Brian Schuster
Senior IT Manager
Cleveland,OH
Summary
Dynamic IT leader with a proven ability to drive technology innovation and lead high-performing teams in delivering scalable solutions that align with business objectives. A strong commitment to customer satisfaction consistently results in optimized IT strategies that enhance user experiences and elevate overall business performance. Extensive expertise in IT strategy, management, and leadership positions well for a Senior IT Manager or Director role that supports organizational growth and fosters operational excellence. Dedicated to leveraging technology as a catalyst for success while ensuring alignment with the evolving needs of the business landscape.
Overview
23
23
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Senior Manager Hospitality Systems
TRAVELCENTERS OF AMERICA
05.2021 - Current
- Manager of our Point-of-Sale support teams for Retail, Gas, and Food Service offerings across 250+ sites, 9 gas brands, and more than 35 different food concepts.
- Managing three teams, setting direction, goals, and strategy to meet the goals of the company. Performing reviews, assisting with career growth through mentorship and guidance.
- Manage budgets for the department and estimate and forecast project budgets involving my teams.
- Led cross-functional teams to enhance operational efficiency and optimize service delivery.
- Facilitated collaboration between departments to streamline processes and reduce turnaround times.
- Oversaw budget management, ensuring alignment with organizational goals while maximizing resource utilization.
- Mentored junior staff members for skill development and career progression within the organization.
- Conducted performance evaluations, compensations and hiring to maintain appropriate staffing requirements.
Program Manager
TRAVELCENTERS OF AMERICA
01.2021 - 05.2021
- REACH Implementation Project - Managing tasks, schedules, multiple third-party vendors, and internal development staff, in an implementation of REACH with MuleSoft as the iPaaS solution to replace a legacy Lotus Notes application. Maintain Project documentation and run project and status meetings.
- Managing the process of performing the annual Disaster Recovery test for TravelCenters infrastructure and applications development teams. Ensuring project documentation and testing scripts are up to date for all applications and systems being tested.
- Led cross-functional teams to develop and implement operational strategies enhancing service delivery.
- Managed vendor relationships, ensuring compliance with contractual obligations and quality standards.
Senior Project Manager
TRAVELCENTERS OF AMERICA
04.2018 - 12.2020
- Cisco Contact Center project - Managing tasks, schedules, and third-party vendor to migrate to Cisco PCCE for multiple call centers. Maintain Project documentation and run project and status meetings.
- Oracle database migration project – Managed tasks and schedules for third-party vendor and internal resources to migrate Oracle 11G database to a new Oracle Exadata platform. Maintain Project documentation and run project and status meetings.
- Symantec Web Secure Gateway project – Managed the move to a new web proxy solution for the entire company across the company headquarters and multiple site locations across America.
- Streamlined project processes, enhancing efficiency and reducing operational bottlenecks.
- Collaborated with stakeholders to identify project requirements and drive strategic initiatives.
- Facilitated risk management assessments, proactively addressing potential challenges to project success.
- Maintained schedules to meet key milestones at every project phase.
- Presented regular status reports to executive leadership, providing insights into progress made toward achieving key milestones.
- Mentored junior project managers and team members to enhance their skills and career growth.
Senior Project Manager
CLEVELAND CLINIC AKRON GENERAL HOSPITAL
08.2015 - 04.2018
- Cisco Network and VOIP project - Managing tasks, schedules, and third-party vendor to prepare and upgrade multiple sites for LAN, WLAN, and Voice upgrades to support new Cisco systems. Maintain Project documentation and run project and status meetings.
- Managing network and telecommunications implementation for new office locations, including Cisco hardware, and structured cabling purchases and installation.
- Managed the combining of Akron's Imprivata (tap and go) systems with the Cleveland Clinic systems to form one Enterprise Imprivata system. This included upgrade over 1300 end point devices and integration of more than 20 applications. Maintain Project documentation and run project and status meetings.
- Network Integration – Managing Network IP readiness to integrate Akron General into the Cleveland Clinic network, including DHCP and DNS utilizing Infoblox. Managing the design of IP and VLAN schemes. Maintain Project documentation and run project and status meetings.
- Led cross-functional teams to deliver complex projects on time and within budget.
- Developed and implemented project plans, ensuring alignment with organizational goals.
- Mentored junior project managers, fostering professional growth and best practices.
Project Manager
SAFEGUARD PROPERTIES
07.2013 - 06.2015
- Managed timelines, budgets (equipment and external labor), held project meetings, created project documentation, Visio drawings, and presented to management on the following projects:
- Telecom projects include: Implementation of Call Center call recording, Avaya Elite Multichannel rollout, relocation of the disaster recovery PBX, and implementation of Good Dynamics in and HA/DR configuration.
- Networking projects include but not limited to: Upgrading Cisco closet switches to chassis-based equipment, proof of concept for secured wireless deployment, opening of a new building (structured cabling, equipment needs, and closet layouts), co-managing the implementation of network equipment in two new state of the art datacenters. Took over Project management duties for the Exchange user migration to a new Exchange platform in new datacenters.
- Managed the change management processes for the network, telephony, desktop and perimeter teams.
Project Manager
BENDIX COMMERCIAL VEHICLE SYSTEMS LLC
11.2002 - 06.2013
- Managed timelines, budgets (equipment and external labor), held project meetings, assembled project status reports, and presented to management on the following projects: PBX systems upgrades and replacement, Desktop and Laptop upgrade and roll-outs, Cisco Switch upgrade/replacement in multiple locations, new plant openings (including structured cabling, datacenter implementation), Corporate Domain migration, Windows OS and office upgrades, Novell to Microsoft file server migration, and hard drive encryption on more than 500 laptops just to name a few.
- Lead the IT User Help Desk, monitoring their activities and lowering the average open call volume by 50% with process improvements and metrics. In this lead position, negotiated different contracts related to staffing, hardware, and hardware maintenance.
- Managed corporate Avaya PBX for Americas region.
- Procurement responsibility for 90% of the purchases of IT equipment throughout the company in North America.
- Member of a global team (Americas Regional lead) for desktop hardware and software competency centers for parent company Knorr-Bremse in Munich Germany.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Business Management
UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX
01.2016
Professional Certificate - Project Management
UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX
01.2016
Skills
- Strategic planning
- Cross-functional collaboration
- Operations management
- Cross-functional team coordination
- Team leadership
- Process improvement
- Budget management
- Employee coaching and mentoring
- Team building
Accomplishments
- Supervised and mentored team of 14 staff members, to be higher achieving teams.
- Achieved lower incident per month through effectively leading teams to implement systems upgrades.
- Achieved process improvement by introducing Jira for project tasks.
- Maintained an even or underspent budget for 4 years straight
Certification
- PROJECT MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE
- PMP Certification 2002
Languages
English
Full Professional
Timeline
Senior Manager Hospitality Systems
TRAVELCENTERS OF AMERICA
05.2021 - Current
Program Manager
TRAVELCENTERS OF AMERICA
01.2021 - 05.2021
Senior Project Manager
TRAVELCENTERS OF AMERICA
04.2018 - 12.2020
Senior Project Manager
CLEVELAND CLINIC AKRON GENERAL HOSPITAL
08.2015 - 04.2018
Project Manager
SAFEGUARD PROPERTIES
07.2013 - 06.2015
Project Manager
BENDIX COMMERCIAL VEHICLE SYSTEMS LLC
11.2002 - 06.2013
Professional Certificate - Project Management
UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX
Bachelor of Science - Business Management
UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX