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COO

Location:
Canada
Posted:
August 26, 2016

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Resume:

Summary

With ** years of professional experience, John has held a variety of leadership roles including Chief Operating Officer, account management, PM, CTO, corporate executive, and consulting advisor.

In late 2014, the Prime Minister of Canada appointed John as the Chief Operating Officer of Shared Services Canada. John quickly demonstrated success for the Department through an extensive organization change, implementing customer focussed account teams, and revising the overall strategy now allowing the organization to meet its cost reduction targets. He was also credited with revitalising the organizational culture through his leadership by using a very transparent and communicative approach at all levels. In his first full fiscal year, John conducted recurring departmental and branch-level reviews, to understand costs, opportunities and risks as well as direct actions, resulting in a balanced 2015-16 budget, moving from a projected deficit of $334M at Q1, to a surplus by fiscal year-end.

Previously, John was an independent consultant providing advisory and consulting services, particularly on outsourcing and acquisitions. Work included advising on an acquisition in the U.S. by an Asian company from a European-based multinational. Currently working through PwC to advise on one of the world's largest IT consolidation and outsourcing engagements.

John’s industry experience began in October 2000 when he joined CSC’s outsourcing group as a mid-level enterprise architect and within 7 years became a Corporate Vice President and the Chief Technology Officer of CSC with an annual budget over $290M. In this role, he shepherded the transition from decentralized control of CSC's IT budget to a centralized model, saving $millions annually while improving performance and customer satisfaction, and deploying new technologies. John is experienced in business development and account management having won and run large accounts with revenues up to $1.6 billion ($160M/year), including the startup of two major accounts (retail and financial services).

Clients have specifically identified John as the person to turn to for their urgent needs. His reputation is that of a change agent for the most challenging "cannot fail" ventures, emphasizing strong leadership and relationship building for success. John has been highly rated for his leadership abilities (e.g., 360 reviews). He has an exceptional reputation as a communicator (with experiences up to 8000 people) and working across cultures. John has lived and travelled across the US, Canada, Asia, Europe and Latin America, and worked in various industries including financial services, aviation, defense and national security, chemical, IT and retail. Through these experiences, John maintains a global network of executives and professionals across many industries.

John retired from the US Air Force in 2000 at the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), where he spent 11 of his 21 years. His last role was as a Program Manager responsible for providing technology solutions in the areas of aviation, navigation, and information warfare. Prior to that, he had multiple assignments as a Combat Controller (CCT) in the US and Latin America.

Through these government and industry experiences, John has a unique breadth of experience on the defensive and offensive sides of physical, personal and information (cyber) security. John has extensive experience in positions of trust, e.g., security clearance, public company compliance (e.g., US SOX, insiders list), corporate due diligence, negotiations and governance. John has extensive experience with outsourcing and M&A as well as vendor management with many of the world’s largest technology companies.

John is regularly sought as a public speaker on international business and technology topics. He was a core member of the Business Executives for National Security (BENS.org) Cyber Initiative, helping educate CEOs and Board members on cyber threats and their responsibilities. Through this work, John has advised the White House and other US Government organizations on these matters. John received his MBA from George Mason University.

Professional Experience

Shared Services Canada

Chief Operating Officer, Dec 2014-Present

Shared Services Canada (SSC) is the Government of Canada’s IT infrastructure provider, with $2B operating budget and 6,000 personnel across the country in over 400 locations.

John demonstrated success for the Department through an extensive organization change to a service-oriented structure creating clearer accountabilities for strategy through execution of SSC services. He supported this customer focus through direct engagement with customer leadership to better understand their needs and communicate SSC’s capabilities, performance and strategy. John was also credited with revitalising the organizational culture through his leadership by using a very transparent and communicative approach at all levels in the organization and with stakeholders. He has accomplished the following while providing new and improved IT services and improving customer satisfaction for the Government of Canada (GC):

Conducted recurring departmental and branch-level reviews, to understand costs, opportunities and risks as well as direct actions, resulting in a balanced 2015-16 budget, moving from projected deficit of $334M at Q1, to surplus by fiscal year-end

Launched an enterprise cost-management framework capturing all project and service costs and began pricing of projects and services inclusive of direct and indirect costs

Established the new customer and service centric organizational model to meet both customer business and enterprise-wide needs, and ensure the greatest understanding of the SSC vision and model as well as challenges and opportunities among all stakeholders

Established the four pillars for SSC’s and customers’ success as People Management, Financial Management, Project Management and Service Management

Significantly transformed finance capacity and utilization within the organization to strengthen financial information and analytics and support sound financial management decisions and controls

Developed service management capabilities, processes and tools critical to SSC and GC success

Established SSC as the broker of IT services for GC

Mentored and empowered SSC’s employees

Developed and disseminated a comprehensive Service Strategy and established service level expectations with customers

Conceptualized and initiated a formal process providing repeatable customer satisfaction results for SSC through engagement with and reporting to customers

Developed a benefits-realization framework to begin to benchmark and measure progress

Conducted regular bilateral meetings with colleagues of largest and most challenging customer organizations to achieve better communication and understanding of operational and strategic issues

Actively mentored throughout the ranks on roles and practices within the organization

Directed strategic changes to:

oOperational and transformation strategies eliminating gaps in SSC’s ability to delivery services and enabling customers to move to end state

o Procurements, by challenging excessive requirements and revamping Ts&Cs and evaluation frameworks, thereby reducing costs and schedule to complete the supported projects and services

Protexit BV

Chief Information & Strategy Officer, April 2013-November 2014

A private international company providing secure communication services to consumers and businesses

Co-founded the firm and member of Executive Board. Developing corporate and technical strategies as well as leading corporate communications for Protexit and defining the corporate culture. Procuring services from global vendors as platforms for Protexit services and leading product management for Protexit’s custom secure communication services.

JAG International LLC

Owner, Consultant and Advisor, July 2012-Present

A Veteran-Owned Small Business providing exceptional business and IT/ICT consulting services internationally by leveraging a diverse and impressive global network of professionals

Advised Shared Services Canada on sourcing strategies regarding various services it provides its customer organizations.

Advised a Japanese firm on acquiring a U.S.-based division (~$10M revenue per year) from a multinational firm. The target firm was in the healthcare industry supporting civilian, U.S. Government and military healthcare provider organizations. Advised on due diligence, structuring and governance, technology and business case development.

Computer Science Corporation (CSC)

Corporate Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, June 2007-February 2012

Fortune 200 firm and 3rd largest provider of IT services in the world with ~100,000 employees operating in 90 countries supporting every major industry

Promoted to Corporate Vice President and Chief Technology Officer (reporting in-line to the CIO and CEO) providing global leadership of operations for CSC's information technology environment with an annual spend of $290M, providing demonstrated real-dollar double-digit percentage savings in P&L and cash. Scope included approximately 1,100 employees covering collaborative systems through traditional infrastructure systems (e.g., end-user, help desk, data center, networks and security) supporting internal and external customers.

Led majority effort of a strategic change from a decentralized to centralized operating model, delivering x10s of $M in savings

Instituted a more rigorous set of financial and operational reviews contributing to significant financial and operational improvements

Implemented highly successful social networking systems, with company-wide acclaim for improving collaboration and helping win new business

oReduced cycle time for collaboration and tasks

oContributed to positive cultural change in the firm

oImproved learning and records management within the firm

oAchieved significant cash and indirect savings

Reduced processing time in telecommunication services procurement from several weeks to 5 days or less

Led the development of the first corporate-wide enterprise roadmap of CSC’s systems

Initiated and led a transformational program to more fully utilize CSC’s standard offerings for internal consumption, e.g., service desk remote support and self-service, desktop and server virtualization, deployment of HD video conferencing, and rationalization of various network services, all of which lead to improved financial and operational performance

Bolstered critical company systems for redundancy, e.g., secure gateway to 127 company systems and access to approximately 1.1 million users

Initiated the Corporate Green program, which has successfully garnered accolades from third parties and provided in-year ROI projects

Led changes in vendor relationships resulting in significant savings for hardware, software and services

Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A). Oversaw due diligence and planning of financial and technology factors in acquiring international companies. Responsible for business case, transition and integration of the firm’s IT and contributing to the company’s profitability post acquisition. Following are the company locations and sizes:

o2009 Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia, Brazil, ~550 people

o2008 Sofia, Bulgaria, ~600 people

o2008 U.S. company with the majority of people located in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam and Tianjin, China, ~ 700 people

o2007 India, ~6,000 people

Establishment of ICT Infrastructure for Multiple Centers Worldwide. As part of adding capabilities and supporting business growth, established the IT in newly created operational centers around the world. Provided life cycle management, including end-user equipment and support, integrating with third party and corporate systems, collaborating with business stakeholders, ensuring compliance with host country laws and regulations, and leveraging vendor partners’ capabilities. Included managing the associated financial performance of IT supporting these operations. Following are the locations and size of the respective operational centers:

o2007 Prague, Czech Republic, ~200 people

o2007 Dallas, Texas, ~350 people

o2008 Vilnius, Lithuania, ~100 people

o2011 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, ~1700

Computer Science Corporation (CSC)

Director, Federal Sector New Business Operations, 2006-2007

Promotion to lead the technical sales support organization of the Federal Sector

Initiated market research processes to target high growth opportunities among indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract vehicles

Initiated closer relationships among business development executives to identify, qualify and provide early support for new opportunities

Liaised with external organizations (e.g., US Chamber of Commerce, INPUT, Fed Sources) to research the market and better understand potential opportunities

Deputy Chairman, Innovation Working Group

Identified as a High Potential employee within CSC

Computer Science Corporation (CSC)

Director, Federal Sector Capture Executive, 2005-2006

Significant promotion to lead the pursuit of large scale and strategic new business opportunities (typically multi-year and $100M/year)

Lauded for delivering the proposal for a large data center and managed services bid with only two days preparation prior to the RFP being release (typically requiring at least six months preparation) – praised as a “textbook One CSC effort” with high marks for the capture effort

Identified as one of the top Capture Executives to handle the riskiest opportunities

Business Development - Capability Maturity Model (BD-CMM) – Lead part-time team in process improvement steps leading to improving BD process via BD-CMM assessments

Enrolled in the Senior Leader Development Program (SLDP)

Identified as Federal Sector High Potential employee

Computer Science Corporation (CSC)

Director, Account Program Management Office, 2004-2005

Transferred to a new financial services applications outsourcing account in startup and transformation stage, increasing revenue by $4M per month by eliminating backlog and workflow issues, and improving client confidence and relationship (Note: This was a smaller account as a way of recuperating from the previous assignment, which had been extremely arduous, before my next significant assignment)

Computer Science Corporation (CSC)

Deputy Account Executive and Account Program Management Office Lead, 2004

Significant promotion into P&L leadership of $1.6 billion ($160M/year) outsourcing account:

Instituted account performance management processes in record time, providing the client a previously unknown view of the enterprise operation

Quickly established a pipeline of new business project work

Prevented the loss of millions of dollars from client challenges against contract scope and fees

Computer Science Corporation (CSC)

Global Infrastructure Services Solution Manager, 2002-2004

Led outsourcing solution teams to:

Win a 10 year, $1.6B applications and infrastructure U.S.-based outsourcing, including securing a pre-signing project and negotiations (pre- and post-signing)

Selection by the client’s selection committee for a global 7 year, $1B infrastructure outsourcing (headquartered in France)

Provide the solution to mitigate a critical impairment of a major account by reducing FTE pools by 70% and costs over the life of the account in excess of $80M

Implement the storage area network (SAN) back-up and restore system in one of CSC’s critical large data centers supporting a major account and yielding a 700% performance improvement

Conceived and tested a network attached storage (NAS) solution supporting a collaboration environment of 24,000 users that improved performance while reducing costs by 40% per user (with savings validated by a third party)

Computer Science Corporation (CSC)

Chief Architect for Collaborative Computing, 2002-2004

US Air Force

Multiple Assignments, 1979-2000

Retired from the US Air Force after 21 years of service.

Joint Special Operations Command, 1994 – 2000

Last six years as a Program Manager leading and managing people through the PhD level in systems integration efforts (e.g., GPS, RFID, aviation navigation, and information warfare). Conceived, investigated and provided emerging technology solutions in support of nationally significant, rapid response missions and organizations, with “cannot fail” objectives, often involving regular engagement with general/flag officers and senior executives. Worked with Government and industry organizations, nationally and internationally to leverage development efforts.

Participated on source selection boards and acted as Source Selection Authority

Directed the Front-End Analysis for Information Warfare for Special Operations Forces resulting in a multi-volume document outlining initial requirements, systems, organizational implications and funding profiles

Conceived and developed a portable wireless computer system using radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to rapidly account for troops and equipment in forward locations

Directed the development, test and evaluation of a handheld Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver for special operations forces – included cooperative development with European allies

Conducted technical development and evaluations for a portable precision approach system for rotary and fixed wing aircraft

Managed offensive Information Warfare projects

Other assignments:

oMid-career, several years in the industrial engineering field

oConducted workflow and space studies to optimize facility utilization

oFacilitated ad hoc working groups to troubleshoot inter-organizational manpower and organization issues

oLed a functional review of globally based organizations producing a comprehensive organizational strategy with structure and manpower where none had existed

oApproximately two years in the education field, including post-graduate work in Instructional Systems Design and Education with a focus in evaluation and testing.

oCombat Control Team member with extensive travel in Europe and South America.

oMost of career was in the special operations community supporting “cannot fail”, nationally significant missions

oForward area survey, air traffic control, and communications

oInstructor in field operations and demolitions

oTest and evaluation of emerging technologies in communications and aviation

Professional Development

Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from George Mason University, 2007-2009

Directors’ College, Stanford University Law School 2010

Selection for CSC corporate-sponsored leadership development programs:

Senior Leader Forum

360 Voices feedback session, with outstanding above average scores

Business Leader Workshop

Cornell University’s Executive Leadership Certificate Program

Global Infrastructure Services (GIS) College

Other education:

Undergraduate in Professional Aeronautics, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Associate of Science in Air Traffic Control, Community College of the Air Force

CSC BD Training: Selling to Senior Executives, and Opportunity Planning

US Army Materiel Acquisition Management Course – Postgraduate education (14 semester hours) in business, Federal requirements, program management, and contracting for acquiring systems

USAF Academic Instructor School – Postgraduate education (17 semester hours) in Instructional Systems Design, test and evaluation and conducting education and training programs

Manpower Management Course – Industrial engineering disciplines (e.g., Six Sigma) and DOD and USAF manpower practices and the Federal Program, Planning and Budgeting System

Affiliations, Licenses

Dean's Advisory Board of the Volgenau School of Engineering at George Mason University (3 years)

Board member and Executive Committee, TechAmerica Commercial Sector (2 years)

Member, Business Executives for National Security (BENS)

Member, CIO Advisory Board, NPower

Licensed Private Pilot with Instrument and Multi-Engine ratings

Personal Interests

On a personal note, we grew up in an amateur radio household, e.g., an amateur TV station in our house

Languages (in addition to English): Previously conversational in Spanish – looking for opportunities to live in a country and learn a new language

Business, and current events

Kayaking, physical fitness and golf

Wrestling as a youth, and martial arts and rugby as a young adult



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