Irfan Zaki
Chicago,IL
Summary
20+ years of experience in the field of Customer Success, Customer Account Management, Service Delivery, Technical Support Management in various customer facing roles. Building and scaling customer/technical support organizations.
Overview
29
29
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Director, Global Technical Support
JMA Wireless
Deerfield, IL
11.2021 - Current
- Developed and executed plan for scaling the existing customer/technical support organization to be able to handle the growing customers base including ticketing system, support structure, SLA establishment, performance monitoring
- Put together plans to streamline/consolidate the multiple support groups globally to drive organizational efficiency and collaboration
- Established uniform support processes (escalation, handover, onboarding, tiered support) across the cross functional organization
- Managed the commercial support for customer accounts (Motorola, US Government/Federal markets, TIM/WindTre Italy) which included the JMA product lines (Private Networks LTE/5G, XOAS, XRAN BBU, Cellhub, IOTA radios)
- Initial onboarding of new customer to JMA technical support
- New support contract negotiations, which included software upgrades, hardware support, technical support, and training for new customers
- Driving improvements in process, customer handling, responsiveness
- Pricing strategy for technical support services.
Program Director, International - Softbank Japan, Kyocera
JMA Wireless
Deerfield, IL
02.2022 - 08.2023
- Led team of integration Engineers, PMs, SMEs, Product Managers through a cutting-edge trial for Private 5G network (ORAN Front Haul, 5G radio) for Softbank Japan
- Deployment and integration of multiple labs across the Tokyo area
- Adherence to strict operating requirements/standards (documentation, MOPs, etc) in the Japan market
- Driving product improvements/documentation as technical issues were encountered
- Managed/planned resources across 3 continents, Italy, US, and Japan
- Executive read outs on project status, challenges, successes, bottlenecks.
Sr Manager, Customer Success / Service Delivery – Verizon Wireless
Ericsson
Schaumburg, IL
01.2014 - 10.2021
- Account Management of post in-service support contract for Tier1 Operator (LTE/5G Network)
- Driving complex local/national technical issues to resolution as well Root Cause Analysis (RCAs) for network outages
- Leading weekly/monthly/quarterly Business Review meetings with the Customer Management to go over KPIs, upcoming releases, hot issues, performance scorecard
- Responsible for ensuring customer support functions are adhering to established Service Level Agreements (SLA)
- Managing P&L for the Customer Support organization and delivering on aggressive, best in class margin targets
- Setting up support structure, process, competence development for new products Front Haul, Mission Critical Push to Talk, SCEF exposure functions.
Customer Success Manager / Service Delivery
Ericsson
Chicago, IL
02.2011 - 01.2014
- Single point of contact for post in-service issues/escalations (trouble tickets, software upgrades, hardware, emergency recovery)
- Driving cost efficiency by reducing hours spent per trouble ticket and costly Level2 support engagement
- Proactively monitoring the customer network and addressing concerns/issues before they become escalations
- Successful in identifying services opportunities to the sales team resulting in add on sales
- Driving continuous CSAT improvement through internal organizations
- Project managed software and correction package rollouts.
Solution Manager (Wireless Networks CDMA/LTE)
Nortel
Richardson, TX
01.2004 - 02.2011
- Provided material estimates for RFPs, bids, proposals for CDMA/LTE networks
- Designed/planned the customer network based on quarterly forecast
- Created solutions based on the latest product/services portfolio and customer requirement
- Monitored the customer network and proactively identified capacity concerns and issues leading to add on Sales
- Delivered Quarterly Planning Meeting presentations on capacity planning and technical product roadmap
- Project managed and implemented complex, phased network conversion projects.
Network Engineer
Nortel
Alpharetta, GA
08.2000 - 01.2004
- Engineering of CDMA, AMPS & TDMA networks, Hybrid IOS Nortel/Motorola deployment, Cell Site Migration, Remote BSC, Network change out and cutover, greenfield deployment
- IP Planning for Packet/Data Networks
- Capacity planning, hardware provisioning, MOP development, and script generation for wireless Core/RAN nodes
- Customer network monitoring and KPI/Performance reporting
- Delivering Quarterly Planning Meeting presentations as well as technical presentations on new products
- IP/Packet conversion of circuit based wireless networks.
System Test Engineer
Nortel
Richardson, TX
05.2000 - 08.2000
- Wireless Interoperability Testing between Nortel MTX and other vendor's BSCs in lab environment
- Performed software upgrades and patch application on the MTX
- Created scripts to automate the process of downloading applying patches to the MTX
- Generated test cases and performed feature testing.
Network Administrator
Carrington International
Plano, TX
04.2000 - 05.2000
- Provided corporate-wide IT network support for Novell and NT Servers
- Assisted in designing and developing corporate intranet site
- Managed user accounts, files, and directories on Novell and NT Servers
- Performed daily backups on Novell and NT Servers
- Researched/tested/implemented various hardware and software applications to improve efficiency and productivity.
Technical Analyst
SBC Global (Southwestern Bell Internet)
Plano, TX
06.1999 - 01.2000
- Provided technical support for SBC Internet
- Support included installing, configuring, troubleshooting Modem hardware, DSL, ISDN, Dial-up Networking, (DOS/WIN/NT) operating systems, Internet Explorer, Netscape, E-mail and password/authentication.
IT/Help Desk Representative
Tenet Healthcare Corporation
Dallas, TX
07.1995 - 06.1999
- Provided support for Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
- Created multi-media presentations for meetings
- Technical support for PC hardware issues.
Education
Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems -
University of Texas at Dallas
01.2000
Skills
- Account Management
- Project Management
- Escalation Management
- Network Engineering/Planning
- Customer/Network Support
- Financial Management
- Customer advocacy
- Organizational Efficiency
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
- Resource/Manpower planning
- Support P&L
- Onboarding
- Contract Negotiation
- CSAT
- Process Improvement
- Collaboration
Certification
- Top Performer recognition, Ericsson, 2021
- Service Delivery Management Certification, Ericsson, 2014
- Leadership for Professionals, Ericsson, 2013
- IP Certification, Ericsson, 2013
- Cisco Certified Networking Associate (CCNA), 2010
Locations Preference
- Chicago, IL
- Dallas, TX
Work Type
Open to Hybrid, Onsite, Remote
Knowledge Experience
- Private 4G/LTE
- Private 5G
- Private Wireless
- Private Networks
- Virtualization
- Kubernetes
- O-RAN/Open RAN
- Fronthaul
- CBRS
- GNodeB
- Baseband
- DAS
- Virtual RAN
- MOON/MOCN
- Cloud-native
- Wind River/OS
References
CTO, VP, Director level Available upon request
Timeline
Program Director, International - Softbank Japan, Kyocera
JMA Wireless
02.2022 - 08.2023
Director, Global Technical Support
JMA Wireless
11.2021 - Current
Sr Manager, Customer Success / Service Delivery – Verizon Wireless
Ericsson
01.2014 - 10.2021
Customer Success Manager / Service Delivery
Ericsson
02.2011 - 01.2014
Solution Manager (Wireless Networks CDMA/LTE)
Nortel
01.2004 - 02.2011
Network Engineer
Nortel
08.2000 - 01.2004
System Test Engineer
Nortel
05.2000 - 08.2000
Network Administrator
Carrington International
04.2000 - 05.2000
Technical Analyst
SBC Global (Southwestern Bell Internet)
06.1999 - 01.2000
IT/Help Desk Representative
Tenet Healthcare Corporation
07.1995 - 06.1999
Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems -
University of Texas at Dallas
Similar Profiles
Suzanne HahnSuzanne Hahn
TLS Qualtiy Team Lead at JMA WirelessTLS Qualtiy Team Lead at JMA Wireless
Alaina CordoneAlaina Cordone
Strategic Sourcing Specialist at JMA WirelessStrategic Sourcing Specialist at JMA Wireless
Gopal KandasamyGopal Kandasamy
Release Train Engineer at JMA WirelessRelease Train Engineer at JMA Wireless
Kiloloma SelemaniKiloloma Selemani
Operator at JMA WirelessOperator at JMA Wireless
Alex WaymanAlex Wayman
Revenue Enablement Lead at Culture AmpRevenue Enablement Lead at Culture Amp