Summary:

I am a responsible, success driven Project Manager; with over 20 years of demonstrated work experience. I’ve enjoyed great success in leadingvarious projects within Information Technology, Telecommunications, and Procurement environments. I am dependable, motivated, a valuable team player with proficient leadership, analytical, interpersonal, presentation and management skills. I can manage multiple projects simultaneously with the ability to work with all levels of cross-functional teams.

Competencies:

Project Management Purchasing Wireless Expense Management (WEM)

Telecommunications ITILv3 Oracle Financials 11i

Office 2016 PowerPoint Mobile Device Management (MDM)

Visio HTML Outlook Web Access (OWA)

Hyperion BYOD Oracle E-Business Suite (I-Pro)

CA Unicenter MS Project Cost Benefit Analysis

Lean Manufacturing Kanban Telecom Expense Management (TEM)

Pull System Kaizen SharePoint

Critical Path Method (CPM) Agile Budgeting and Forecasting

PeopleSoft Clarity Return on Investment (ROI)

SAP ServiceNow Cloud Migration – O365 & ICOS

Earned Value Management Object Modeling Requirements Modeling

Data and Process Modeling PERT Systems Development Lifecycle (SDLC)

User Acceptance Testing (UAT) Risk Management Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

Education:

Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, Member ID: 1068180 - 1998

Associate Degree in Business Administration, Trinidad State Junior College,

Trinidad, CO – May 1998

Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting and Finance, Worcester State University,

Worcester, MA – Dec 2003

Supply Chain Management Training, North Eastern University, Dedham, MA - 2003 / 2004

Project Management Training, Boston University, Boston, MA - 2009 / 2010

ITILv3 Foundations Certified - 2012, Member ID: 934615

Project Management Institute (PMI) member since 2012. Membership ID: 2564775

PMP Certification – currently pursuing

Master of Science in Information Technology, Clark University, Worcester, MA – currently pursuing

Professional Experience:

Commonwealth of Massachusetts – Executive Office of Health & Human Services EOHHS (Quincy, MA)

The State Government of Massachusetts Oct 2016 – Present 1 year 7 months

Jan 2018 - Present IT Project Manager - ICOS Cloud Migration

Direct and manage day-to-day project activities to migrate physical servers to an Internal Cloud Object Storage (ICOS) Panzura server (owned by IBM).

Participate in the technical conversation between engineers in the workstation, virtualization, server, and networking spaces to develop roadmap and migration execution plan.

Monitor project dates, tasks, hours spent, risks, issuesandend user satisfaction throughout the project life cycle.

Identify scope changes from the original plan or agreement and escalate to the management team.

Work directly with Tech Leads and Directors to ensure project success.

Manage work to the schedule and set appropriate and realistic expectations, and manage those expectations pertaining to changes and updates to progress, schedule, and scope.

Maintain and update necessary documentation including Transition to Operations materials.

Identifying and managing to the critical path and milestones of a schedule.

Identification of risks which impact project deliverables with follow through on mitigation, resolution and path to green.

Closely monitor project progress and ensure timely completion.

Direct the communication of status and issues to all stakeholders, including senior management, on a regular basis.

Oct 2016 – Dec 2017 IT Project Manager - Network Infrastructure

Lead several enterprise-wide network infrastructure refresh projects. Implementation spans dozens of locations across Massachusetts.

Interact regularly with existing or potential stakeholders and business units to determine needs and develop plans for delivery. Work cross-functionally with internal and external teams to solve problems and implement changes.

Follow a defined, agreed-upon project management methodology. Present oral and written reports defining plans, problems, and resolutions to appropriate levels of management.

Lead aspects of organizational change.

Identify opportunities for business process improvements within project scope.

Proactively engage present and future stakeholders in design, priority setting, and implementation, according to the business strategic initiatives.

Coordinate efforts between internal management, internal technical support staff, external service providers, and hardware vendors as necessary.

Develop work plans, schedules, and negotiate client deadlines of short term and long-range initiatives.

Tracking issues and status reporting.

Continually look for opportunities to improve and automate current processes.

Ensure adherence and compliance to department policies, guidelines and objectives.

Travel to locations around the state as required to ensure implementation success with minimal to no impact to the local users.

Boston Scientific (Marlborough, MA) Jan 2016 – Jun 2016 6 months

Manufacturer of medical devices. $7.3B in annual revenue

Jan 2016 – Jun 2016 Global Operations, PMO

Support Global Project Management team in driving projects/programs.

Provide support to Project Managers in Risk Management. Maintain and update the central repository for Risk Identification, Analysis and Response.

Set standards for project execution and ensure the project management standards are followed by performing regular assessments of projects.

Build up a common set of best practices, principles and project management templates for use by the project managers.

Formalize and standardize project operations.

Set the processes for project planning, scheduling, budgeting and record keeping.

Facilitate leadership meetings& gather project data and create presentation for senior management review.

Track the status of all projects in the organization based on updates from the project managers.

Provide project leadership and source of guidance and advice for project managers.

Manage and facilitate the portfolio management process.

Maintain project databases, files and documentation.

Track milestones, document achievement against plan and maintain project metrics.

Initiate and maintain project SharePoint and Fusion sites. Manage access and ensure content is well organized, easy to use and current.

Identify ongoing opportunities and approaches to improve team and stakeholder communication and reporting.

Work with project managers to initiate and/or enhance tools and reports.

Initiates and tracks CRs in the Documentation System (PDM/Windchill).

Maintain the following: SOPs, WIs, KSDs, Forms, Project Tracking Plans.

Feb 3, 2016

I am pleased with Viva's performance. She was able to step right in and manage a complex project. She is organized, takes initiative, and is quite personable. Viva is able to step into a project and get up to speed quickly.

Brandice Hermann, Project Manager II, IT Business Enabling Services, LafargeHolcim

LafargeHolcim (Bedford, MA) Dec 2014 – Dec 2015 1 year

Manufacturer of building materials; cement, concrete & aggregates. $50B in annual revenue.

Dec 2014 – Dec 2015 IT Project Coordinator

Conducted User Acceptance Testing (UAT) on MyDesktop rollout. MyDesktop is a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) that allows users to virtually connect to the company’s network.

Conducted UAT and Project Coordinator activities on Office 2010 to Office 2013 upgrade project.

Direct and manage all aspects of the project lifecycle with a focus on accelerating the delivery of business outcomes.

Develop the project charter, integrated project plan, resource plan, contingency plan, and related project management subsidiary plans.

Ensure appropriate documentation, change, and risk management activities are in place.

Chair regularly scheduled Team Meetings and Project Governance Meetings to review progress with system users, key stakeholders, including senior IT and business leaders.

Coordinate and maintain program communications and documentation including status reports, meeting minutes, presentations, project financial reports, decision requests, change requests, risk and issues log. Maintain project repositories like Service Now and Microsoft Project.

Document, review and report on project milestones and lessons learned.

Responsible for creating and maintaining PMO related deliverables (Consolidated Project Status Reports, Dashboard, and Presentations)

Adhere to Issues Management, Risk Management and Change Control methodologies following established policies and procedures.

Participate in work plan reviews and blueprinting sessions.

Prepare and effectively deliver presentation to the Project Steering Committee.

May 4, 2011

Over the years, Viva has done an outstanding job in managing the telecom expense process and was instrumental in the success of the Cass implementation. Her outstanding positive attitude, organization and teamwork is exemplary and will be an asset to the Infrastructure team as she steps into this new role.

Tammy Miller, Sr. IT Director, The MENTOR Network

THE MENTOR NETWORK (Boston, MA) May 2005 – Dec 2014 9 years

A for-profit health and human services provider. $1.2B in annual revenue.

May 2011 – Dec 2014 Sr. Project Coordinator

Conducted User Acceptance Testing (UAT) on Oracle 11i eProcurement rollout. eProcurement is the self-service requisitioning application that controls employee spending.

Responsible for managing $11 million annual telecommunications spend in Wireless and Wireline services for over 2,000 commercial and residential locations nationwide.

Complete telecom lifecycle management. Streamlined the administration and day to day management of the Telecommunication Expense Management (TEM) partner.

Payment Management –electronically reviewed, approved or rejected4,000 telecom invoices per month; utilizing TEM industry best practices and internal approval policies.

Managed over 150 telecommunications vendors providing such services as Data Center co-location, T1, MPLS, VPN, PRI, local phone service, advertising, internet, mobile, paging, answering service, cable TV, DSL, broadband, satellite, alarm line, elevator lines, long distance, toll free numbers, web & voice conferencing.

Managed both ILEC and CLEC carriers.

Performed analysis to identify errors and opportunities for cost savings and cost avoidance for telecommunications services.

Performed monthly financial review to support the telecom accrual process.

Manage concise TEM elements including: Invoice &Billing Management, Accounts Integration,Cost Allocation &Call Accounting, Inventory Management, Helpdesk & Order Management, Supplier & Contract Management, Telecom Cost Management and Dispute Management.

Single point of contact for audit support documentation.

Key contributor to the TEM RFI / RFP process.

Mobile Device Management (MDM). Lifecycle management of mobile/wireless devices.

Quality Assurance process with SLAs built in to track performance.

Import/Export files: Managed the integration and interfaces for HRIS, AP & GL feeds.

Conducted quarterly business reviews, performance reviews, and SLA check point meetings with the vendors.

Process improvement initiatives for Move, Add, Change Delete (MACD)

Single point of contact for integratingtelecom services and billing during Acquisitions and Divestitures.

Project team member in Email Archive System (EAS) migration project. Performed Procurement, Contract Management and Vendor Management duties in this project. Vendor: ZL Technologies.

Oct 2007 – Apr 2011 Project Coordinator

Managed various IT Infrastructure vendors, service agreements and maintenance support contracts.

Project Manager for local line consolidation project which achieved cost savings of $300,000 annually.

Monitored audit activity of the TEM vendor by critically reviewing cost savings recommendations and either approving or denying based on company policy. Netted over $50K per month in savings.

Automated 15,000 General Ledger (GL) entries per month through use of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) feeds. Over 300,000 sheets of paper per year were saved by going green (up to $60K annual savings).

Supported multiple projects for multiple IT Managers within the Infrastructure department. Planned and coordinated project related activities within the Infrastructure and End User Technology department.

Advanced experience with SharePoint, Project, Excel, Visio, Access, PowerPoint, Word& OneNote as aids in tracking meeting minutes, project deliverables, project schedule, budget vs. actual spend analysis and collaboration.

Main contact in Infrastructure for the department’s invoice processing, tracking and resolution of invoice / purchase order variances for the team and for each project.

Resource and Demand Management personnel responsible for reviewing and filtering resumes for potential hires in the Infrastructure department. Phone screened and interviewed candidates and recommended finalists to Sr. IT Infrastructure Director for hiring approval.

Mentored and supervised daily activities of the Network Operations Center (NOC) Administrator and the Mobile Solutions Administrator.

Responsible for coaching, career development and performance reviews of staff.

Analyzed performance and availability of the network, servers (virtual & physical), and applications through SolarWinds.

Configuration Management Database (CMDB), asset management, patch management and software pushes.

Department operational and capital expense budgeting, forecasting as well as financial reporting to Sr. Leadership.

May 2005 – Sep 2007 IT Procurement Analyst

Purchased high value IT hardware and software; including telecommunications equipment & maintenance services.

Streamlined purchasing activities in the IT department through Value Improvement Process (VIP) implementation of a Purchase Authorization System (PAS) workflow through CDW adhering to the company purchasing and approval policies.

Performed a cost savings initiative that resulted in $40k per year savings on Copiers and Faxes.

Ensured timely payment of invoices and led resolution of invoice / payment discrepancies.

Followed up with vendors to ensure credits due were applied to the affected accounts.

Prepared and submitted telecom reports to General Ledger (GL) for the monthly accruals.

June 10, 2005:

Tripp,

Just wanted to let you know that our new Purchasing Analyst - Viva Itemere - has been on the job less than a month and she's already renegotiated our national contract with Sharp for copiers and faxes to get nearly a 10% savings. As we spend about $400k per year on this equipment, that translates into nearly $40k per year in reduced capital spending Network wide.

Peter Denatale, CIO, The MENTOR Network

AFFORDABLE INTERIOR SYSTEMS (Hudson, MA) Sep 1998 – May 2005 7 years

A.I.S. is a privately held company that designs, manufactures and distributes cost-effective office furniture. $90M in annual sales.

Sep 2004 – May 2005 Purchasing Manager

Supervised the purchasing activities of Buyers to ensure they followed the procedures.

Developed the department’s purchasing standard policies and procedures.

Reviewed purchase requisitions for accuracy and completeness, approved requisitions, designated approved suppliers, and assigned requisitions to Buyers for purchase order processing.

Lead expediter with suppliers regarding changes in delivery schedules, drawing specifications, and Engineering Change Orders (ECO).

Interfaced with international freight carriers to ensure shipments left on time, were accompanied by appropriate customs paperwork for transportation of purchases from Canada and China into the United States.

Conducted One-on-One weekly meetings with my direct reports to review work progress and personal career goals.

Evaluated employee performance and recommended and initiated merit increases and promotions.

Instituted Open Door Policy and always available when needed.

Jul 2002 – Aug 2004 Buyer

Within a relatively short time, became the go-to purchasing Subject Mater Expert (SME) for the customer service department in all matters related to product knowledge and product availability.

Established openness with vendors by creating a system where we could view each other’s inventory status which helped us maintain sufficient stock levels.

Created a lean environment by performing Lean Manufacturing Techniques such as setting up Kanbans, Pull System, and performing Kaizen events.

Nov 1998 – Jun 2002 Purchasing Assistant

Reduced number of purchase orders created by 33% through setting up an automatic ordering and delivery system for MRO supplies (Breadman System).

Ensured supplier on-time deliveries by reviewing and acting on the Open Order Report.

Sep 1998 – Oct 1998 Production Planner

Interacted with production and purchasing departments on matters pertaining to master scheduling and on time delivery of production parts.

Maintained optimal use of computerized purchasing ERP system (SBT Accounting Software) and the manufacturing MRP system (TIW Workshop) to meet schedule commitments and shipping deadlines.

Reference comments from previous managers:

We were fortunate to speak with 2 of Viva's professional references. Her previous manager, Aurora Martinez with Affordable Interior Systems could not say enough positive remarks about her. She described her as being very likeable and friendly with co-workers as well as vendors. Aurora said, "her ability to budget the company's finances in such a timely manner was excellent." "Her buying negotiations with the vendors saved the company a ton of money" and that she would "hire her back in a second!"

Mike Brewer with Dunkin Brands was not only Viva's supervisor but was the person who had originally hired her. She had implemented a cost saving system that saved the company 25% in material costs while she worked there. Mike said, "her willingness and drive for the work she did on a day to day basis was outstanding."

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