DAWN CUNNINGHAM
Randallstown,MD
Summary
Insightful Information Technology Manager with 29 years of IT leadership experience including oversight of infrastructure, and application support. Dedicated to customer satisfaction with focused delivery of technical solutions. Proven leader in directing operations, maintenance and support of complex systems. Develops creative business solutions, leveraging diverse methodologies and delivering engineering solutions for leading organizations. Highly adept in request for proposal development, technology needs assessments and staff training.
Overview
36
36
years of professional experience
Work History
Deputy of Service Infrastructure & Operations
Leidos, Inc.
11.2018 - 02.2024
- Coordinated closely with the Program Manager to help establish clear objectives and effectively communicate program needs
- Led implementation of solutions from establishing project requirements and goals to solution go-live
- Managed and ran multiple delivery teams ensuring governance at top management level, conducting project meetings, and identifying successful and unsuccessful project factors and gaps
- Worked closely with multi-disciplined teams to drive estimates, delivery plans, and retrospectives, identified and managed engagement risks, and flagged major issues early
- Built and managed a high performing team of delivery managers resulting in a 30% increase in team productivity
- Developed and implemented new standard operating procedures and policies resulting in a 15% increase in service levels
- Hired and managed contract resources or agencies for specific projects or to augment team staffing.
- Provided thorough training to junior deputies, fostering professional growth and skill development.
- Assisted in budget planning and management, allocating resources strategically for optimal department performance.
- Increased productivity by developing comprehensive project timelines and monitoring progress closely.
Claims Operations Senior Manager
Conduent/Xerox State & Local Solutions, Inc.
12.2015 - 11.2018
- Led cross-functional teams to achieve project milestones and deliver high-quality results.
- Provided strong leadership to enhance team productivity and morale.Managed IT infrastructure issues in a timely manner resulting in a 30% decrease in downtime
- Coordinated efforts for day-to-day operational success for 5 Functional Managers and 95 Subject Matter Experts
- Managed and oversaw end-to-end delivery of digital projects, including requirements elicitation, solution design, development, testing, and deployment for Claim Operations, Network, Security, Problem/Crisis Management and Help Desk functional areas
- Provided technical expertise to project teams and identified and resolved technical issues
- Built and managed a high-performing team of developers, ensuring team productivity and performance
- Managed project budgets, timelines, and risks
- Established and maintained strong relationships with clients, stakeholders, and vendors
- Contributed to business development efforts by creating proposals, participating in sales meetings, and providing technical insights.
Data Center Operations Senior Manager
Lockheed Martin Information Technology
01.2006 - 12.2015
- Collaborated with Directors and Managers to move the Technology Shared Services and Application Development areas to ITIL best practices
- Coordinated efforts for day-to-day operational success of the Crisis Management, Problem Management, Business Continuity Planning, Operational Readiness, and Enterprise File Migration functional areas
- Managed 6 Functional Managers & 135 Subject Matter Experts
- Defined and implemented departmental policies, procedures and best practices
- Ensured adherence of company and IT operations to HIPAA compliant set of documented procedures Direct, Managed File Transfer (MFT) Platform Server/Internet Server and Sterling B2B Integrator functions
- Facilitated Operational Readiness Reviews
- Sustained effective communications with all stakeholders and cross-functional teams to maximize the customer experience
- Developed training curriculum & facilitated training classes monthly for Data Center Manager certification updates
- Facilitated and coordinated Monthly Maintenance Weekend efforts.
- Provided strong leadership to enhance team productivity and morale.
- Led cross-functional teams to achieve project milestones and deliver high-quality results.
Systems Integration Manager
Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems & Solutions
02.2005 - 01.2006
- Mentored junior team members on best practices in systems integration management, fostering a culture of professional growth and continuous learning.
- Developed comprehensive integration strategies for seamless software implementation, enhancing overall system performance.
- Managed a staff of 25 team members consisting of System Engineers, Software Engineers and System Test Analysts
- Led daily IT operations, including managing and working with the outside contractors, developing and supporting database applications, system integrations and advanced reporting
- Coordinated efforts with event-based planning to help manage a major DoD customer’s strategic transformation.
- Conducted thorough risk assessments during planning stages of integration projects, minimizing potential challenges before they arise.
- Troubleshot and resolved complex integration issues, ensuring minimal downtime for end users.
- Designed test plans to validate the functionality of integrated systems, mitigating potential issues prior to deployment.
Staff Resource Manager
Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems & Solutions
01.2004 - 02.2005
- Collaborated with department heads to identify staffing requirements, resulting in improved workforce planning and reduced turnover rates.
- Served as a key point of contact for both internal stakeholders and external partners on matters relating to resource availability and allocation, fostering strong relationships built on trust and transparency.
- While awaiting the security clearance process, I managed a staff of 6 Human Resource analysts.
- Orchestrated the requisition process and successful on-going recruitment efforts
- Reviewed resumes and interviewed candidates, placing candidates in various contract openings
- Maintained database of active/inactive requisitions and reviewed benefit packages
- Evaluated and assessed existing staffing model and made recommendations to implement best practices
- Met weekly with Program Management to discuss job openings/qualifications.
Engineering Testing Manager
ManTech/CTX Corporation
08.2002 - 01.2004
- Coordinated Testing procedures for a web-based Navy HIV statistics application
- Managed daily activities for 15 employees, Database Administrators, Network Engineers, Software/Systems Engineers, COBOL Programmers, contractors and the government staff
- Optimized test environments through careful configuration management, reducing downtime and increasing productivity.Coordinated test efforts of the Operational Test and Evaluation of HL7 Message Testing
- Directed communications between programmers & customer/GTL in reference to all testing processes
- Provided technical expertise on Test Case Design, Execution and Report Test results to junior level testing analysts.
- Mentored junior testers in industry best practices, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
Systems Engineer Team Lead
Titan Systems
02.1988 - 08.2002
- Implemented IT infrastructure upgrades, ensuring minimal downtime during the transition process.
- Improved system performance by identifying and resolving technical issues in a timely manner.
- Managed a team of 8 System/Software Engineers
- Monitored and performed product evaluations for assigned systems for HealthCare Financial Administration (HCFA)
- Produced deliverables for all product evaluations and witnessed testing of assigned systems
- Evaluated test cases, tests scenarios, test plans, project plans, test notes, assisted with Certification Readiness Reviews
- Reviewed and provided input to system impacts and assessments
- Provided specialized technical guidance and assistance to team members’ issues specific to software technology
- Briefed upper Management weekly on division status.
Software Engineer
Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems & Solutions
06.1995 - 02.1998
- Worked with software development and testing team members to design and develop robust solutions to meet client requirements for functionality, scalability, and performance.
- Consistently met project deadlines by effectively managing time and prioritizing tasks according to importance.
- Coordinated requirements with existing and projected computer capacities & capabilities
- Completed programming assignments to enhance automated data/voice applications and software within mainframe, network and client/server environments
- Improved functioning of databases, communication systems, storage area networks and server configurations
- Provided troubleshooting across sub-systems, coordination of projects, interfaces with other organizations, and problem solving
- Provided support analysis to maintain system operations on time critical software requested by the SIGINT client
- Defined and resolved conflicts between requirements
- Extracted data from various databases to aid in anomaly investigations
- Executed contingency responses dictated by system anomalies
- Performed real time control and analysis of system components to maintain operational capability.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Computer Science
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Baltimore, MD06.1995
Skills
- Service Now
- Remedy
- Microsoft O365
- One Drive
- SharePoint
- Active Directory
- Microsoft Teams
- Version One
- Agile
- Work Otter
- Workday
- VISIO
- Microsoft Office
- Microsoft Project
- SQL
- PL/SQL
- ROI Analysis
- Primavera
Management Competencies
- Resourceful Problem Solving
- Excellent Communication
- Confident Public Speaking
- Team Leadership & Direction
- Goal Oriented
- Staff Training and Development
- Strategic Thinking
- Process Improvement
- Conflict Resolution
References
References furnished upon request.
Timeline
Deputy of Service Infrastructure & Operations
Leidos, Inc.
11.2018 - 02.2024
Claims Operations Senior Manager
Conduent/Xerox State & Local Solutions, Inc.
12.2015 - 11.2018
Data Center Operations Senior Manager
Lockheed Martin Information Technology
01.2006 - 12.2015
Systems Integration Manager
Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems & Solutions
02.2005 - 01.2006
Staff Resource Manager
Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems & Solutions
01.2004 - 02.2005
Engineering Testing Manager
ManTech/CTX Corporation
08.2002 - 01.2004
Software Engineer
Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems & Solutions
06.1995 - 02.1998
Systems Engineer Team Lead
Titan Systems
02.1988 - 08.2002
Bachelor of Science - Computer Science
University of Maryland, Baltimore County