NAME: Nicholas Swords

 

PHONE: 317-801-0646

 

AVAILABILITY: Immediately

 

LOCATION: Indianapolis, IN (willing to relocate/Currently in Alexandria, LA).

 

EDUCATION:

 

Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN. Extensive coursework in Industrial Technology and Distribution, School of Technology

 

SUMMARY:

 

I have experience with the Ericsson, Nortel, Nokia, Tyco/ADC (DAS), Huawei, and Alcatel-Lucent platforms. I have worked in the Field, Switch Management, IM/PM, Network Management/Planning, and RF environments. Learn new technologies quickly, enjoy teaching others, and work well under pressure. Experienced with GSM, CDMA, WCDMA, iDEN, HSPA+, LTE, Fiber Optics, DAS (indoor and outdoor), and Small Cells.

 

·   Experienced in a Project Management role with a strong background in team development

·   Strong leadership capabilities, strong judgment, and the ability to work effectively with and influence clients, team members, management and external groups

·   Experienced with leading large application development or infrastructure design/deployment projects

·   Experience with project budgetary responsibilities

·   Ability to acquire a thorough understanding of the business/client environment and systems, connectivity and application technological alternatives

·   Strong general business knowledge

·   Extensive knowledge of project management life cycle and systems development life cycle

·   Extensive knowledge of project management tools, techniques and practices.

·   Ability to lead a team and deliver all phases of complex assignments

·   Strong analytical, problem solving and planning ability

·   Ability to interact and communicate with senior management

·   Understanding of various technologies including, applications, databases, networking, telecommunications and connectivity

·   Knowledge of MS Project, Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint and Visio software programs

·   Experience negotiating with business partners, contractors, sub-contractors, facility personnel and external vendors

·   Proven experience in team building, leadership, and quick build up to time on station

 

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

 

Self Employed

Telecom Contractor

August 2014 to Present

 

·   Working for various clients in assisting with various tasks such as the following

·   Project Management, Implementation, Construction, Distribution, and Installation

·   Experience with Fiber, copper, cable TV/Internet/Phone, DAS (indoor and outdoor), Small Cells, IP based cells, MACRO, and MICRO systems.

·   Budgetary quotes, site walks, BOM’s, SOW’s, Vendor and Contractor management

·   Installation of cell sites, DAS, cables (CAT5, CAT6, CAT8, Coax, Electrical, Fiber, Copper), Racks, and various equipment

 

Indiana Fiber Network

Project Engineer (contract)

February 2014 to August 2014

 

·   Assisted and managed the circuit data clean up for the IFN network and completing all of the data mining and entries in the MetaSolv database and verifying information against engineering specs and sales/billing information

·   Was responsible for putting together all the Engineering packets for the AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile, and Verizon Fiber to Tower (FTT) project.

·   Assisted with the Fiber to the home (FTTH) project

·   Coordinated third party maintenance and work that was inside IFN cages and offices, along with other Outside Plant (OSP) work.

·   Assisted the warehouse with all distribution needs.

·   Coordinated efforts with internal teams.

·   Helped sales with finding new accounts via previous contacts that I had made at other companies

·   Vendor and Contractor management

·   Built emergency inter-departmental teams to handle customer needs

 

B-MAC Wireless

Project Manager - LTE upgrades (contract)

May 2013 to January 2014

 

·   Project managed a team of 25 techs that included integrators, construction crews, and laborers. We assisted helping T-Mobile with their upgrade to LTE and FTT for all of Indiana, parts of Ohio Chicago, and Milwaukee. I was also 100% responsible for all of the budgets for my projects, BOM’s, and SOW’s. Vendor and Contractor management

 

Ericsson – Charlotte, NC

Implementation Manager II - T-Mobile Modernization Project (contract)

January 2013 to May 2013

 

·   Responsible for manning the War Room 24/7 w shift changes.

·   Responsible for tracking progress of the project (700 sites)

·   Worked in the field, installing, commissioning, and integrating when needed to keep us on schedule.

·   Experience with Smart Lap Top and Remote Log in

·   Managed several CM’s, ASP’s, and SP’s.

·   Comfortable with working in a Dynamic environment with the Customer and other Contractors

·   Responsible for monitoring alarms via the Ericsson OSS

·   Responsible for building a long term relationship with T-Mobile USA

·   Assisted  with the T-Mobile Switch Team whenever I could

·   Familiar with the Ericsson 3000 and 6000 series RBS and AIR antennas.

·   Created and BOM’s and Sow’s

·   Vendor and Contractor management

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TE Connectivity - Nationwide

Project Engineer II - Neutral Host and Emerging Markets DAS Networks (perm)

September 2010 to December 2013

 

·   Responsible for successful completion of Neutral Host projects Nationwide

·   Responsible for supporting the Sales Team, performing site walks and site surveys, providing budgetary and final quotes, design of the system, Project Management of the projects from start to finish, and commissioning/integration/optimization of the network

·   Responsible for projects from “cradle to grave”, and for installation QC’s for my team, and assisting in troubleshooting and customer service calls

·   Designed projects for Stadiums, Hotels, Hospitals, Casinos, Office Buildings, University Campuses, Automotive Factories (Corvette Factory), race tracks (Charlotte and Indianapolis Motor Speedway), NASA and Military installations, Convention Centers, Stadiums, Ball Parks, Field Houses, and Large Cities (Chicago).

·   VSWR, Return Loss and Distance to Fault sweeps and PIM results

·   Trained and working knowledge of the TE platforms, Prism (outdoor), and Unison, Fusion, and Spectrum indoor platforms.

·   Familiar with all types of fiber (multi and single mode, and OC-x), connectors, splicing, and various test sets.

·   Worked with several OEM’s BTS’s and Node B’s (Ericsson 3100 RBS, Nokia Flexi, ALU, etc).

·   Responsible for oversight of multi-million dollar budgets

·   Responsible for site walks, BOM’s,  RF data sheets, and SOW’s

·   Vendor and Contractor management

Pro-Tech Consulting - Indianapolis, IN

Implementation Manager (perm)

November 2008 to July 2010

 

·   Responsible for all projects associated with the Core/Switch Network

·   Responsible for all T-Mobile Projects

·   Managed Several Switch De-installation, Installation, Expansion projects (MSC’s, BSC’s, RNC’s, DACS, RSP’s, MGW’s, MSS’s, and IPBSC’s)

·   Managed the T-Mobile Central Region Node B Install project in Chicago, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh

·   Managed the Ericsson/ATT Mobility MCPA project

·   Experienced with 2^nd carrier and capacity adds

·   Responsible for building a long term relationship with T-Mobile USA

·   Assisted  with the ATT Mobility/Ericsson Switch Support Project

·   Worked in the field, installing, commissioning, troubleshooting, and integrating when needed to keep us on schedule.

·   Experienced with the Nokia Flexi.

·   Responsible for oversight of multi-million dollar budgets

·   Responsible for site walks, BOM’s, and SOW’s

T-Mobile USA - Oregon, Southern and Eastern, WA

Switch Manager II (perm)

December 2005 to October 2008

 

·   Responsible for a network of 0.5million subscribers, 500+ cells sites, 16 BSC’s, 4 MGW’s, 1 RNC, and 200+ Node B’s.

·   Managed multiple projects simultaneously to support local, regional, and national initiatives.

·   Supervised successful Portland Switch relocation project.

·   Spearheaded a process to build a national implementation team to perform BSC rehosts and BTS rehomes in a more efficient way and to assist with cutting the install times, integration, and on air goals for several switch nodes.

·   Improved function, productivity, and teamwork of switch department and interaction between switch and RF departments

·   Performed system surveillance on a daily basis and very heavily during and after the 3G rollout and turn up.

·   Temporary Area Operations Manager for 5 months.

·   Conduct regular scheduling, training, and annual/quarterly reviews for switch employees

·   EOC Director for the local disaster recovery team (DRT) and technical recovery team (TRT). And worked closely with Local, State, and Federal Teams during exercises and meetings going over strategies and AAR’s.

·   Trained on the Nokia Flexi Node B/BTS and the Nokia RNC.

·   Oversaw three teams in the T-Mobile Snoqualmie NOC while on loan to ramp up the NOC’s responsibilities. Was responsible for hiring and training, monitoring both cellular voice and data networks, and the internal IT network (WAN and LAN).

·   Working knowledge of fiber optics from OC-3 to OC-192, dual mode, single mode, connectors, and DWDM

·   Responsible for multi-million dollar budgets and Vendor and Contractor management

·   Instrumental in the ground up construction and installation of the Switch Facility.

·   Worked with the Nokia SDM on a daily basis.

 

T-Mobile USA - Richmond, VA

Ericsson Subject Matter Expert (Tier2/Tier3) (perm)

October 2003 to July 2005

 

·   Sole employee responsible for Tier 2 support of 7 TDMA MSCs and 23 GSM BSCs

·   Main liaison between Ericsson and T-Mobile to track CSRs, FOA software, troubleshoot network issues, load ACAs and ECAs, and resolve customer complaints

·   Led Tier 2 Support for R10MD, R10 CN-A1, AMR and EDGE rollouts

·   Provided around the clock support to MSC sites, RF Engineers, and Field technicians

·   Oversaw the installation and integration of the Ericsson 3G Core Platform (MSS/MGW)

·   Experienced with the Project Management of several large projects at one time

·   Experienced with writing SOW’s

·   Vendor and Contractor management

·   Worked with the Ericsson SDM (Service Delivery Manager), Project Managers, RTAC support engineers daily.

T-Mobile USA – Southern CA/NV market - Irvine, CA

Switch Manager I (perm)

May 2002 to September 2003

·   Launched the first successful wireless Joint Venture market

·   Oversaw one of the largest launches for a wireless market in the USA: 1 million subscribers in one year; 33,428,000 covered POPs

·   Performed system surveillance on a daily basis.

·   Coordinated and supported the installation of the first Glenayre LSP2 voicemail system in the US as well as 2 MSC sites

·   Created employee performance standards, administered personnel policies and guidelines, conducted performance evaluations, provided training, and coordinated schedules for switch technicians

·   Experience with Nortel PBX systems

·   Trained again with the Data Translations and Tier2 teams for 2 months.

·   Experienced with Budgets, site walks, BOM’s, and SOW’s

·   Vendor and Contractor management

·   Instrumental in the ground up construction and installation of the Switch Facility.

·   Worked with the Ericsson SDM daily.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

T-Mobile USA, Northern CA/NV market, Concord CA

Senior Switch Technician III (perm)

January 2002 to May 2002

·   Responsible for daily activities of Operations department including exchange fault management and correction, system backups of switch database, and billing routines

·   Assisted in network expansion by overseeing installation of all new wireless and tertiary equipment, creating new traffic routes, and testing and commissioning all circuits

·   Worked closely with IT, Billing, Sales, and Customer Service to address service issues

·   Working knowledge of Nortel PBX systems

·   Trained with the various Tier2 teams and Data Translations teams for 4 weeks.

·   Vendor and Contractor management

·   Instrumental in the ground up construction and installation of the Switch Facility.

 

 

 

 

 

T-Mobile USA, Washington DC and Baltimore Market, Beltsville MD

Switch Technician II/Field Technician II (perm)

September 1998 to January 2002

·   Rotated in and out of the switch and field as needed

·   Active member of skilled engineering team that provided daily support for cellular network as an onsite GPRS BSS engineer

·   Worked in the field, installing, commissioning troubleshooting, and integrating when the field staff was short on man power due to people on PTO or sick days.

·   Lead role in the first relocation of a switch for the company (planning and execution)

·   Instrumental in the ground up construction and installation of the Switch Facility.

·   Performed system surveillance on a daily basis.

·   Assisted IT with onsite Nortel PBX

·   Trained with the TMO East Coast NOC for 3 months and with the various Tier2 teams.

·   Vendor and Contractor management

 

PROFESSIONAL TRAINING COURSES

 

·   Ericsson GSM System Survey Ericsson AXE 10 O&M

·   Ericsson GPRS Survey Ericsson GPRS BSS O&M

·   Ericsson MSC/VLR/HLR UMTS Ericsson IOG20 O&M Nokia RNC

·   Ericsson GSM Data Translations Ericsson AXE 810 O&M Delta

·   T-Mobile UMA (VoIP)

·   IPACCESS (IP based small cell soft switch, BSC and BTS)

·   CommScope Connector Course Glenayre Voicemail (MVP)

·   Nokia Node B (Flexi), Ericsson Node B and  LTE, Nokia LTE.

·   TE iDAS and oDAS – Certified

·   Various third party UMTS, WCDMA, AMR, and LTE courses

·   Disaster Recovery certifications from various Federal and Local departments

PRACTICAL TRAINING