Volkswagen Group of America

2016 – Current

Directed Network, Telephony, Data Center, Enterprise Operations and Monitoring organizations within Volkswagen Group of America. Implemented multi-year vision leveraging continuous improvement principles to significantly enhance the reliability and capabilities of the network and telephony systems within the organization. Led CO2 reduction and Data Center Strategy evolution efforts across the Region driving a cohesive cloud and physical data center strategy. Delivered network services across multiple cloud and onprem data centers providing a cohesive and robust Internet presence for the organization. Provided all network and telephony solutions to 65 sites, supporting more than to 10,000 users throughout Volkswagen Group of America. Accountable for development, implementation and support of contact center solutions for 15 contact centers supporting 1400+ customer advocates. Developed, implemented and oversaw new IT Service Delivery model to meet the needs of a group of 14 separate affiliated organizations with unique IT requirements.

Financial Achievements

• Collaborated or led global/regional RFPs for WAN, SIP, Access Layer Switches yielding annualized savings of more than $4MM

• Shifted operational support model to leverage third-party operations company to drive significant cost savings throughout Region Americas.

• Achieved dramatic cost reduction in vendor support agreements through bundling and negotiating multi-year support agreements.

Leadership Achievements

• Established DFMEA and Continuous Improvement framework within network and telephony organizations leading to dramatic increase in resiliency in the environment. Expanded practice throughout region and across multiple brands.

• Formed and led regional team to establish & share best practices across network and telephony organizations throughout Region Americas.

• Helped found global technology steering committee (Expert Community of Practice – ECoP) to increase global coordination and drive efficiencies on a global scale.

• Created and led team focused on delivering customized IT solutions to meet unique needs of Technical Affiliates

Technological Achievements

• Collaborated with Cloud Infrastructure Manager to establish common automation and orchestration framework for both Cloud and On-Prem Data Centers.

• Spearheaded implementation of world class SIP and Telephony infrastructure including establishment of Volkswagen Group of America as its own RespOrg.

• Developed plan and implemented application centric Cisco ACI infrastructure in regional data center.

Woodbridge Foam Corporation

1997 – 2016

Developed Network Services organization to incorporate change control and project management processes. Given full responsibility for strategic and tactical management of the IT infrastructure and all technology & telecommunications systems, networks and solutions as well as security and service delivery. Standardized network services throughout entire organization to ensure consistent delivery of services to 67 locations globally. Oversaw all IT needs, including development projects, for a major business unit.

Financial Achievements

• Negotiated consolidated cellular contract in the US resulting in a $160,000 (30%) reduction in annual cellular costs

• Negotiated a multi-year software agreement resulting in $150,000 savings over the term of the agreement

• Proposed and gained approval for shift to leasing; moving technology and equipment acquisition from capital expenditure to operating expense and ensuring an always current technology base

• Negotiated a multi-year communications and data center contract that resulted in improved service and a cost reduction of $250,000 in annual WAN communication costs while increasing the bandwidth employed by more than 800%

Leadership Achievements

• Built and mentored a global support team responsible for providing 24x7 support services to 2200 users.

• Expanded role of corporate IT services across entire organization; centralizing support and reducing contract IT head count.

• Established and gained adoption for global technology standards that reducing support incidents and costs

• Proposed and implemented centralized negotiation and purchasing for all technology-related purchases, ensuring standardization and cost effectiveness of solutions provided.

• Managed IT services to support M&A activity that saw transitions of all business and IT systems transition with no impact to just-in-time delivery to customers.

• Spearheaded development of IT applications to meet new customer requirements; managed delivery and execution of IT projects and development

Technological Achievements

• Designed and managed a global migration from disparate individual site network to a consolidated 2008 active directory structure

• Designed network services to ensure that all sites had highly available & cost effective network infrastructure

• Implemented regional data center design and global high performance MPLS network allowing for QoS and high availability throughout inter-site communications carrying data and voice communications

• Standardized network design to allow for rapid and remote deployment; centralized mission critical email and ERP, allowing for delivery of best-in-class solutions while dramatically reducing total cost of ownership

Macomb Community College

2011–2013

Provide PMI-based instruction governing the process of project management. Work with students to develop a thorough understanding of project management concepts through one-on-one discussions, lectures and homework.