New York, NY    |    646.427.7666    |   brian.skupin@gmail.com

Systems Director  -  CTO  -  VP of Development

Business-focused technical leader accustomed to collaborating with executives, business stakeholders, vendors, and technology teams to formulate IT strategy and deliver complex systems. Deep knowledge of Web, database, systems administration, and development best practices. Fiscally aware executive adept in formulating business case and ROI for key projects, skilled in hiring and retaining top-notch technical talent. Open to selective relocation.

ü   Global IT Systems & Software Innovation:  Directed multimillion-dollar projects, with input to IT strategy affecting enterprise-level implementations (used as model for corporate subsidiaries) at Kellogg. ü   Strategic & Technical Management:  Oversaw on-time deployment and analysis for Oracle, SQL Server, Business Intelligence, content management systems, packaged software, and data warehousing. ü   Cost Control:  Negotiated 10%+ drop in vendor service costs at Cintra, plus $10M+ savings in contracted development expenses at Kellogg. ü   Oracle Partner Leadership: Directed growth and quality strategy; headed all technical recruiting (identifying, hiring, and retaining optimum resources to meet stakeholder needs). ü   $200M ERP Project Strategy:  Managed application architecture planning for 5-year Consumer Packaged Goods software project slated for global implementation (direct report to Kellogg Global IT Director). ü   Project Discipline & Rigor:  Led quality standards and governance key to attaining 2-time Oracle Global Partner of the Year award.

Strategic Planning E-Commerce, Application Development, Oracle, & Web Projects Project Strategy & Management Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery IT Department & Project Budgets Technical Recruiting Global Implementation Strategy Oversight of Network Security, Data Centers, Development, & Server Builds Governance & IT Standards Team Mentoring & Management Consensus-Building Software & Tool Decisions Enterprise-Scale Deployments

Director, Consulting Operations              Cintra Software & Services, 2003 – Present

Senior Project Manager              Cintra Software & Services, 1999 – 2003

Senior Program Manager / Program Manager, Worldwide Information Services              Kellogg Company, 1996 – 1999

Manager, Enterprise Applications              Kellogg Company, 1993 – 1996

Developer              Kellogg Company, 1991 – 1993

Cintra Software & Services, New York, NY, 1999 – Present

Direct technology and growth planning, IT staffing, development / systems projects, cost-saving improvements, vendor negotiations, and stakeholder relations at Oracle Global Partner of the Year-winning firm with strong industry reputation.

IT Operations & Application Planning  -  19 Direct Reports  -  Offshore, Local, & Remote Hiring  -  Webinars  -  Team Direction

$4.5M Consulting Revenue  -  Oracle Best Practices  -  Risk Management  -  IT Operations Efficiency  -  SLA Performance

 

 

Oversee technology delivery quality and stakeholder satisfaction, leading teams to produce value-added software, systems, and infrastructure deliverables at well-known Oracle Partner provider. Build buy-in among internal and external management for solutions meeting business needs; maintain relations with CTO, CIO, CEO, and business sponsors. Negotiate and control costs to gain millions in bottom-line improvements; propose and lead IT services reducing operations costs. Develop IT operations SOW and manage to SLA terms. Author and present RFP proposals. Educate IT leaders on technology solutions via webinars.

►           Launch Business Intelligence offering, leveraging staff Oracle expertise to grow new practice; headed strategic planning, cost and capability assessment, staffing, and governance.

―         Generate 1,250% rise in consulting practice revenues (nearly 33% of annual total).

―         Institute quality delivery practices in new competency area; selected development areas of concentration.

―         Recommend OBIEE, open-source, and ETL BI tools, plus Java, Oracle, and PHP development tools according to business needs; conferred with CIO, CTO, IT Director, and other contacts to assess budget requirements.

►           Build buy-in among stakeholders for new systems, tools, and packages; present business case and TCO analysis to CTO and executive leaders at client sites for department / business unit approvals. Oversee requirements discovery, documentation, gap analysis, and specifications.

►           Lead planning and deployment of Global reporting solution for International AIDS Vaccine Initiative.

►           Maximize IT team contributions with expert eye for recruiting and training; staffed all developers, DBAs, systems administrators, business analysts, project managers, and contractor/vendor teams.

―         Assess cultural fit for on-site, remote, and offshore resources.

―         Hire and manage recruiters; leveraged networking contacts and social media to attract top candidates.

►           Retain superior Oracle talent with open, transparent communications and onboarding process; ensured camaraderie despite remote / offshore team locations, with strategies to address cultural diversity.

►           Manage project budgets of multimillion-dollar scope for banking, healthcare, publishing, and other companies.

►           Serve as sole vendor negotiator, driving down contracted services costs while meeting stringent project timelines. Capitalize on expertise and knowledge in software, hardware, network, and server purchasing.

►           Reduce reporting effort 50% among 60-70 employees at Bank of Brazil with Financial Data Warehouse / BI Reporting system—replacing complex Excel reports, improving reliability, and freeing time for strategic initiatives.

►           Improve business operations efficiency and decision-making with analytics, decision support, and other BI tools (SQL Server, Oracle); expanded ERP systems with cutting-edge reporting and database capabilities. Ensured adherence to practice and business-standard documentation principles.

―         Implemented Knowledge Management Portals internally and at client sites.

―         Directed BI, BCP, disaster recovery, CMS, data modeling, Oracle RAC, Data Guard, Web, and package projects.

►           Propose and lead internal Help Desk ticketing initiative—saving $35K annually with 20% drop in ticket servicing time and 10% reduction in turnaround; select and lead new-system implementation.

 

Project Management Standards  -  E-Commerce, Application Development, & Oracle Projects  -  Up to 25-Member Projects

$50K - $2M Project Budgets  -  Developer Productivity  -  Documentation Standards  -  Work Statements & Proposals

 

Continually increased customer satisfaction with refined quality and productivity, heading company’s most profitable project and driving delivery improvements across development in Linux, Windows, and Solaris environments. Administered stakeholder relationships and large-scale projects for non-profit and corporate clients. Mentored Project Managers and served as on-site IT advisor to executives. Oversaw Agile teams, including developers, DBAs, systems administrators, analysts, and vendors.

►           Brought prominent Music.com website development project to 50% margin.

►           Served as on-site advisor to CTO of well-known website, with input to business decisions and technology issues.

 

 

Kellogg Company, Battle Creek, MI; San Francisco, CA; & Ontario, Canada, 1986 – 1999

Quickly earned promotions from business roles to take over projects and programs of international scale, with high-profile contribution to global ERP project, including common business functionality definitions.

Global, $200M ERP Project Planning  - Standards  -  Application Architect Team Oversight -  International User Relations

Handpicked for HQ program leadership role, driving initiative to identify and resolve gaps across ERP processes in Oracle Consumer Packaged Goods product (Financials, IMI, GEMMS, Manugistics). Created $200K savings from country readiness assessments (reducing implementation errors) with later 8-month, successful SAP implementation stemming from alerts to executives on vendor non-delivery (case study subsequently reported by CIO.com).

International ERP Package Requirements  -  International User Input  - Applications Gap Analysis

Built company’s first Order-to-Cash standardized templates formed in collaboration with users worldwide after identifying common functions. Negotiated common requirements inclusions / conferred with Oracle Consumer Packaged Goods Management to resolve software issues.

20% IT Cost Savings  -  Oracle Financials & HRIS Deployment  -  12 Direct Reports  -  Oversee IT Development for 200 users

Additional Experience: EDI Developer, Industrial Engineer, Cost Accounting Manager, Senior Financial Analyst

Bachelor of Applied Science in Systems Design Engineering  -  University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Corporate & Graduate-Level Training: Negotiation, Corporate Leadership, Team Building, Business Reengineering, Recruitment; Technology Courses:  Oracle Financials, Order Entry, PLCs, BPEL

Databases & Applications: Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, OBIEE, Discoverer, Pentaho, Oracle Data Integrator, Talend

Languages & Tools: Java, PHP, HTML, AJAX, JavaScript, XML, PL/SQL, Joomla, JIRA, ActiTime, Liferay, BPEL

Platforms: Windows, Linux, Solaris, VMS, Exec 8, OS 2200