Workforce Planning Specialist
I help organizations align their workforce with business goals — through data-driven planning, capacity modelling, and talent strategy that scales.
About Me
With over a decade of experience in workforce planning and HR analytics, I partner with HR leaders, COOs, and business unit heads to build resilient, future-ready teams. My approach combines rigorous data analysis with a deep understanding of organizational dynamics to deliver plans that are both actionable and sustainable.
I've worked across industries — from financial services and retail to technology and healthcare — helping companies navigate growth, restructuring, and digital transformation with confidence.
Let's ConnectWhat I Do
End-to-end workforce planning solutions tailored to your organization's size, industry, and strategic objectives.
Align your headcount strategy with long-term business objectives. I build multi-year workforce plans that account for growth, attrition, and market shifts.
Ensure the right people are in the right place at the right time. I design capacity models that optimize productivity without burning out your teams.
Build pipelines for critical roles and reduce key-person risk. I help you identify, develop, and retain the talent your organization depends on.
Transform raw HR data into actionable insights. I design dashboards and reporting frameworks that give leaders real-time visibility into workforce health.
Restructure teams and reporting lines to maximize efficiency and agility. I guide organizations through redesigns that stick — with minimal disruption.
Ongoing strategic advisory for HR and business leaders navigating complex workforce challenges — from M&A integration to digital transformation.
Career Journey
Independent Practice
Providing strategic workforce planning and HR analytics consulting to mid-size and enterprise clients across financial services, retail, and technology sectors. Delivered 20+ engagements with measurable impact on headcount efficiency and talent retention.
Regional Financial Services Group
Led a team of 5 analysts to deliver enterprise-wide workforce plans supporting 8,000+ employees. Introduced scenario-based planning methodology that reduced overstaffing costs by 18% over two years.
National Retail Corporation
Built capacity models for 200+ store locations and supported seasonal demand planning cycles. Developed the company's first centralized workforce analytics dashboard used by senior leadership.
Technology Startup
Supported rapid headcount growth from 50 to 300 employees. Designed onboarding frameworks, partnered with department heads on hiring plans, and introduced structured performance review cycles.
Expertise
Proven Results
A selection of engagements that demonstrate measurable impact.
Challenge: A regional bank with 8,000+ employees was carrying significant overstaffing in back-office functions, with no visibility into future demand.
Solution: Introduced a scenario-based workforce planning model integrating business volume forecasts with attrition data. Built executive dashboards for real-time headcount monitoring.
Challenge: A national retailer struggled with under- and over-staffing during peak seasons across 200+ locations, leading to service failures and excess labour costs.
Solution: Designed a centralized capacity model using historical sales data and footfall patterns. Delivered a self-service planning tool for store managers.
Challenge: A SaaS company needed to scale from 300 to 900 employees in 18 months while maintaining culture and avoiding critical skill gaps.
Solution: Built a role-based headcount model tied to product roadmap milestones. Designed a skills taxonomy and succession framework for 15 critical engineering roles.
What Clients Say
A selection of words from leaders I've partnered with on workforce planning, capacity modelling, and organizational design engagements.
Ioana transformed how we think about headcount. Her multi-year workforce model became the backbone of our annual planning cycle — credible, defensible, and built to flex with the business.
Working with Ioana felt like adding a senior strategist to the leadership team. She balances rigorous analytics with genuine empathy for the people behind the numbers — a rare combination.
Her capacity model exposed bottlenecks we'd been firefighting for years. Within two quarters we'd reallocated 12% of FTE without a single layoff. Pragmatic, sharp, and easy to work with.
Ioana's succession framework gave our board real visibility into key-person risk for the first time. The dashboards are still in daily use three years on — that's the best endorsement I can give.
We engaged Ioana for a six-week diagnostic and ended up keeping her on retainer. She asks the questions no one else thinks to ask — and then she answers them with data.
Through a complex restructuring, Ioana kept the process humane and the numbers honest. Our managers came out of it with clarity, and our employees with trust intact. That's not easy to pull off.
Get in Touch
Whether you're facing a specific workforce challenge or looking for a long-term strategic partner, I'd love to hear from you. Let's start with a conversation.