prompt library and best practices; the newsletter tool alone cut 20 hours per cycle.

03

Prove it with data

I use data to validate decisions, from gap analysis that set a global training roadmap to a survey strategy that lifted completion from 30% to 75%.

Impact at a glance

Results leaders can measure.

Selected outcomes from programs I built and owned at Amazon and AWS, 2019 to 2026.

4,000+

employees supported across 6 businesses

2,569 hrs

saved in 30 days through an automation rollout, with the training workstream I built

5 → 1.5 days

executive reporting prep after a redesign for directors and 2 VPs

48%

faster resolution through a global intake program, 63 to 33 days

98%

global onboarding CSAT against a 90% goal

+15 pts

scheduling rate lift, adopted as the global KPI standard across Amazon Talent Acquisition

Case studies

Three programs, built to scale.

Case 01 · Operations Excellence

Executive reporting for a growing org

4 KPIs 5 → 1.5 days
Challenge
After a reorg, executive reporting had to cover a scope that grew from 2 to 5 lines of business.
What I built
A redesigned reporting model with 4 KPIs for directors and 2 VPs, plus requirements and QA for a dashboard to replace Excel reporting.
Result
Reporting prep fell from 5 days to 1.5, and leaders tracked every program against the same 4 KPIs.

Case 02 · Enablement

Centralized intake for global enablement

48% faster SLAs set
Challenge
A 3,000+ person organization needed one scalable way to request, route and resolve enablement work.
What I built
A global intake program with automated routing, self-service options and a change management plan, refined through continuous iteration.
Result
Resolution time fell 48%, from 63 days to 33. The program's metrics and SLAs were adopted to guide program decisions and grow engagement across the org.

Case 03 · Recruiting Operations

Interviewer pipeline, now a global standard

+15 pts 133 RCs
Challenge
Recruiting needed more specialized interviewers, who are required on every interview panel, and a faster certification path for the seasoned interviewers training into the role.
What I built
A program to grow the specialized interviewer pipeline and speed up certification, rolled out across 133 recruiting coordinators.
Result
Scheduling rate rose 15 points, and the measure was adopted as the global KPI standard across all of Amazon Talent Acquisition.

Experience

Human-centered operations, at scale.

From mental health therapist to strategy and operations, my expertise sits where people, process and technology meet.

  1. Feb 2025 to Jan 2026

    Program Manager, Strategy & Operations, Amazon

    Advised the head of department and 7 senior leaders on strategy, operations and compliance for a global department supporting 4,000+ employees; built its rhythm of business, led goal planning through a reorg and launched 3 AI assistant tools.

  2. Jun 2024 to Jan 2025

    Program Manager, Operations Excellence, Amazon

    Led the Operations Excellence pillar for a 2,000+ person org; redesigned executive reporting for directors and 2 VPs, cutting prep from 5 days to 1.5.

  3. Feb 2022 to May 2024

    Program Manager, Learning & Development, Amazon

    Built global intake for a 3,000+ person org and owned global onboarding for recruiting coordinators (98% CSAT, ramp cut from 6 to 4 weeks); set the roadmap for a global training portfolio.

  4. Jun 2021 to Feb 2022

    Sr. Recruiting Coordinator, AWS & Amazon Security

    Redesigned and scaled onboarding for 140+ new hires, cutting facilitation hours 60%; supported 2 recruiting coordinator teams in scheduling operations, keeping their escalation rates under the 10% target.

  5. Apr 2019 to Jun 2021

    Recruiting Coordinator, AWS

    Built a scheduling program adopted as Amazon's global KPI standard; built and owned the training workstream for an automation tool that reached 95% adoption and saved 2,569 hours in 30 days.

  6. Aug 2018 to Jan 2019

    Mental Health Therapist, Center for Human Services

    Co-led a service expansion strategy that doubled service days and grew capacity 50%.

Education & credentials

  • M.A., Counseling Psychology
    The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology
  • AWS Certified AI Practitioner
    Amazon Web Services
  • Certified Health Coach
    Institute for Integrative Nutrition

Toolkit

  • Generative AI
  • QuickSight
  • Tableau
  • Asana
  • Qualtrics
  • WebEx
  • LMS
  • ATS
  • CRM
  • Sprint and Issue Management Systems

Let's talk

Looking for a strategic partner to help your organization deliver? Let's connect.

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