ANTHONY OKENWA
Calgary,AB
Summary
I am a results-driven project and program management professional with over 13 years of experience in telecommunications and IT. I excel in delivering high-impact projects that drive organizational growth and profitability. My expertise includes PMI agile and waterfall methodologies, strategic direction, stakeholder engagement, and project governance. I have a proven track record of managing large-scale projects, enhancing operational efficiency, and leading cross-functional teams to success. Now, I am excited to bring my transferable skills and expertise to the Suncor organization, leveraging my experience to drive innovation and achieve strategic goals.
Overview
14
14
years of professional experience
10
10
Certifications
Work History
Manager, Project Management Office - OSS, Core & Cloud Hub South
Ericsson
6 2020 - Current
- Efficiently recruited, coached, and mentored a highly skilled team of project managers, fostering a culture of excellence and accountability to drive the organization's Cloud Core and Software Services project delivery
- Providing direction to drive optimal performance across a diverse portfolio of 133 ICT projects, overseeing a team of up to 24 project managers at a time and driving about $500M+ projects budget, 25+ gross profit year-on-year
- Introduced the most extensive Cloud network in one of our Communications Service Providers' networks within the region, resulting in 70M+ active data subscriptions and early market entry to facilitate tremendous growth
- Led team to deploy 5G solutions projects as a new technology aspect of the business model for customers, resulting in further market share penetration and winning Enterprise 5G private network solutions contracts
- Led initiatives on project Data governance best practices to ensure repository and privacy controls to maintain data integrity, resulting in a 50% increase in trust and productivity
- Optimized costs and right-shoring program delivery team, resulting in 20% cost savings and improved margins
- Utilize a transformational leadership method to motivate and empower the team to align to the strategic vision and tailor situational leadership to the individual skill level of team members
- Established and promoted project management guidelines, best practices, and standards within the organization to improve project management processes.
Program Director - Digital Services
Ericsson
12.2017 - 06.2020
- Led planning, execution, and closure of technology projects and programs, new services/products, lifecycle, new platforms, capacity expansions, software and hardware upgrades, optimization, and reliability enhancements
- Worked on contract fulfilment responsibilities, presale and aftermarket project delivery, customer-centric technology transformation programs and initiatives, directly targeting end customers' pain points and business objectives
- Oversaw nationwide contract executions, digitization of communication infrastructure, software lifecycle upgrades and migration to cloud-based infrastructure capacity valued at $180M+
- Delivered clients' go-to-market strategic projects ahead of the lead time of competitors, resulting in 30% growth in market share
- Facilitated quality assurance initiatives and framework that led to a decrease in project deployment outages, providing a reliable performing network and reducing services emergencies to 5%.
Senior Project Manager - Consulting and Systems
Ericsson
01.2011 - 11.2017
- Worked with cross-functional teams, practice areas and key account teams by securing resources for sales opportunities and delivery engagements
- Intensely collaborated at all levels to support the end-to-end project lifecycle deliveries
- Provided leadership to a team of service project manager professionals, including about 10+ Solution Architects and Services Engineers in local and remote matrix organizations to ensure end-to-end project delivery within Middle East and African markets
- Directed a project optimizing performance during the transition from legacy to optimized network management system, ensuring project success and avoiding competition
- Led the deployment of a massive subscription database for a major client with a capacity of 115M+ subscribers, enabling scalability and reliability
- Successfully implemented a record-breaking core network modernization program worth $20M+ at a 30% margin, earning outstanding awards from 2013-2015
- Recognized for outstanding performance and leadership, receiving the prestigious CEO Long-Term Variable Award in recognition of contributions toward driving success in the organization
- Leveraged a coaching approach to guide team members, beginning with assessing potential obstacles and ensuring alignment with the process
- Enabled a supportive environment where individuals can experiment and learn from mistakes without impacting contractual obligations
- Led teams of engineers while delivering telecommunication core systems and radio access network projects.
Education
Executive MBA -
Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary
Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) Electrical & Electronic Engineering - undefined
ESUT, Nigeria
Skills
Telecommunication and IT Project Management: Thirteen years of experience leading cross-functional teams to deliver high-quality and high-impact projects/programs that drive growth and profitability for the organization
Project management methodologies: Developed agile and waterfall skillsets centred on executing comprehensive project and program plans, managing project budgets and resources, and ensuring timely delivery within scope through business ethics and compliance
Project Governance and Operation: Demonstrated expertise in quality control, risk mitigation, issue resolution, and change management and reporting project execution status at all levels of the organization through structured project governance
Strategic Direction: Aligned all project management activities with the organization's strategic direction, developing a plan to support leadership goals and address market pressures while maintaining an in-depth knowledge of market trends and dynamics
Stakeholder engagement and Communication: Utilized exceptional communication and conflict resolution skills to foster collaboration among cross-functional teams and strong relationship management skills for internal audiences, clients and third parties
External Partnerships: Prioritized building strong partnerships relationships and ensuring profitability with contracts and expectations Embraced high integrity while working with vendors to establish trust and achieve goals
Privacy Expertise: Exceptional expertise in privacy, data governance, and data management practices Demonstrated conformity with privacy laws and regulations and non-disclosure agreements
Software: MS Project, Jira, SAP, SuccessFactors, Clarity, Salesforce (CRM), Tableau, Microsoft suite
Negotiation
Financial Management
Cross-Functional Teamwork
Budget Control
Websites
Certification
Project Management Professional (PMP)
Languages
English
Full Professional
Software
Microsoft suite/Project, Jira, SAP, SuccessFactors, Clarity, Salesforce, Tableau
Timeline
Program Director - Digital Services
Ericsson
12.2017 - 06.2020
Senior Project Manager - Consulting and Systems
Ericsson
01.2011 - 11.2017
Manager, Project Management Office - OSS, Core & Cloud Hub South
Ericsson
6 2020 - Current
Executive MBA -
Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary
Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) Electrical & Electronic Engineering - undefined
ESUT, Nigeria