Irina Ilina
Operations Manager · Process Improvement · AI Adoption
9+ years across operations and finance
Operations Manager · Process Improvement · AI Adoption
9+ years across operations and finance
I connect what happens on the floor with what shows up in the financials.
Open to operations, finance and process improvement roles across the GTA, Halton and Hamilton. Hybrid or on-site.
Fewer recurring inventory discrepancies
Inventory year-end close
A weekly finance task
My story
I trained as a food technology engineer and started on the production floor. I loved seeing how a process turns raw ingredients into a meal that looks like art, and everything behind it: people, goods, purchasing, storage, production. Clear rules hold it together; without them, quality can’t keep up with volume. As a cost analyst, I connected that work to the numbers.
When I moved to Canada, I completed an accounting certificate and began working in accounting. The two paths came together at a foodservice equipment distributor, where over four years I grew into Operations Manager, working across the warehouse, sales, service, purchasing, and accounting. I started using AI to fix my own team’s manual work, and it worked well enough that I led the company’s move to approved AI tools and training.
Today I connect people and processes, so what happens on the floor matches what finance reports, and I build the tools that keep them matched.
Every business runs on three connected layers. Most operational problems trace back to a gap in one of them.
Change only works when people own it. I train, onboard, and give every step a clear owner so new processes hold.
How does work actually flow, start to finish? I map how the work gets done, find the root cause, and redesign the steps with the people who do them.
Only once people and process are solid do I bring in software, data structure, and automation. I make the data match reality, then automate repetitive work with Python and AI tools like Claude and ChatGPT, always keeping a human check.
What I believe
People are capable when the process is clear.
Fix the process before buying the tool.
Test before rollout. Measure after.
Every automation keeps a human check.
Every business runs on three connected layers. Most operational problems trace back to a gap in one of them.
Answers staff process questions with a link to the exact procedure and form, and says when it doesn’t know.
Built with: Claude Projects
Ranks what to order by vendor lead time and sales history. Backorders now wait about a week, down from about three.
Built with: Python + AI weekly report
Sends vendor payment notices after a human approval step. A 4–5 hour weekly task now takes under 5 minutes.
Built with: Python
Credentials
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt · Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree, Food Technology Engineering (with honours) · Accounting Certificate (Seneca) · Career Essentials in Project Management (Microsoft) · Removing Barriers to Change (UPenn)
Open to operations, finance and process improvement roles in the GTA, Halton and Hamilton. Hybrid or on-site. I usually reply within one business day.