Debra (Debbie) Fortune-Rogers
Austin,TX
Summary
Experienced project manager with extensive expertise in overseeing project
implementation and improving client satisfaction at Verizon. Skilled in leading cross functional teams to exceed objectives with a strong focus on detail and communication. Proven ability to achieve significant project milestones through strategic planning. Dedicated to leveraging leadership skills to drive future project success Strategic Senior Manager known for productivity and efficiency in task completion. Skilled in leadership, operational strategy, and financial management. Excel at communication, problem-solving, and adaptability to drive team success and achieve organizational goals.
Overview
30
30
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Infrastructure Transition Senior Manager
Verizon business
Austin, Texas
01.2023 - Current
- Managed the Eastern Service Area Airspace transitions, coordinating with multiple
providers and teams across various locations.
- Developed and maintained detailed project schedules and calendars, ensuring
alignment with transition leads and stakeholders.
- Led cross-functional teams to achieve project milestones efficiently, ensuring
collaboration and effective communication.
- Coordinated and executed complex infrastructure transitions, managing risks and
opportunities for consistent project success.
- Influenced continuous improvement of project management methodologies, assessing
delivery capabilities and performance metrics.
Project Manager
Spectrum Enterprise
Austin, Texas
07.2016 - 10.2023
- Providing direction and leadership to enable a professional onboarding experience for fiber technology solutions which includes networking and Ethernet Access to businesses and communications service provider’s customers
- My role is the link between Enterprise, Regional, and local Market Area leadership teams serving as a single point of contact
- Demonstrated the ability to facilitate and influence internal and external key stakeholders and build consensus
- Develop and maintain strong relationships with all sales channels, technical operations, construction, dispatch, care, and network operations center (NOC) and engineering
- Accelerate company success by managing multiple highly involved, enterprise-wide programs consisting of various projects
- Ensure the successful integration of projects through detailed monitoring and adjusting the scope, timing, and budget as needed
- Using extensive technical and project management experience, develop and maintain strong relationships with Sales Channels, Order Management, Project Management, Engineering, Construction, Field Operations, Technical Operations, and Networks
- Manage Hub Infrastructure/Migrations, end–to–end customer installation
- Assessing workforce capacity requirements to meet standard SLO intervals, aiding in new project launches, and interfacing with external customers
Project Manager Commercial Order Management Group - CTBH/Service Delivery Manager – Complex Projects
Spectrum Enterprise
06.2015 - 07.2016
- Company Overview: Business Class Fiber Services
- Responsible for the oversight of the core flow of order movement through various boundary partner teams in completing a successful Hub Infrastructure, end–to–end customer installation
- Analysis and monitoring of onboarding performance metrics (site surveys, installation timeframes, and completion rates), assessing workforce capacity requirements to meet standard SLO intervals, and execution of schedules by the project team to ensure the project deadlines and milestones are met
- Business Class Fiber Services
- Project Management of closed won orders to circuit delivery
- Managing All complex projects e.g
- (10g waves)
- Responsible for reviewing SPARC, high-level design, and planning design guide
- Manage, facilitate & support of cross-functional teams to ensure transition handoffs, timelines & schedules are meeting build plans for scheduled milestones for 350 + sites
- Schedule BC fiber tech ops for CPE installation, coordinate with landlords for access for teams
- Manage/track development with customers for deliveries, changes, moves relocations
- Request VLAN/NNIs implement upload for circuit network design completion, ensure circuit clears granite set to live for delivery
- Database management (Salesforce), documents control implementation of projects
- The oversight of the planning, development, and execution of schedules by the project team to ensure the project deadlines and milestones are met
- Initiate and facilitate regularly scheduled planning meetings with business partners
- Proactively identifies key barriers to project success and works with project teams to define and manage activities to mitigate those barriers
- Actively following up on next steps/action items to ensure activity is moving forward and identify potential conflicts as they arise
- Escalate and resolve issues via proper communication channels
- Interact with Project Team, and Senior Leaders to develop conflict resolution plans as required
- Identify and manage scope, including maintaining and obtaining approval; for schedule changes and provide weekly status progress reports utilizing the tools provided
- Excellent ability to manage multiple projects at one time, prioritize and organize effectively, show judgment to make decisions, and solve problems under pressure
- Create, Monitor, and maintain daily and weekly dashboards focused on order movement, SLO adherence, and additional metrics as identified
- Responsible for the end-to-end completion of escalations and expedites within the assigned area
- Proactively communicate to all key stakeholders
Senior PM-Transition/Service Delivery Manager
System Dell Services
Austin, Texas
04.2013 - 06.2014
- Company Overview: Federal Government Contractor
- Was responsible for the execution and performance of transitioning all of the Army IT centers over to the Dell service operations Tier I & Tier II help desk, managing the Army objectives and meeting the contractual SLA deliverables, completing transition project on schedule, and acting as the primary liaison between all team members assigned to the transition project, the Dell Army Service Desk, and the US Army
- Maintaining regular communication with active team and Army stakeholders to ensure necessary and appropriate steps are taken to resolve difficulties, which may impede progress or compromise the achievement of the transition project’s objectives
- Federal Government Contractor
- Achieve the transition program objectives
- Manage and lead the project team and understand team interaction with customers and Dell Services
- Gaining the confidence of all parties involved in the project
- Managing the US Army and its expectations
- Meeting and delivering all contractual documentation
- Defining project scope and developing project plans
- Taking on leadership on the project
- Communicating with all levels of senior management
- Prepared and developed Stand Operating Procedures for the Dell Army Enterprise Service Desk located in Nashville, TN, and Oklahoma City, OK
- Responsible for the implementation/Night cutover of the IVR/ACD call routing/Dynamic Messaging for both the Nashville and OKC Dell Army Service Desk Call Center
- Implemented the new Verizon Virtual Contact Center IVR System on the Army Enterprise Service Help Desk
- Created (SOP) Standard operation Procedure document for the Service Desk agents
Senior Implementation Project Manager
VERIZON
New York, NY
12.2007 - 08.2012
- Promoted to serve as Life Cycle Project Manager for financial institution and stock market trading premier customers, Citigroup, Citigroup/Lava Trading/CitiFinancial/Smith Barney/Morgan Stanley, Bloomberg & Deutsche Bank; accounts generate revenue of $130M+ per year
- Provide on-site customer & Data Center support; assess customer requirements, present solutions, provide optimal customer service, and foster sustainable account relationships
- Manage all project stages from initial requirements definition through implementation and end-user follow-up
- Managed teams in call center and project-based environments
- Plan and implement upgrades, and decommissions at geographically dispersed regional locations
- Monitor and track team performance and results; manage forecasts and reporting for billing cycles
- Manage logistics, planning, and priorities; lead meetings and conferences
- Coordinate with technical staff to meet milestones
- Conducted several site visits/inspections at Citigroup’s Data centers & Branches to ensure that the site was completed, for example; Cables were installed – fiber was run – Telco room/cabinet had power and was ready to accommodate the equipment & circuit that Verizon would need to install to support Citi’s bandwidth request
- Worked and coordinated with vendors to ensure that material & equipment were ordered and shipped in a timely fashion to meet Citi’s deadlines
- Coordinated E2E (end-to-end) testing with the tech support team and Citigroup’s Network team – for turn-up circuits and to go live
- (Hotcut/cutovers & activations)
- Coached, trained & Reduced implementation intervals of LD circuits to resulting immediate customer satisfaction improvement
- Supervised and led cross-functional teams to meet Citigroup’s deadline and SLAs
- Interface with ILEC, CLECs, and IXCs for the installation of Voice, Data circuits, and Manage services
- Created lasting customer relationships that reduced cost, optimized resources, and improved project management processes; professionally handled first-line client escalations
- Recognized as key team leader implemental in securing and retaining key customers
- Assumed leadership to increase Smith Barney/Citigroup scorecard by several points after assuming account leadership in March 2007
- Ensuring that all SONET, ETHERNETS, VLAN/VPN, /HSS/HLR/MIND/Active Charge/OTA/PCRF/MSP/OCG/MPLS Ethernet circuit IP configs is provided to Citigroup ahead of activation date
- Activation/Night Cutovers Ensuring that all equipment such as multiplexers – MUXs – Cards – Media-Converters was shipped and installed
- Skillfully managed multiple project processes including installations, order entries, and invoicing, as well as customer interface exceeding all work order requirements; resolved multiple client challenges
- Interface with organizations within Citigroup and VZB for branch relocations & coordinated hot cuts with our layer 1 team
- Coordinated the Citigroup/Lava Trading/CitiFinancial projects to migrate all data/voice circuits from various Citi Data Centers throughout the United States
- Managed and tracked Project progress in the Clarity system
- Experience with installing, cabling, and providing power to equipment in the MPLS
- Experience with testing equipment (Telecom)
- Coordinate the installation of managed services
Telecom Billing Customer Service Representative-Call Center
NYNEX
New York, NY
04.1995 - 05.2004
- Received, tracked, researched, and analyzed PSC customer complaints to develop processes for efficiently and effectively handling customer concerns
- Investigated account discrepancies to resolve customers’ billing issues
- Supported company to recover lost revenue by arranging billing agreements with customers
- Chosen as team leader for 15 representatives for two years during tenure
- Assisted customers in resolving issues related to customer service and collection policies, billing inquiries/disputes, and fraud
Education
Bachelor Degree - Business Management
SUNY Empire State College
Albany, NYSkills
- Project Management Leadership
- Stakeholder Engagement
- Risk and Issue Management
- Strategic Planning
- Cross-Functional Team Leadership
Technological Training
- EzStatus
- PC Controller
- Pro Quest
- Secure Gateway Services & Internet Dedicated Managed
- Managed WAN & LAN Product
- IP VPN Broadband
- Introduction to Network Management – Concepts, Standards, Architecture, & Design
- Document Management System
- Records Management Training
- Salesforce
- Excel Advanced
- Microsoft Office Suite
- MS Project
- MS Visio
- SharePoint
- Google Drive
Certification
- ITIL Foundation v3
- Project Management Professional (pending)
Education - Degrees
- Bachelor Degree, Business Management, EMPIRE STATE UNIVERSITY, Albany, NY
- Associate Degree, Liberal Arts, EMPIRE STATE UNIVERSITY, Albany, NY
Security Clearance
- Obtained Government Public Trust
- Secret Clearance
Timeline
Infrastructure Transition Senior Manager
Verizon business
01.2023 - Current
Project Manager
Spectrum Enterprise
07.2016 - 10.2023
Project Manager Commercial Order Management Group - CTBH/Service Delivery Manager – Complex Projects
Spectrum Enterprise
06.2015 - 07.2016
Senior PM-Transition/Service Delivery Manager
System Dell Services
04.2013 - 06.2014
Senior Implementation Project Manager
VERIZON
12.2007 - 08.2012
Telecom Billing Customer Service Representative-Call Center
NYNEX
04.1995 - 05.2004
Bachelor Degree - Business Management
SUNY Empire State College
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