Director: VSAT Operations

Operations, Budgets, Call Center, Personnel Management, Mentoring, Training

Principal Network Engineer, VSAT & Earth Stations

Network Design, Troubleshooting, Training, Project Management, Space Segment Management, Earth Station Design & Maintenance

Seasoned satellite communication network operations director/engineer with 18+ years experience engineering and managing very large VSAT networks. Uniquely skilled with proficiency in network design, earth station design, network startup, change management and network operating procedures.  Record of excellence in providing superior customer support, network growth forecasting, change implementation, and training.

VSAT Network Management • VSAT Network Engineering • VSAT Network Design • Earth Station Engineering • VSAT Network Operations • Change Manager • ITIL Foundations Certified • Vendor Management • Risk Mitigation • Military Background • Project Management • Systems Integration

• Mentoring & Training

PROFFESIONAL EXPERIANCE

GTECH Corporation, Austin, Texas • 2003 – 2007

A wholly owned subsidiary of Lottomatica Group, the premier provider of transaction services to state lottery agencies. Operating in more than 10 states with over 100,000 individual lottery retailers on the company’s private VSAT networks.

Director of Satellite Operations/Principal Network Engineer (11/2007 – 12/2007)

Led the operations team of 15 during a very difficult period of outsourcing. Provided leadership and guidance on the planned migration of the network to the outsource vendor. Liaised with the vendor on technical and operation issues unique to GTECH’s network. Created technical project plans to support equipment migration and assisted with operating procedure creation for the vendor. Following the successful transition of network operations this position was eliminated.

Key Accomplishments:

·         Managed the largest privately held VSAT network in the US, including budgets, budget variance, and resource forecasting. 

·         Managed a team of 15.

o   4 Engineers

o   2 Supervisors

o   9 Technicians

·         Successfully migrated the network to an outsource vendor.

·         Provided project status reports to senior management and the affected customers.

·         Provided outsourced personnel with career guidance.

Principal Network Engineer, VSAT & Earth Stations (04/2005 – 11/2007)

Lead systems engineer for the largest privately held VSAT network in the US, supporting over 100,000 retail terminals in 12 states on 3 GEO satellites. Responsible for system troubleshooting, network expansion planning, operational procedures, disaster recovery planning and change management. Led the training efforts of the VSAT call center team, including written, classroom and multimedia training for level 1, 2 and 3 technicians.

Key Accomplishments:

·         24/7/365 support of the largest privately held VSAT network in the US.

·         Managed the very stringent Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with the lottery customers.

o   Key points of the SLAs included:

§  99.985% uptime measured quarterly.

§  Bandwidth availability to support three transactions per minute per terminal.

§  Maximum individual transaction time of three seconds.

§  100% geographic hub redundancy.

·         Technical lead for a team of 15.

·         Managed the relocation of the Rhode Island Network Operations Center from one facility to another.

o   The relocation included:

§  Project & Vendor management.

·         Budgets and budget variance.

·         Cross functional leadership

§  Five VSAT Hubs including approximately 800 pieces of equipment. 

§  Three earth stations, RF equipment only, the antennas did not move.

§  Outfitting the new operations room.

§  Creation of new operating procedures.

§  Creation of new disaster recovery procedures.

·         Upgraded five earth stations to multi-transponder operation.

·         Implemented automated fault isolation and reporting.

o   Implementation included:

§  Using HP Open View (HPOV) Network Management System (NMS) to collect statistics from each VSAT in the network.

§  Integrating real time weather data into the NMS to prevent ‘false positive’ failure reports.

§  Collecting statistics from each piece of HUB and RFT equipment including vital network loading and channel errors.

§  Correlating collected data and presenting failure reports to the on shift operators with recommended corrective actions.

§  Maintained long term historical data for trend analysis.

·         Reduced call volumes by implementing a “one call, one fix” methodology reducing repeat calls from the same location.

·         Migrated 5,000 multi-terminal VSATs to a new hub.

o   Migration included:

§  Project manager for the migration including, schedules, budgets, vendor management, and planning.

§  Liaised with the affected customers to ensure a seamless transition.

§  Commissioning a new earth station.

§  Liaised with the new satellite vendor to meet FCC and ITU requirements.

§  Installing, Testing and Commissioning a new VSAT hub.

o   The migration was completed in 45 days, under budget with no unscheduled downtime.

Senior Network Engineer, VSAT & Earth Stations (01/2005 – 04/2005)

Lead systems engineer for one of the largest privately held VSAT networks in the US, supporting over 50,000 retail terminals in 7 states on 2 GEO satellites. Responsible for system level troubleshooting, network expansion planning, operational procedures, disaster recovery planning and change management. Led the training efforts for the VSAT call center team, including written and classroom training for the level 1, 2 and 3 technicians. Technical lead for a team of 15.

Key Accomplishments:

·         Project manager for a proposed upgrade of the four Earth Stations to support multi-transponder operation.

·         Upgraded the Earth Stations to a fault tolerant configuration using TWT Amplifiers, block up converters and transponder specific down converters.

·         Tested, Installed and Procured a Management & Control (M&C) system for the 4 earth stations.

·         Conducted in depth training with call center personnel.

·         Implemented active carrier monitoring.

·         Implemented active weather monitoring using real time weather radar feeds.

Change Manager/Disaster Recovery Manager (04/2004 – 01/2005)

Implemented Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) change management process at the newly formed GTECH Data Center of the Americas (DCA). The DCA is a consolidated data center housing the primary or secondary lottery systems for several state lottery agencies. The change management process was implemented across all DCA and customer systems. This was GTECH’s first attempt at ITIL and required a significant amount of persuasion to garner support from the stakeholders. Undertook a business case study to select the software package to support current and future ITIL implementation at GTECH.  Created the framework for the business continuity plan (disaster recovery plan) and obtained sign off by all stakeholders.

Key Accomplishments:

·         ITIL foundations certified.

·         Remedy Magic ™ administrator certified.

·         Created the Change Management process for the DCA.

·         Trained the stakeholders in the change management process.

·         Created the first disaster recovery plan for the DCA.

Senior Network Engineer/Supervisor of VSAT Operations (05/2003 – 04/2004)

Spearheaded the commissioning of GTECH’s Austin, Texas Teleport. Created the standard operating procedures, preventative maintenance schedules, call center scripts, training materials and sparing budget. Worked closely with management to build relationships and support for the new system. Commissioned the VSAT hub in Texas and its back up in Rhode Island. Supervised the 24/7/365 operation of the hub and call center with a staff of eight.

Key Accomplishments:

·         Commissioned GTECH’s first Hughes VSAT Hub.

·         Managed a team of 8, including schedules, personnel issues, etc.

·         Trained the staff to successfully operate the HNS hub.

·         Trained the staff on call center procedures and call tracking.

·         Implemented call metrics and established call center scripts.

·         Traveled to customer sites to provide training for the field service teams.

Hughes Network Systems, Germantown, Maryland • 1998 – 2003

One of the premier satellite communications companies in the world. Hughes operates the largest VSAT Network in the US and has subsidiaries worldwide. 

Systems Integration/Support Engineer II (04/2000 – 05/2003)

As a member of the deep support team serving the DirecWAY (HughesNET) product line was responsible for on call support of the HNS national NOC. Worked with manufacturing to certify hub equipment prior to shipment. A member of the design team for the DirecWAY hub with responsibility for rack topology, subsystem interfaces, and equipment specifications. Represented software engineering on the change management board.

Key Accomplishments:

·         Rated in the top 5% of HNS employees in 2001 and 2002.

·         Built and commissioned the first DirecWAY NOC.

·         Built the first over the air test environment for DirecWAY.

·         Increased overall system stability by inclusion of a high stability reference clock module.

·         Total Quality Award winner for 2002.

·         Specifically cited for excellence in customer support.

DirecPC Research and Development Lab Manager (11/1998 – 04/2000)

Utilized military training to increase lab efficiency and implement standards of testing. Redesigned the software R&D lab resulting in a 45% decrease in testing time. Created standards for testing DirecPC software on a variety of consumer PC platforms. Replaced costly leased line internet connectivity with a point to point wireless solution saving the company thousands of dollars annually.

Key Accomplishments:

·         Key Master, responsible for the creation and management of the DirecPC encryption materials.

·         Managed two multi-million dollar R&D labs, including equipment, budgets, maintenance and schedules.

·         Provided testing support to the deep support engineering team.

·         Rated in the top 5% of HNS employees in 2000.

Field Engineer - Intergraph Corporation, Reston, VA • 1996 – 1998

Supported government and civilian customers in the Washington, DC metro area. Support included PC/UNIX hardware and software, LAN design and repair.

United States Navy, Subase Kings Bay, Georgia • 1987 – 1996

Submarine communications specialist onboard Trident Class vessels.

USS Maine (SSBN-741) – Radioman First Class Submarines • 1992 – 1996

Assigned to the ship while under construction at the Electric Boat shipyard, New London, Connecticut. Communications division quality assurance officer during installation and testing of the ship’s external communications system. Assistant Lead Petty Officer, supervised 16 sailors during the construction period.

Key Accomplishments:

·         Ship’s photographic officer for the commissioning. Documenting the commissioning ceremony for the Navy archives.

·         Automated Data Processing Security Officer, responsible for the ships PCs, ensuring they were compliant with all Navy security requirements.

·         Secret Material Control Petty Officer, responsible for over 2000 pieces of classified material with 100% accountability.

·         Commended by the Secretary of the Navy for “having the best classified material control program on the east coast”.

·         Became known as ‘the miracle worker’ for my ability to repair any piece of equipment in the radio room in record time.

USS Pennsylvania (SSBN-735) – Radioman Second Class Submarines • 1987 – 1992

Operating the Navy’s first integrated radio communications suite. Maintained 100% connectivity with command during six strategic deterrent patrols.

CITIZENSHIP

U.S. Citizen – Inactive Security Clearance

EDUCATION & CREDENTIALS

United State Navy Technical Training

Group Paced Instructor

Quality Assurance Inspector

Repair Parts Management

Communications Frequency Management

Advanced Electronics Theory & Repair

Trident Exterior Communications (level 1 and 2)

E-6 Leadership

COMSEC

Note: Full transcript of military education is available upon request.

Burlington County College

Computer Science

Professional Development

University of Texas: Selection & Interviewing

University of Texas: Facilitation Skills

University of Texas: Conflict Management

ITIL Foundations

Fourth Generation Management

Technical Skills

Software

MS Office Suite

MS Visio

MS Project

Windows 2000/XP/2003

UNIX

Satellite Tool Kit

SatMaster Pro

Test Equipment

Spectrum Analyzer

Signal Generator

Low Fly Simulator

Digital Volt Meter

RF Power Meter

References

Available upon request