MICHAEL WARD

Los Angeles, CA 773-***-**** ad2ofr@r.postjobfree.com www.linkedin.com/in/michaelgward CUSTOMER SUCCESS LEADER

Seasoned Customer Success Leader with over a decade of experience, boasting a proven track record of driving customer satisfaction and fostering long-term relationships. Exceptional expertise in designing and implementing customer-centric strategies, leading high-performing teams, and ensuring clients derive maximum value from solutions. Demonstrated commitment to understanding client needs, alongside a data-driven approach, consistently leading to increased customer retention, expansion, and revenue growth. A track record of building collaborative, customer-focused cultures to elevate the client experience.

Relevant Skills

Industry: Driving Customer Satisfaction & Growth Expert in Customer-Centric Strategies Data-Driven Results Building Collaborative Customer-Focused Cultures Maximizing Client Value Research & Analysis OKR Development & Enablement Strategic Engagement & Planning Business Development UX Consultative Approach ITIL Foundations

Account Management Team Leadership/Mentorship Process Management Key Performance Indicators (KPI) Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Communication Enterprise Sales Revenue Generation/Defense Project Management Agile Methodologies SaaS NaaS IoT Technical: Google Suite Salesforce Microsoft Suite (including Visio and Project) Adobe Creative Cloud Pipedrive Smartsheets Gainsight Hubspot Jira Asana Slack Career Impact & Experience

Armis; New York, NY Feb 2022 - April 2023

Senior Customer Success Executive

● Orchestrated and drove enterprise cybersecurity software (SaaS) initiatives that resulted in seamless delivery of complex projects, achieving exceptionally high levels of customer satisfaction for the pre-IPO startup, Armis.

● Nurtured and solidified relationships with multiple C-level clients, concurrently leading project initiatives across diverse industry verticals. Managed a portfolio of 15 enterprise accounts, collectively generating $25M in revenue, clients within this roster include Intel, Tyson Foods, Abbott Labs, Verizon, FedEx, New York City, HCL, and CDW.

● Conducted comprehensive business, technical, and operational analysis to meticulously identify opportunities and risks. Assumed ownership of project status reporting to stakeholders, effectively managing risk, assumptions, dependencies, issues, changes, accounts, and escalations.

● Devised meticulous strategies and plans to ensure the successful implementation of technical solutions, employing the Objectives and Key Results (OKR) methodology to drive results and excellence. Yates Consulting; New York, NY Oct 2021 - Feb 2022 Principal, Strategic Engagement

● Collaborated with Xerox to lead an in-depth evaluation of their telecommunications ecosystem, designed to bolster business growth by streamlining operations and driving cost reduction, resulting in cost savings of $1.6M through extensive operational and financial analysis of network and communications providers.

● Partnered with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to craft a visionary model for their future telecommunications landscape, particularly following the spin-off of GSK's Consumer Health division. The result was a strategic approach that not only minimized costs but also significantly increased network efficiency and resilience. Verizon Enterprise Solutions; New York, NY

Global Director, Customer Success Sep 2017 - Oct 2021

● Established and spearheaded Verizon's Principal Onshore Group, demonstrating unwavering commitment to preserving $565M in revenue.

● Earned a Customer Satisfaction (C-SAT) score of 8.8/10 and 70% Net Promoter (NPS) score average yearly.

● Demonstrated outstanding leadership in overseeing 3 senior executives, providing mentorship and performance coaching to foster career growth for a workforce of over 200 professionals spanning various domains, including Customer Success, Financial Management, Problem/Incident Management, Operational Governance, Vendor Management, Experience Management, and Digital Enablement.

● Delivered a notable improvement with a 30-40 basis point rise in SLA compliance, consistently surpassing contracted performance metrics since 2018, to pioneer substantial changes within the Incident Management process, further elevating operational efficiency.

● Provided exemplary leadership to a Program Management Office servicing esteemed client Johnson & Johnson. Cultivated a culture of innovation, quality, and continuous improvement, permeating across all workflow processes.

● Optimized all program initiatives, including solution architecture, life cycle engineering, consulting, project management, financial management, and change management.

● Consulted directly with client executive leadership to gather requirements and translate them into robust plans.

● Authored Continual Service Improvement plans to ensure Service Level Agreements were met.

● Translated analysis of current and future environments into technology recommendations resulting in $15M of upsell wins.

● Ensured contractual conformance across the Regional Program Management and Business Operations teams

(informed by research, analysis, and interpretation). Group Senior Manager, Customer Success June 2010 - Sep 2017

● Forged and led multiple teams of Customer Success and Service Delivery Managers, charged with cultivating robust customer relationships and consistently delivering service excellence.

● Demonstrated unwavering commitment to upholding compliance with all contractual commitments, functioning as trusted advisor within the data network realm, to maintain a dynamic Continual Service Improvement program to guarantee enduring client satisfaction.

● Catered to exacting needs of a prestigious roster of high-profile and high-value clients, including renowned institutions such as UBS, US Bank, Fiserv, TD Bank, Goldman Sachs, TD Ameritrade, HSBC, Daimler, Volkswagen, BMW, Penske, and CME Group.

● Earned a Customer Satisfaction (C-SAT) score of 9.4/10 and 71% Net Promoter (NPS) score average yearly.

● Spearheaded comprehensive deployment of expansive networks, encompassing advanced services such as SD- WAN and UCCaaS to oversee the entire lifecycle, from initial implementation to the stable and sustained management phase, ensuring seamless and optimal performance. Technical Services Manager April 2009 - June 2010

● Achieved 25% enhancement in Availability and Mean Time to Repair metrics, elevating them to a 98% compliance rate.

● Offered invaluable technical consulting support to AON, a distinguished Fortune 500 Healthcare/Insurance client.

● Spearheaded significant process improvements, aligning operations more closely with customer requirements and preferences.

● Led groundbreaking geographical diversity study that resulted in successful rehoming of site-redundant circuits to different provider edge (PE) routers, effectively eliminating over 100 single points of failure.

● Authored comprehensive root cause analyses (RCA) in response to critical customer outages and network issues, facilitating ongoing improvements and more efficient issue resolution.

● Leveraged expertise to conduct thorough network hardening and diversity reviews, presenting a range of options and providing expert guidance to ensure customers had a clear understanding of the most suitable recommendations.

● Delivered effective second-level support for intricate network implementations and managed services change management requests, ensuring seamless operations and client satisfaction. Strategic Sales Executive April 2008 - April 2009

● Cultivated significant renewals totaling approximately $25M in revenue by skillfully optimizing C-level relationships within high-stakes accounts to translate intricate challenges into effective, revenue-boosting solutions.

● Led 6 sales account managers specializing in Managed Services and Professional Services.

● Nurtured robust and mutually beneficial rapport with the branch director, pivotal in steering sales efforts and ensuring sustained growth.

● Collaborated closely with executive-level management to execute comprehensive business and operational reviews, delivering strategic insights and actionable recommendations.

● Crafted a portfolio of meticulously researched, high-impact business cases and product proposals, effectively shaping senior decision-making and driving positive outcomes. Previous Professional Experience

Verizon: Senior Manager, Network Operations Center (Managed Services) Worldcom/MCI/Verizon: Network Engineer II, Shift Leader Muzak, LLC: Engineering Manager

US Naval Submarine Service: Petty Officer 2nd Class (Awarded two Navy Achievement Medals under combat conditions, Meritoriously command advanced to Petty Officer 2nd Class) Education & Certifications

Information Systems/Operations Management, University of North Carolina, 1998 ITIL Foundations v3, 2012

Executive Data Science, Johns Hopkins, 2020

Project Management Professional, Google Professional Certificate, 2023 Product Management Professional, University of Maryland, 2023 Data Analysis for Decision Making Professional Certificate, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), 2023

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