DAVID KOWALSKI

OBJECTIVE

Seeking a management position where I can build and empower teams to create innovative software systems that produce order-of-magnitude improvements in your organization's accuracy, throughput and profitability.

Highlights of Qualifications

• Over fifteen years experience in Data Systems design and Project Management.
• Creative, resourceful and independent thinker with the ability to assimilate large amounts of information rapidly.
• Extensive experience in systems planning, project management, business process re-engineering and system design and implementation.
• Very successful in business, academic and intra-personal environments.
• Highly adaptive and technically savvy team player who thrives on innovation…an Architect of Solutions.
• Long-term commitment to bringing about real, practical results in people's lives through thorough training and development.

Representative Experience

Project Management

• Principal architect and project manager for a web-based tracking system which is being used by one of the world's largest financial services companies to manage all their maintenance, construction  and leasehold improvement throughout the world.
• Managed multiple concurrent long-term customization projects for a software development company.
• Provided corporation's executives with a system to perform extensive and complex financial analysis and projections on up-to-the-minute sales data.
• Designed, developed and implemented state-of-the-art automated system which cut company's average order-provisioning time from six hours to five minutes.
• Created a commission-payment system for a company which was typically four to six months behind in payments, moving them to 100% on-time payment.
• Designed and supervised the implementation of the data warehouse underlying a client/server-based Executive Information System.
• Volunteered to supervise teams of coaches in Landmark Education's Self-Expression and Leadership Program and Introduction to the Forum Leaders Program.

Organizational and Technical Skills

• Proficient in Oracle, Sybase, Unix, Windows, SAP R/3, FoxPro, various CASE tools (IEW, IEF, BDF, System Architect) and several programming languages (C, C++, Bourne & Korn shell, PL*SQL, SQL*Plus, HTML). Also proficient in version-control software (SCCS, RCS, PVCS, PCMS).
• Highly skilled in data warehouse, data mining and data analysis and design techniques and methodologies.
• Extensive experience with full life-cycle development of software applications.
• Published numerous  technical articles both here and abroad.

Employment History

Education

Training

PROJECT SYNOPSES

For a global financial services company, designed and supervised the implementation of a highly customizable web-based system to manage all their construction and tenant fit-out work around the world.  The system includes an approval workflow engine, detailed budget analysis, tracking of bids, buyouts and change orders, all invoicing (submission, review, approval and payment) and the ability for contractors to communicate bids, invoices and change requests via the internet.  Environment:  Windows 2000 Server, IIS/ASP (Visual Basic/Javascript), Sybase, Crystal Reports, unix, perl/cgi.

For a company which supplies extensively customized versions of a full-range client/server product for the operation of insurance companies, I managed several groups of analysts, developers, system integrators and Quality Assurance teams to ensure that customizations were delivered on time and within budget. Combined responsibilities were approximately 50 people and combined budgets of approximately four million dollars. Environment: Oracle, Unix, Windows, Powerbuilder, Microsoft Project.

Initiated and chaired a number of corporate task forces. These have included the definition of a management bonus plan, the definition of standards for tracking and reporting all tasks of all employees throughout the corporation, the development of a project management methodology and the definition and implementation of defect tracking and resolution procedures.

As part of a deployment of SAP R/3, I designed and managed the implementation of the ABAP extraction programs that feed the corporate data warehouse. Because R/3 stores its data in a format distinctly different from the legacy systems, this involved extensive probing of the internal R/3 database tables to ensure that the analytical and reporting needs continue to be met. Environment: SAP R/3, Oracle, Unix, Windows, System Architect, FoxPro.

During the configuration phase of an SAP R/3 implementation, I served on a team of employees and consultants configuring many aspects of text, material and pricing determination algorithms. I was also a principal player in determining what would be implemented via configuration vs. ABAP programming and when extensions to the R/3 database tables were required. Environment: SAP R/3, System Architect.

I designed and managed the implementation of a large data warehouse used by multiple on-line and batch processes for the analysis and reporting of corporate profitability, sales forecasting, broker commission calculation and more. I also designed and managed the implementation of all interfaces to and from all external databases. Additionally, I designed and developed several tools to help manage the metadata. Environment: Oracle, Unix, Windows, System Architect, FoxPro, Xcom, Netware, Powerbuilder.

For a distributor of network communications services, I led a team of client managers and workers in the investigation and subsequent re-engineering of the ordering and provisioning processes of the distributor. This was followed by the design and implementation of a state-of-the-art automated provisioning system which cut the average provisioning time from six hours per order to approximately five minutes per order while simultaneously adding several dozen additional quality and control checkpoints. Environment: Unix/C, MS-DOS, Star*LAN, Windows, FoxPro, Escort.

For a manufacturer of computer systems, I facilitated a task force of compensation policy administrators charged with redesigning the policies and procedures for incenting the commissioned sales force. I then served as both database and system architect in the design and implementation of the systems to support these new policies. Within six months of implementation of the new system, commissions went from an average four to six month backlog to nearly 100% on-time payment. Environment: Oracle, Unix/C.

For a major telecommunications company, I defined data administration standards and procedures, managed the project data dictionary, and was the principal data modeler for a Customer Ordering and Inventory project. I also managed the coordination of data between the IEF CASE tool and a custom data dictionary of my own design. Environment: IEF, Oracle, Unix/C.

For a Fortune 500 company, I led a team responsible for the development of a system that managed discounts and pricing for customized contracts with high-profile, multi-million dollar customers. I developed and maintained customized data-tracking tools built for normalization of data structures. Extensive domain analysis and reverse-engineering of multiple legacy systems were employed in the production of a new data model. A particularly interesting aspect of this project was the definition and implementation of rules which allowed for the reconstruction of data which had been purged from all existing systems several years earlier. Environment: Informix, Unix/C.

For the last ten years, I have led teams of volunteers working with a human-potential training organization to coach program participants in overcoming their fears, inhibitions and perceived short-comings and to successfully take on projects to enrich some aspect of life in their communities.

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Copyright © 2001 by David Kowalski.  All rights reserved.