IT Manager in Infrastructure, Operations and End User Services

Zac Anderson

**** **** ******* ***.

Carpentersville, IL 60110

Cell. 847-***-****

*********@*****.***

PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

A strategic professional with expertise in managing and optimizing enterprise IT infrastructure to drive business success. Proven track record of developing and executing strategic infrastructure roadmaps, leading multi-functional teams, and overseeing large-scale transformation initiatives such as cloud migration, disaster recovery, and legacy system upgrades. Highly skilled in optimizing IT operations to ensure high availability, scalability, and security while aligning with business objectives and industry standards. Demonstrated success in vendor management, financial oversight, and driving continuous improvements that enhance system performance and support long-term business growth. A collaborative leader committed to fostering innovation, mentoring teams, and delivering results-driven solutions that meet organizational needs.

EXPERIENCE

Valent North America

Sr. Manager, IT Infrastructure and Operations

June 2022 – May 2025

Accountable for all IT infrastructure components such as AWS, LAN, SD-WAN, networking infrastructure and firewalls throughout the Valent Group Companies. Additional responsibilities are short / long term planning, strategy and delivery of all IT infrastructure and related IT operations to enable business capabilities and services across the enterprise.

-Led comprehensive infrastructure assessments, identifying gaps and opportunities for optimization, and developed both short-term and long-term strategies to enhance system efficiency, scalability, and security, resulting in improved business continuity and performance.

-Led cross-functional teams during high-impact outages, successfully restoring services and managing emergency change releases.

-Conducted thorough post-incident root cause analyses (RCA), integrating lessons learned into process enhancements.

-Coordinated incident response to infrastructure/application incidents, ensuring effective communication across technical and leadership stakeholders.

-Managed and supported the enterprise Infrastructure and Service Desk teams, ensuring alignment with business goals and IT requirements, which improved service delivery and operational efficiency across the organization.

-Collaborated with senior leadership on service portfolio governance and budgeting, prioritizing resources to support key technical initiatives and aligning infrastructure investments with strategic objectives, driving financial efficiency and organizational alignment.

-Worked closely with IT security teams to integrate security protocols into infrastructure operations, ensuring alignment with industry standards, reducing vulnerabilities and improving overall cybersecurity posture.

-Spearheaded service improvement initiatives, driving continuous improvement programs that delivered measurable impact on system performance and uptime, security, and operational efficiency, contributing to enhanced service levels and cost reductions.

-Fostered cross-functional collaboration with IT leadership, including C-suite and regional leaders, to ensure seamless knowledge sharing and strategic alignment, leading to enhanced decision-making and improved infrastructure outcomes.

Key Skills: Leadership & Team mentoring, Communication & Stakeholder Engagement, ServiceNow Proficiency, Incident Response & Management, IT Infrastructure (Cloud, On-Prem, Network) & Security, Risk Assement, SOX IT Audit Compliance

Select Rehabilitation

Information Technology Infrastructure Manager

December 2020 – May 2022

Responsible for the day-to-day activities of the IT Infrastructure team working on projects and operations for Select Rehab's storage, server (on-prem & AWS cloud) and network infrastructure.

-Directed daily IT infrastructure operations by overseeing tactical plans for network, systems, and processes, ensuring seamless performance and alignment with organizational goals at Select Rehab.

-Led a high-performing team of DevOps Engineers, Infrastructure Architects, and Engineers to design, implement, and maintain corporate networks and systems, achieving enhanced scalability and system reliability.

-Negotiated and managed vendor contracts across telecom, enterprise fax services, and consultancy services, optimizing vendor performance and ensuring cost-effective technology solutions.

-Streamlined infrastructure operations by identifying opportunities for efficiency improvements and delegating tasks to operational teams, resolving capacity issues and driving transformation initiatives.

-Fostered a collaborative, inclusive team culture through mentoring, training, and development programs, while implementing performance management strategies to ensure accountability and growth.

-Developed strategic relationships with key stakeholders, including the C-Suite, IT Support, Procurement, and divisional leadership nationwide, ensuring alignment of IT initiatives with business objectives.

-Assisted in vendor selection and technology stack planning, ensuring infrastructure investments supported future growth and innovation.

-Prioritized and aligned team projects with infrastructure transformation goals, establishing timely resolution of work requests and critical issues to maintain system availability and business continuity.

Gogo, Inc. (now Intelsat)

Principal Airline Configuration Engineer Team Lead

September 2015 – August 2020

Oversight of all baseline configurations for applications, software and hardware assets for aircraft utilizing Gogo service. This includes participation in the design and functional specifications, performing pre-implementation checks, testing, training and providing post-implementation support and reporting.

-Designed and implemented a comprehensive Change Management process using ServiceNow to govern changes across 3,000+ production servers on Gogo’s aircraft fleet, ensuring controlled rollouts and SLA compliance.

-Managed contractors and cross-functional teams to deploy, audit, and maintain production changes, reducing risk and improving operational efficiency across the aircraft fleet.

-Developed risk-mitigating solutions for software deployment tooling and configuration management, ensuring proper templates and processes were adhered to for optimal system performance and reliability.

-Established credibility with airline partners and engineers by effectively managing stakeholder expectations during change events, maintaining open communication, and prioritizing production changes to align with operational goals.

-Contributed to the development of technical strategies for current and future enhancements of airborne production servers, driving innovation and system improvement.

-Mentored and developed junior staff through training, open communication, and fostering an inclusive workplace, building a high-performing team and ensuring adequate technical competencies across departments.

-Acted as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) on Gogo’s airborne systems, providing advanced technical leadership on hardware, networking, and escalations for installation and upgrades.

-Ensured system uptime and reliability by monitoring post-deployment aircraft performance, conducting audits, and implementing controlled production changes to meet SLA requirements.

Motorola Solutions, Inc.

IT Systems Specialist Team Lead

December 2010 – September 2015

Server and software support services for Motorola's Upgrade Operations automation effort for critical government and public safety communication systems.

-Led the implementation and maintenance of infrastructure automation systems by deploying HPSA Opsware-integrated “satellite” servers for Motorola ASTRO P25 public safety systems across global city, state, and federal agencies, ensuring compliance with stringent security requirements.

-Managed a team of contractors to oversee procurement, imaging, shipping, installation, and ongoing support of automation servers, streamlining deployment processes and enhancing operational efficiency for public safety customers.

-Supported large-scale service automation tools for critical infrastructure systems, delivering secure OS deployment, patch management, and application packaging solutions for RHEL, Windows, and VMware environments.

-Ensured infrastructure readiness by maintaining server hardware and software to meet current specifications and aligning with upgrade schedules, enabling timely system enhancements and minimizing downtime.

-Monitored and maintained cross-platform automation solutions, optimizing patching and deployment processes to enhance scalability and reliability across diverse operating systems and virtualized environments.

-Maintained comprehensive asset management systems, tracking server versions, patch levels, and maintenance contracts to ensure operational visibility and alignment with security protocols and SLAs.

-Delivered infrastructure solutions for high-stakes environments, prioritizing security and compliance to meet local, state, and federal government requirements while supporting mission-critical public safety systems.

-Federal Security Clearance obtained.

Motorola Solutions, Inc.

System Technologist III

May 2008 – December 2010

-Resolved escalated system issues for ASTRO 25 Radio Systems by troubleshooting hardware, software, networking, and security challenges, achieving timely resolutions to support mission-critical operations.

-Identified opportunities for process improvement by analyzing system performance, implementing efficiency gains, and mitigating IT risks, resulting in enhanced customer satisfaction and operational reliability.

-Developed comprehensive documentation and knowledge resources, including process manuals, reference materials, and knowledge base solutions, to streamline support operations and improve team efficiency.

-Mentored and coached team members, enhancing their technical expertise and skillsets, while fostering a collaborative and high-performing work environment aligned with organizational goals.

-Participated in special projects and improvement initiatives, contributing to Acceptance Test Planning (ATP) and cross-functional problem-solving teams to ensure continuous improvement and system optimization.

-Proactively enhanced operational processes to align with best practices, ensuring high availability, scalability, and resiliency of IT infrastructure while addressing customer pain points.

CORPTAX, LLC formerly Deloitte & Touche Tax Technologies, LLC

Senior Network Analyst

May 1997 – May 2008

-Optimized team resource utilization by evaluating workloads and recommending changes, increasing operational effectiveness and ensuring alignment with business objectives.

-Prepared and distributed critical communications, reports, and presentations, coordinating between peers, teams, business owners, and management to ensure timely resolution of critical issues and maintain transparency.

-Assessed and recommended tools and technologies to support organizational objectives, driving innovation and enhancing IT infrastructure capabilities.

-Collaborated on cross-functional project teams to develop and implement technologies, policies, and procedures that enhanced IT operations and ensured compliance with company-wide standards.

-Ensured maximum customer satisfaction by meeting deadlines and quality objectives, managing daily PC support operations, enforcing IT policies and security directives, and providing after-hours support as needed.

-Managed lifecycle maintenance and security for laptops, desktops and servers, performing installations, configurations, and updates across corporate hardware platforms to ensure reliability and security compliance.

-Oversaw hardware procurement and inventory management, tracking and assigning laptops, desktops, and related systems to ensure operational efficiency and accountability.

-Administered end-user access, security roles, and permissions across servers and applications, safeguarding sensitive data and adhering to security best practices.

EDUCATION

Undergraduate Study - Management Information Systems

Southern Illinois University - Carbondale, IL

Associates of Science

Elgin Community College - Elgin, IL

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