Piotr Winkler

Waldwick, NJ 917-***-**** adxque@r.postjobfree.com

DIRECTOR of INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Driving significant results through dynamic foresight, strategy, and leadership

Results-driven information technology professional with a proven track record in building and leading strategic IT initiatives, as well as implementing effective system operation management tactics. Proven track record of successfully delivering groundbreaking advancements for enterprise organizations, simultaneously supporting service requests and ensuring robust information security.

Expertise in leading Infrastructure projects to strengthen, migrate, or expand systems. Skilled in overseeing applications and infrastructure across multiple facilities and data centers, providing 24/7 support for client systems.

Demonstrated record of success in building solid relationships, motivating teams, and delivering outstanding results. Committed to driving efficiency, enhancing productivity, and aligning technology with business objectives in series positions with SS&C Technologies, Securewatch24, and MEAG New York Corporation.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

IT Service Management (ITIL)

IT Implementation Project Management

Cybersecurity and Risk Management

FedRAMP

Cloud Computing and Virtualization

Multiple Data Center Oversight

Data Governance and Compliance

Information Security Audits

Seasoned Operations and Strategic Planning

Business Analysis and Process Improvement

Team Development and Leadership

Cost Containment and Optimization

Professional Experience

Director of Information Technology

Leading the strategic planning, migration, consolidation, and ongoing management of five geographically dispersed data centers, encompassing over 1500 servers and supporting mission-critical systems for the Innovest branch of SS&C Technologies while ensuring high availability, reliability, and performance of production applications. Led a high-performing team of five IT professionals responsible for daily system production operations. Provided expert guidance, training, and mentoring to drive high performance, foster teamwork, and promote professional development. Successfully executed multiple IT projects to consolidate and modernize corporate offices and infrastructure, leveraging virtualization, cloud technologies, and best practices in scalability and disaster recovery, resulting in 20% cost savings and increased system resilience.

Managed multiple project initiations consolidating multiple network environments into a unified infrastructure, optimizing network performance, and reducing complexity. Assessed the post-acquisition IT infrastructure integration process, conducting a thorough analysis and assessment of systems, applications, and networks across both organizations, resulting in a comprehensive migration plan.

Led multiple data center operations, including monitoring system performance, conducting routine maintenance, and security compliance. Administered data center budgets, ensuring cost-effective procurement of hardware, software, and maintenance contracts while optimizing operational expenses and capital investments.

Led the consolidation of security systems and tools, integrating different security solutions into a cohesive and centralized security infrastructure. Tools included Nessus, Splunk, Qualys, and Netwrix.

Collaborated with cross-functional teams to assess and address security vulnerabilities and implement robust security measures, such as access controls, firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and data encryption.

Conducted periodic IT risk assessments to identify and assess potential vulnerabilities, implementing mitigation strategies and controls to minimize risks and strengthen the overall IT control environment.

Championed the seamless decommissioning of two office locations, orchestrating the coordinated removal of infrastructure, disposal of assets, and secure data shredding. Led a cross-functional team in meticulously planning and executing the decommissioning process, ensuring minimal disruption to business operations and adherence to regulatory requirements.

Key Projects

Enhanced IT controls, including access controls, change management process, asset management process, information security measures, and disaster recovery plans, ensuring effectiveness and alignment with compliance best practices.

Orchestrated the development of comprehensive incident response plans, defining roles, responsibilities, and escalation procedures, enabling swift and coordinated responses to system incidents, reducing the average incident resolution time by 10%.

Led successful integration of multiple directory services (nine internal domains), providing transparent user authentication and access management across the organization.

Executed centralized monitoring and management systems for data centers, enabling proactive identification of issues, efficient troubleshooting, and timely resolution to minimize downtime.

Conducted the integration of IT administration tools following a merger, aligning technology platforms, processes, and control structures. Administration tools included Salt, Lansweeper, Kafka, Qualys Agent, Telegraf, Zabbix, and Nagios.

Successfully migrated the organization's Data Loss Prevention (DLP) system from Forcepoint to Proofpoint, including the external client SPF and DKIM records migration validation and testing.

Consolidated security systems and tools, integrating different security solutions into a cohesive, centralized security infrastructure. Tools included Nessus, Splunk, Qualys, and Netwrix.

Deployed Okta Single Sign-On (SSO) across various Citrix-based applications, increasing customer productivity and strengthening security controls.

Utilizing SharePoint features enhanced IT governance frameworks and policies to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and industry standards, maintaining data privacy and security.

2016 to 2020 Securewatch24 LLC New York, NY

Securewatch24 is a full-service systems integrator security company specializing in cameras, access control, and visitor management systems. SW24 also has specialized products for the law enforcement community, including license plate recognition systems, wearable cameras, and more.

Director of Information Technology

Led vision, strategy, and execution for all facets of information technology, with authority over two data centers hosting over 100 servers, a telecommunications facility, and a call center providing 24/7 support for client security systems. Effectively managed a team of seven direct reports. Collaborated extensively with executive leadership to define and influence key strategic decisions relating to the company's IT posture. Administered a $1.2MM IT budget.

Secured substantial gains in reliability, efficiency, and scalability by introducing a new architecture for cloud integration and modernization initiatives impacting three locations, 300 computers, and over 120 users, improving security and ease of management.

Served as a trusted advisor, providing guidance to the company on information security, risk assessments, incident analysis, and strategic projects—developed a formal information security framework to safeguard mission-critical information and systems, minimizing risks.

Produced over $100K in operating expense savings by formulating an IT strategy that reduced administrative and direct labor costs.

Served as an IT governance framework architect based on ITIL best practices, providing formal guidance for Service Desk, Change Management, Asset Management, and Purchasing processes.

Key implementation projects included the integration of Office 365, revamp of networking infrastructure, and implementation of Cisco Identity Service Engine, Skype for Business, Microsoft Exchange Online, and SharePoint Online for template and document management.

Debuted the company's BYOD and COPE programs, supporting employee-owned iOS and Android mobile devices by configuring and rolling out Microsoft Intune Portal for Mobile Device Management. Used Azure Governance MVP to distribute and manage mobile applications. The implementation of mobile device management generated $100K in annual savings.

Maintained the authority to negotiate the key terms and conditions of contracts with vendors and resellers. Overall, negotiated ten agreements that successfully generated over $200K in savings.

2000 to 2016 • MEAG New York Corporation New York, NY

MEAG New York Corporation (MEAG NY) is an indirect subsidiary of Munich Re, a global reinsurance company. MEAG NY provides investment advisory services primarily on fixed-income securities to Munich Re and its direct/indirect subsidiaries.

A demonstrated record of success and achievement, marked by a series of promotions to positions of increased influence, authority, and accountability.

2010 to 2016: Information Technology Project Manager / Security Engineer

As Project Manager and Security Engineer fulfilled a critical role in influencing the deployment and evolution of security technologies, initiatives, and projects governing IT infrastructure, with a focus on executing all phases of project management for multiple high-profile initiatives spanning document management, access control, information security, Portfolio Manager's entitlement process for trading platforms, identity, and back-office workflows control, data migration, virtualization, network infrastructure design. Successfully managed up to seven concurrent projects with individual budgets reaching $500K with authority over five project team members.

Entrusted with developing and implementing IT-related standards, best practices, security system evaluations, policies, and procedures.

Maintained and monitored the incident response process, reviewed the security controls of corporate systems and applications, identified potential threats, and provided security and response training for end users.

Contributed additional service and expertise as a member of the Business Continuity Planning team, ensuring the continuous availability of mission-critical systems and data under emergency circumstances and unforeseen catastrophes, and participated in Disaster Recovery exercises to test the suitability of Business Continuity protocols and policies.

Key Projects

Served as the architect of a comprehensive solution for project management and control using waterfall methodology, providing insight into the health and direction of individual project deliverables and featuring staffing, governance, and tracking reports for senior managers.

Worked as a security adviser to provide recommendations of safeguards for internal and external threats to corporate information systems, developed strategies and plans to enforce security requirements, performed product evaluations, and delivered recommendations for security-related hardware and software.

Conducted the designing, implementing, and maintaining of a new security system covering Check Point and Cisco ASA firewalls, Bluecoat Proxy, and Barracuda Antispam. Configured Check Point Smart Defense, firewall policies, and VPN access and implemented network security policies, guidance, and procedures to protect corporate networks from external threats.

Led the design and implementation of virtualization and enterprise storage solutions, including VMware ESX, ESXi, and vSphere 4.1 environments leveraging Virtual Center Management, Consolidated Backups, Distribution Resource Scheduler, High Availability, Distribution Power Management, and VMotion. Completed Physical-to-Virtual (P2V) data migration initiatives, working with Windows 2000, 2003, and 2008 servers and Microsoft Exchange, SQL, SharePoint, and Active Directory environments.

2007 to 2009: Director of Information Technology

Effectively managed a high-performing team of five professionals, encompassing system administrators, system engineers, and web developers, with a mandate to develop and adopt formal strategies to govern the selection, use, and evolution of hardware and software applications to meet business and growth targets. Administered Unix Sun Solaris, Linux Red Hat, and Microsoft Windows 2000, 2003, and 2008 environments, including domain controllers, exchange servers, database servers, terminal servers, SMS, security systems, and corporate data storage systems.

Launched the MEAG New York Local Service Desk, providing an invaluable resource for technical support for all employees. Established support for identifying and resolving issues affecting workstations, email systems, security systems, network connections, software applications, and telephony communications.

Collaborated with external vendors and IT service providers to define and address root causes of technical issues affecting multiple users, as well as implement and upgrade third-party systems and services that included firewall, anti-virus, antispam, backup, voice recording system, faxes, and remote access.

Provided executive leadership and direction in daily IT operations and special projects, ensuring the success of all hardware and software deployments, upgrades, workflow changes, system customization, and business continuity planning through enforcing ITILv3 best practices.

Coordinated and led multiple high-profile IT projects, meeting all milestones and deliverables on time and within budget.

Provided insight into the effectiveness of the Service Desk to the Operational Effectiveness Committee, as measured against KPIs that included average ticket acceptance time, average issue resolve time, and the monthly number of open service tickets.

Introduced network management and monitoring tools that empowered real-time alerts of situations compromising network performance, yielding improved uptime and increased security.

2000 to 2006: Systems Administrator

Executed various systems administration responsibilities, including oversight of Microsoft servers (Windows, Exchange, SQL, and File Servers), implementing security solutions, and configuring and supporting multiple third-party applications. Credited with implementing SharePoint, serving as the foundation for a strong document management process and formal policies and procedures for network management and service desk operations.

Early Career

1998-2000 Systems Network Engineer, Uproar Inc., New York, NY

1996-1998 Systems Network Engineer, CompUSA, New York, NY

1994-1996 Systems Field Engineer, IBM TSS Services, New York, NY

Education & Professional Development

Rochester Institute of Technology

Micro Masters in Cybersecurity

Gdansk University of Technology, Poland

Robots and Machine Systems

Professional Development

Certificate in Project Management Fundamentals (2016) University of Adelaide

Certificate in ITIL version 3 (2009) Examination Institute for Information Science ID:00049364

Certificate in Forensic Analysis (2016) Rochester Institute of Technology

Certified Ethical Hacker (2006) New Horizons

Managing a World-Class IT Department (2008) American Management Association

Leadership Skills and Team Development for IT and Technical Professionals (2007) American Management Association

Managing Chaos: Tools to Set Priorities and Make Decisions Under Pressure (2013) American Management Association

Microsoft Certified Professional (2006) Microsoft Certified Technical Education Center

VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage (2009)

Red Hat System Administration II (2012)

Network Security (2020-2023) Brainbench

Disaster Recovery and Backup (2020-2023) Brainbench

2020 to Present Innovest SS&C Technologies, Inc New York, NY

SS&C Technologies Inc. is one of the largest independent private equity administrators for hedge funds. Its business model combines end-to-end experience across financial services operations with proprietary software and solutions to serve the most demanding customers in the financial and healthcare industries.

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