MUHAMMAD Z. GILL

433 Deer Brooke Dr. Allen TX 75002

425-213-7860        mzgill@gmail.com

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SUMMARY

Seasoned leader with 20 years of wireless product management, network deployment and operations experience.

 

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

·   Wireless Deployment: Planning, engineering and operations of wireless macro, metrocell, DAS and Wi-Fi networks. Extensive experience with Ericsson and ALU UMTS, HSDPA, LTE and VoLTE technologies.

·   Leadership/Management: Over 15 years of experience in building and leading large teams. Experienced in senior executive leadership interaction. Leadership roles with OEM and carrier.

·   Process Development and Program Management: Led complex, multi-million dollar wireless deployment and operations. Six sigma process development, documentation, implementation, program management.

·   Turnkey Services and Vendor Management: RFP, vendor selection, scope of work, service line agreement, contracts, vendor performance management and liquidated damages.

·   Sales, Business Development and Product Management: Scoping/design, assessment, testing/selection, product lifecycle and roadmap management, sales/marketing support.

·   Customer Service: Internal cliental and external vendor management, tactical/strategic planning and execution.

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

 

HQ RAN Director - AT&T Mobility June 2009 - Present

Spearheading a team of 35-120 employees. Led multiple teams including wireless product development, network planning, design, optimization, performance management, RF Safety, CGSA, E911 Engineering & Compliance, DAS & Wi-Fi Engineering, device testing & certification. Key accomplishments are

 

·   Developed VoLTE launch strategy and national deployment program in less than two months. Gained officer approval for the plan and garnered support/alignment from 10+ cross functional team. Created R&R matrices, best practices, trained 27 markets and functional stakeholders. Established program governance via program tracking, forecasting, and scorecards. Launched VoLTE on 41K sites exceeding leadership goal by 8K.

·   Led $250M+ network installation/integration/optimization, E911 and RF Safety portfolio for services creation, delivery and vendor management. Held many RFPs, developed scope, contracts, SLAs and negotiated pricing. Modeled scope usage, resources, spending/volume, tracked plan vs actuals and communicated results to executive leadership. Saved $50-60M per year in network services for past 3 years.

·   Led network expansion program nationally launching 22K+ UMTS/LTE carriers in 2013 and 20K+ LTE carriers in 2014 in collaboration. These multi-billion programs required collaboration across 15+ internal teams and external vendors. Met all monthly build targets and exceeded Chairman’s goal of 300M pops by September 2014.

·   Transformed RAN drive testing program. Created and implemented single standard data collection/reporting process across 10 vendors. Developed new tool suite in collaboration with IT/Labs/Vendors automating the entire process. This tool suite is now used across the nation for launching 20-25K carriers each year.

·   Developed a new program for retiring old technology (2G RAN and E911) employing six sigma. Saved millions by moving spectrum to right technologies and $60M+ in E911 license fees by fast tracking 2G turndown. Invented new approach for collecting E911 accuracy compliance data saving $15M YOY.

·   Led RF Safety, CGSA, Contingency planning and E911 Engineering programs nationally. Created new process for measuring RF safety via simulation reducing compliance risk/launch delay, new configuration process for N11 eliminating common errors, and new process for site location brining lat/long issues to record low. Developed 15-20 best practices, guidelines, MOPs or processes per year, trained stakeholders and audited for compliance.

·   Developed a one stop shop tool portfolio automating day to day network maintenance/reporting functions for E911, RF Safety and CGSA. The automation saved $4-5M YOY, 1000s of man hours and lowered risk of outages/issues.

·   Developed new process and tool for testing VoLTE E911. The new process introduced upfront keyboard auditing reducing testing requirements by 75%, net saving of $25M in two years. Revamped the rehome process removing unnecessary testing and replacing it with remote analysis, savings of $2M YOY.

·   Led a team for providing technical support for in-service RAN, E911 and Core/IMS network. Created a common trouble ticketing platform in collaboration with NOC, IT, ATS, CTO and OEMs. Streamlined TT categorization, prioritization and SLA. Created process flow and R&R to route TTs to right teams, assigned internal resource to specific vendor/technology/node and ensured staff training/growth.

·   Supported software upgrades, new patches and network rehomes/migrations. Created lab/field test plans, conducted lab/field testing, collected/analyzed drive test data & network traces for issue identification/resolution. Created and supported War Room process for 24x7 triage during deployments/migrations/upgrades.

·   Created new “front gate” process and tool in collaboration with IT, PMO and CTO for rolling out new features & technologies. This one stop tool provided full visibility and collaboration including project requirements, pre-requisites, impact analysis, readiness, resources planning, budget management, exit criteria and KPIs. This tool is now being used across the nation for rolling out new transport, core and RAN.

·   Key contributor in developing new Small Cell portfolio worth $400-500M. Created business cases, cost analysis, value proposition and execution strategy in conjunction with CTO and marketing. Identified key vendors in this space, went through extensive product evaluations, trials and final vendor selection. Created and implemented small cell optimization process, compliance requirements and deployment guidelines. Assisted in creating an end to end deployment process and supported deployment of 1000s of small cells across the nation.

·   Led special venues and events team nationally. Developed DAS installation, integration and optimization processes. Created DAS E911 and RF Safety guidelines. Developed brand new state of the art calculator for DAS traffic/capacity planning, developed KPI reports and new processes bringing DAS deployment into BAU mode. Led multiple RFPs for DAS services. Planned, deployed and optimized300+ DAS locations in two years.

·   Key contributor to the development of new $100M Wi-Fi program. Developed algorithm to identify key Wi-Fi locations, worked with leasing/zoning team on value proposition, calculated macro offload and network improvement, identified external partners deployed Wi-Fi in 70-80 reputation sensitive locations.

·   Led emerging technology team overseeing multi-vendor GSM/UMTS hardware/software portfolio worth $300M+. Partnered with CTO/Labs to define the roadmap, budgeting requirements, feature prioritization, testing, acceptance and payments. Key contributor in product development, testing and deployment of Femto, HS+ and LTE enabling the company win high speed claim.

·   Led testing and certification program for entire device portfolio (handset, tablets, data cards, M2M). Designed new common platform for vendor device submission/NDA in alignment with product, IT and network teams. Enhanced the platform by streamlining IOT testing, field testing, acceptance and commercial launch requirements/flow.

·   Revamped handset field testing program improving time to market by 25% and defects by 25-30%. This was achieved by incorporating critical network test cases, testing automation/reporting and improvements in volunteer device test programs.

 

Regional RF Director - AT&T Mobility August 2008 – May 2009

Led AT&T central region for RF planning/design, RAN/Core performance, tools & reporting, E911 and regulatory compliance. This team of 61 managed wireless operations over 20K GSM/UMTS sites spread in 15 states. Key team achievements under my leadership are

·   Streamlined design, planning and site approval processes for the region. Created pertinent guidelines and trained market teams. The new processes reduced the lead time to almost half.

·   Devised and implemented an end to end capacity management program. The program enabled us to forecast Card/IU capacity exhaust 90-120 days in advance rendering 25-50% cycle time improvement YOY.

·   Developed a tool to predict spectrum exhaust down to county level. The tool greatly assisted in projecting spectrum shortage in advance and was adopted as a national best practice.

·   Rolled out a brand new performance management tool/program region wide. Led efforts to address performance issues turning 8 chronic submarkets green in less than 3 months.

·   Implemented a new cluster GNG process for UMTS carrier/site adds. The program improved performance of new clusters by 15-25% and was adopted as a national best practice.

 

National Senior Network Manager - AT&T Mobility October 2006 – July 2008

Led national compliance team to ensure our E911 network meets FCC compliance. Responsibilities include E911 network service management, performance management, product development, market/regional support and vendor management. Key achievements

 

·   Built a new program for E911 performance management. The new program facilitated resolution of 200 plus network issues in 8 months. Turned 15 consistently red markets green on national executive scorecard.

·   Led national initiative for E911 operational simplification and cost reduction saving 30% OPEX in 2007.

·   Integrated brand new E911 AGPS service into existing network in less than 8 months alleviating reliance on old and maintenance prone 2G network.

·   Attained 50% reduction in network outages by implementing new processes for configuration management, patch application and software upgrades.

·   Regulated software/hardware release management, content review and quality assurance processes with the vendors. Saved 6 million in upgrades by eliminating features not adding value.

 

RF Engineer and RF Manager - Nortel January 1996 – September 2006

Accountable for product planning, content & release management, bid/proposal support, installation, integration & RF optimization, customer acceptance, service assurance and customer support.

 

·   Key contributor to Nortel CDMA/1xRTT/EvDO and UMTS product design, testing and development. Led product trials in multiple markets and developed product improvement roadmaps.

·   Product development, testing and deployment of the first ever R4/HSDPA network in USA for Edge Wireless. This showcase market positioned Nortel to win new business in US and abroad.

·   Played key role in wining $270 million UMTS deal from Cingular Wireless by guiding sales and marketing teams in value proposition, strategy, product staging and presentation.

·   Executive management hand-picked to lead Nortel’s first UMTS rollout in USA for Cingular Wireless.  Met all SLA for $150 million UMTS deployment in Bay Area and saved $30 million in penalties.

·   Led 100s of wireless network deployments. Key ones are Nortel’s first 1xRTT rollout for Western Wireless in 6 markets, Alltel 1xRTT/EvDO overlay in 10 markets, Sprint Houston, San Antonio and Kansas CDMA deployment, AWS San Diego and Las Vegas RIPs, $30 million GSM network design/expansion for Edge Wireless. 

 

EDUCATION & TRAINING

·   Master in Electrical Engineering: UT Arlington TX (May 1997)GPA 3.83/4.0

·   Bachelors in Electrical Engineering: UET (June 1993)GPA 3.91/4.0

·   Six Sigma – Orange Belt

·   Agile Program and Project Management

·   Cyber Security, Data Science, Big Data

·   IP Networking

·   SDN, Cloud, Domain 2.0, NFV

·   Wide variety of leadership training

 

COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTIONS, AWARDS & HONORS

·   Active church member. Led efforts in building new church school, kids programs and events.

·   Volunteering as Basketball coach at Allen Sports Association. Member of multiple ERG organizations at AT&T, North Texas Food Bank and AT&T volunteering program.

·   Certification of appreciation from AT&T executive leadership for top quality and on time network expansion for republican national convention in 2012.

·   Recipient of AT&T “Service Excellence” Award in 2008 for revolutionizing E911 performance management.

·   Recognized as Nortel high contributor or top talent six years consecutively (2000-2006). This is the highest yearly performance rating given to top 5% of the employees.

·   Nortel Leadership Edge Award in 2005 for key role in winning and deploying $270 UMTS network for Cingular Wireless. This honor is given by the president of the company to only a few individuals through out the company.

·   Eight Nortel Spot Awards in 2003 and 2004. The spot awards are bestowed to employees exhibiting extra ordinary performance and customer service.

·   Nortel Customer Service Recognition Plaque in 2002. This honor is given to only one employee per year out of RF services organization of 1000 plus employees. 

·   Nortel Customer Service Plaque in 2001 for leadership role in winning Alltel and Western Wireless CDMA business and successful network deployment.

·   Nortel Trident Pride Award 2000 for seamlessly managing network deployments in AT&T Wireless Las Vegas and San Diego markets. This project was declared as “the best execution” of year 2000 out of 50 plus high profile projects.

·   Nortel Pride of Performance Award for 1999. This award is given to only one top performing employee per year out of network organization of 3000 plus employees.