Thanh Phong Le
Data Science Student | Former Compliance Manager
Westminster, CA, USA
Experience
Compliance Manager
Lidl & Kaufland (Vietnam) Services Co., Limited
Managed social compliance audits across Vietnam, Cambodia, and Myanmar, overseeing one full-time auditor.
- Informed corporate management about compliance risks for sourcing decisions
- Successfully delivered 10 audits across multiple countries
- Managed cross-border compliance operations in Southeast Asia
CSR Consultant
Self-employed
Independent corporate social responsibility consulting services.
- Provided compliance advisory services to various clients
- Developed CSR strategies for manufacturing companies
Country Manager
Elevate Vietnam Ltd.
Managed a third-party audit team, including 10 full-time auditors and 20 subcontractors.
- Met year-end country target, delivering 3,820 person-days for FY2022
- Led a team of 30+ audit professionals across Vietnam
- Streamlined audit processes for improved efficiency
Sustainability Manager
Williams-Sonoma Vietnam LLC
Oversaw compliance for 72 suppliers in Vietnam and 28 in the Philippines.
- Helped CSR Global reach the target of 100,000 workers in well-being programs
- Led VisionSpring projects in Vietnam
- Elevated the largest suppliers from D to B ratings over five years
- Trained Vietnam and Philippines suppliers in the Higg index over three years
Enterprise Advisor
International Labor Organization (BetterWork Vietnam)
Conducted audits and provided compliance advice to apparel factories.
- Developed expertise in compliance partnerships and industrial relations
- Worked with government agencies on labor standards
- Advised major apparel manufacturers on compliance improvements
CSR Manager
Esquel Garment Manufacturing Vietnam Co., Ltd
Managed environment and social compliance for the company.
- Managed audits and maintained the ISO 14,001 certificate for the company.
SEA Manager
Sports Gears Co., Ltd
Managed the worker relations function for the company.
- Solved a worker strike and maintained good performance with Adidas
Compliance Manager
Poongin Vina Co., Ltd
Managed buyer compliance for the company.
- Successfully maintained good performance from buyer audits.
IT Manager cum Compliance Manager
Shinsung Vina Co., Ltd
Managed IT systems and compliance for a global sewing industry corporation.
- Managed an IT department with two IT staff members
- Administered IT systems and PBX infrastructure
- Handled user support and remote office connectivity
- Designed and maintained a Windows 2000 Advanced Server environment
IT Group Leader
Nitto Denko Vietnam Co., Ltd
Led IT operations for a global electronics corporation.
- Operated and maintained the Lotus Notes corporate email system
- Managed leased line and router infrastructure for corporate networks
- Administered MS SQL Server 2000 and ERP systems
- Set up and maintained PBX, VoIP, and video conferencing systems
- Enforced security policies and managed backup solutions
- Reported directly to the Japanese IT manager
Network Administrator
Petrolimex Corp.
Administered network infrastructure for the government petroleum corporation.
- Set up and maintained an MS Windows NT Server environment
- Managed fiber optic network infrastructure
- Administered MS Exchange Server 5.5
- Implemented remote access solutions for headquarters offices
Network Engineer
HPT Co., Ltd
Designed and implemented network solutions as a Hewlett-Packard partner.
- Designed and set up network projects
- Provided customer support and technical solutions
- Gained proficiency in network design and installation
Education
Executive Master of Business Administration
University of Hawaii
Executive MBA program focusing on business leadership and management
Bachelor of Electrical & Electronics Engineering
Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology
Engineering degree with a focus on Industrial Automation.
Professional Certifications
Applied Data Science Program: Leveraging AI for Effective Decision-Making
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professional Education - Great Learning
Participated in a hackathon to build a machine-learning model that predicts the satisfaction of Shinkansen Bullet Train (in Japan) travelers based on various travel parameters, ranking 29th out of 76 participating teams with a prediction accuracy of 0.8779282.
Current Professional Development
Actively enhancing skills through the following programs:
Data Science Master's Program (Admitted degree candidate)
Harvard Extension School • Spring 2025
Current Courses:
- Foundations of Data Science and Engineering (Fall 2024 – Completed). Completed with a grade of A in Python-based data science and engineering fundamentals.
- Statistical Data Modeling (Fall 2024 – Completed). Mastered core techniques in R programming to build and evaluate statistical models, earning a solid B grade.
- Modern Data Analytics (Spring 2025 – Completed). Leveraged Apache Spark and PySpark on GCP and AWS to design and implement scalable, cloud-native analytics pipelines—earning an A grade.
- Data Mining, Discovery & Exploration (Spring 2025 – Completed). Developed expertise in Python-based data mining techniques—exploring unsupervised and semi-supervised methods, scalable graph algorithms, and discovery of patterns in massive datasets—culminating in an A grade.
- Advanced Practical Data Science (Fall 2025 – Now). Advanced Practical Data Science transforms deep learning models into production-ready applications, focusing heavily on Large Language Models (LLMs). The Machine Learning Operations (MLOps) workflow starts with model refinement and extends through deployment using Docker containerization, GCP and AWS infrastructure, and Kubernetes for scaling applications. Data pipeline construction uses TensorFlow Data, TF Records, PyTorch's Dataset and DataLoader classes, along with ETL processes and data versioning for managing large-scale computer vision and language model datasets. Training workflows include multi-GPU setups, experiment tracking with Weights & Biases, and serverless training on Vertex AI, plus fine-tuning techniques for LLMs. Model optimization applies distillation, quantization, compression, and LORA methods. The technology stack builds RESTful APIs for model serving, implements LLM-specific tools like LangChain, LamaIndex, and RAG systems, and develops AI agents. Deployment uses Cloud Functions, Cloud Run, Kubeflow, and Vertex AI Pipelines for hosting and serving models. Post-deployment includes performance monitoring, data drift detection, and testing strategies. The approach requires Python proficiency including NumPy, Pandas, and Matplotlib for data manipulation, shell command expertise for CLI operations, and understanding of virtual machines and isolated software environments for development. View the AC215 E115 Group Project
- Programming in Scala for Big Data Systems (Fall 2025 – Now). An immersive, hands-on course designed to build expertise in Scala, a modern, strongly-typed programming language that is essential for big data engineering. Delving into both object-oriented and functional programming paradigms, advanced data structures, higher-order functions, pattern matching, robust unit testing practices, and essential build tools within the Scala ecosystem using Java, Python, JavaScript, C#, or C++, Apache Spark, Apache Beam, and Kafka Streams. Designed to equip students with proficiency in Scala through real-world programming assignments, exploring concurrency, parallel processing, and the use of popular big data libraries to architect and implement scalable batch and stream processing solutions for modern data systems.
- Advanced Topics in Data Science (Spring 2026 – Upcoming). The course introduces advanced methods for statistical modeling, representation, and prediction. Topics include multiple deep learning architectures such as convolutional neural networks (CNNs), recurrent neural networks (RNNs), transformers, language models, autoencoders, and generative models, as well as basic Bayesian methods and unsupervised learning.
- Fundamentals of Cloud Computing and OpenAI with Microsoft Azure (Spring 2026 – Upcoming). This course offers a comprehensive introduction to cloud and serverless computing, focusing on Microsoft Azure's key services and Azure's artificial intelligence (AI) platform. We contrast the challenges and benefits of cloud computing, serverless cloud computing, and traditional self-managed cloud and on-premises solutions. Students learn the fundamental architecture and design patterns necessary to build geographically distributed, highly available, and scalable solutions using key services in the Microsoft Azure platform. Students learn about the OpenAI offerings in Azure and how to responsibly leverage them in their cloud-native solutions, with hands-on experience in prompt engineering, fine tuning, and embedding. We cover the costs and benefits of each and how to pragmatically apply them. Students engage in hands-on learning architecting secure, scalable, geo-redundant, and cost-effective infrastructure and deploying that infrastructure to Microsoft Azure using infrastructure as code via the Bicep language. Students learn approaches for building solutions that gracefully degrade when non-essential functionality is unavailable. Students learn to implement defense in depth using network segmentation (VNETs) and additional best practices. A wide range of Microsoft Azure Services are covered including Azure Front Door, Azure App Services, Azure App Configuration, KeyVault, Azure SQL, Azure API management; serverless services including Azure Functions, and Azure Logic Applications; Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) for enterprise identity management; Azure B2C for low-cost identity management on consumer-centric software-as-a-service offerings; and Azure Storage, Azure Service Bus, Azure Event Grid, Azure Event Hub, Azure Cosmos database, and Azure Cognitive Search. In addition to Azure services and guidance, the course covers implementing processes to streamline development, such as continuous integration, continuous deployment (CICD), and automated testing. Students also learn how to test their applications and infrastructure at scale using Azure Load Testing. Coverage includes always-up architecture and deployment strategies, rollback strategies, A/B testing, testing in production, monitoring, distributed tracing, alerting, performance tuning, snapshot debugging in production, and health analysis using Application Insights and Azure Monitor. Additionally, students learn strategies and architecture for ensuring data sovereignty concerns are addressed in their solutions. Basic C#, C++, Python, or Java development skills. This course involves a substantial amount of programming in C# and cross platform.NET (6 or above).
Generative AI for Natural Language Processing
Great Learning • February 2025 - Completed
Engaged in advanced study of generative AI applications in NLP, focusing on large language model APIs, prompt engineering, and building end-to-end NLP solutions—such as sentiment analysis, summarization, and text classification—using Python and LLM frameworks.
Advanced class, Python 100, Jamaican Boa
Code The Dream • March to June 2025
Early admission for Spring 2025, completed, Advanced Python techniques and applications
Advanced class, Node.js, Kangaroo
Code The Dream • July 09 to Oct 24, 2025
Trio admission for Summer 2025, Node.js, Completed
Advanced class, React, Kiwi
Code The Dream • July 09 to Oct 24, 2025
Trio admission for Summer 2025, React, Completed
Advanced class, Ruby on Rails, Kifejaw
Code The Dream • July 09 to Oct 24, 2025
Trio admission for Summer 2025, Ruby on Rails, Completed
#Dreamers in Tech Hackathon
Dreamers In Tech • July 18 to July 20, 2025
Build a project for the Creating_Access_To_Working_Opportunities track.
Skills & Expertise
Data Science & Analytics
Python
R
Data Modeling
Machine Learning
Natural Language Processing
Programming & Technologies
SQL
Data Analysis
Statistical Analysis
Data Visualization
Compliance & Management
Social Compliance Auditing
CSR Management
Project Management
Team Leadership
Stakeholder Management
Industry Knowledge
Manufacturing Compliance
Supply Chain Management
International Labor Standards
Sustainability Frameworks