Six Sigma Black Belt / Program / Project Manager

Brian Powers Metro NYC / NJ

********@*****.*** • linkedin.com/in/brian-powers-programmanager/ • 201-***-****

Director of Operations / PMO - Program Manager

A hands-on operations and program management leader with a 20+ year proven track record in Telecommunications and Utilities industry. Versatile and adaptable, high impact contributions at planning and delivery of multiple complex, large-scale telecommunications programs and energy infrastructure projects. Adept at turning around poor performing teams and processes. Consistently drove gains in quality, productivity, and profitability while surpassing demanding corporate and client expectations. Areas of expertise include:

Delivering complex projects within tight time & budget constraints

Building profitable strategic alliances with clients & business partners

Recruiting, training, mentoring, motivating & retaining top cross-functional talent

Streamlining business processes & optimizing systems to drive increased efficiency and profitability

Career History & Accomplishments

Gerson Lehrman Group, research, consultancy and learning 2017 – present

Council Member, 2017. Provide expertise and advice for a variety of projects in Telecom and Utilities.

Provided process and procedure logistics for construction deployment for a FTTH program including analysis of expected obstacles and required mitigation efforts.

Bechtel Corporation, a global leader construction/project management, 2002-2017. Roles include:

MRE PMO Manager, 2015-2017. Directed delivery of Make Ready Engineering (MRE) fiber projects. Managed planning, schedule, budgets and estimating, ensuring on-time and on-budget completion. Served technology clients such as Google. Managed project budgets up to $4M and combined direct/matrixed staff to 12.

Dramatically improved permit processes & approval results. Upgraded data collection with a new photometric system linked to design software. Improved the application approval rates from 25% to 85% to avoid costly project delays.

Standardized program management, boosting quality & productivity. Developed SOPs and Best Practices. Capitalized on underutilized resources. Drove a 130% gain in permit quality, timeliness and approval metrics. Reduced reworks by 65%, generating significant savings for company and client.

Project Manager, 2012-2015. Directed a variety of ECPM infrastructure and construction (Macro, DAS & Small Cell) projects valued at up $100M for a variety of telecommunications clients, including AT&T. Managed budgets to $5M and staff to 10.

Revitalized an ECPM project. A $100M Bechtel wireless infrastructure ECPM project was behind schedule. Assembled a war room to reengineer processes, define and track milestones, increase visibility and strengthen accountability. Improved performance against plan from 30% to 100%.

Cured compliance issues ahead of schedule. Assembled and directed a multidisciplinary team. Developed a fast-track corrective project plan. Resolved 100% of the deficiencies in half the projected schedule. Exceeded client and contractual expectations avoiding new FCC penalties.

Market Lead / Construction Manager, 2011-2012. Tapped to lead process, organizational, training and performance improvements for Clearwire, a major telecommunications client. Managed teams to 16 and budgets to $6M

Turned around a commercial regional network launch. Tasked with putting the project back on track, restructured and augmented the client’s project organization. Reengineered the project plan, setting aggressive milestones and strengthening accountability. Resolved issues vendors. Mentored client staff. Recovered four months of schedule to deliver project on time.

Rapidly rescued a delayed project, delivering ahead of schedule. Augmented the client’s project team with multidisciplinary internal company talent. Negotiated aggressive incentive-based contracts with key vendors to accelerate the schedule. Took the one-year project plan from three months behind to completion two months ahead of schedule.

Six Sigma Black Belt, 2006-2010. Promoted to direct performance, process and training improvement initiatives. Managed teams to 10 and budgets to $10M.

Leveraged Six Sigma to drive massive quality gains. Supported NDE testing to pinpoint the root causes of flaws. Created new metrics, reporting and analytics to manage the program. Drove an 88%+ jump in quality, slashing the incidence of failed welds from 12% to 1.4%.

Regional Site Acquisition Manager. 2002 – 2006 Directed teams responsible for selection, negotiation and acquisition of sites across an eight-state region. Managed a 30-member staff and budgets to $35M. Achievements include:

Elevated quality, cost & timeliness KPIs while saving $3.6M annually. Developed a cross-training program to improve skills, capabilities, knowledge transfer and staff interchangeability. Streamlined processes and cut headcount from 50+ to just 12 FTEs, reducing labor costs $300K per month.

globalTowers, Inc, Regional telecommunications construction company.

VP Operations, 2001-2002. Responsible for company expansion and operations for northeastern United States

Spearheaded a successful regional expansion. Built a team and established a base of operations. Sourced bidding opportunities in construction and engineering services. Successfully negotiated first contract in the region, a multiyear RF engineering seconding program with Verizon Wireless worth $500K annually.

Interaqt (dba Colotraq), Premier sourcing partner for data center services, delivering trusted, efficient, customer-centric solutions.

VP Network Development, 2000-2001. Responsible for leading engineering, development and direction for Data Hotel Design & Development and Fiber distribution. Set standards for development of B2B Internet Market place for server collocation.

AAT Communications; Owner and Manager of wireless telecommunication facilities for the Cellular, PCS, Paging and Dispatch Radio System providers

VP Facilities, Acquisition & Engineering, 1997-1999. Directed Engineering, Site Acquisition, Construction and Tower Development for the United States. Co-Developed and directed $20M annual Tower Acquisition Program delivering a yearly IRR over 26%.

Skills

Program Management / Lean Six Sigma /Site Acquisition / Turnarounds / Cost Reduction / PMOs / Engineering / Planning / P&L / Best Practices / Negotiation / Contracts / Compliance / Product & Service Launches / Construction Management / Facilities Management / Multisite Operations / Client & Vendor Relations / Team Building / Training / DMAIC / Kaizen / Hoshin / Change Management / ADKAR / Agile / Waterfall / ASME / FCC / EH&S / Safety

Awards

Member of a group at Bechtel honored with the Six Sigma Team of the Year for a project with Prairie State Energy Campus, a clean energy fossil fuel producer and generator.

Education & Training

Bachelor of Architecture degree from New Jersey Institute of Technology’s (NJIT) New Jersey School of Architecture (NJSOA).

Six Sigma Black Belt, certification by the International Association for Continuing Education & Training (IACET).

Master Project Manager certification by the American Academy of Project Management (AAPM).

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