Longform Resume
I have a pretty extensive career encompassing many overlapping disciplines.
September 76 - November 82
British Telecommunications plc, Peterborough, England
Technical Officer, Microwave Radio Systems.
After completing an apprenticeship with BT, as a Technical Officer I was responsible for maintenance to component level of equipment operating on 2, 4 and 6 GHz carrying FDM telephony and TV traffic at one of the major sites in the BT Microwave network. This also included maintenance of FDM multiplex equipment and various video /audio terminal equipment.
Additionally I participated in investigation and resolution of RF interference issues for consumer and commercial entities.
November 82 - January 91
Independent Television News Ltd., London, England
Supervisory Engineer, Engineering Projects
I joined ITN in the ENG Maintenance department. Here I was responsible for maintenance of various VHF, UHF and microwave systems.
Subsequently I transferred to become part of the Engineering Projects team. In this role I implemented new technical installations and modifications to existing facilities with sole responsibility for all aspects of microwave, RF and satellite systems.
Both roles included frequent interaction with the RF Ops team providing assistance and supplementing their operational capabilities.
Notable major projects completed include:-
- First Satellite Newsgathering system in UK – one of the first fly-away systems in the world
- First fully equipped Newsgathering Helicopter in UK, with associated ground segment tracking systems
- 3 Radio Links Vehicles with 2.5GHz link and extensive VHF/UHF comms.
- 2 remotely controlled 2.5 GHz receive terminals with 12 GHz Link to Studio..
- 2 Mobile VTR editing vehicles.
- Design of all RF and Satellite facilities for new ITN broadcasting center.
- Relocation of Master Control to new ITN broadcast center without interrupting transmission of 18 hours live programming daily.
January 91 - May 91
Satellite Communications Engineer and Consultant
Consultant to Continental Microwave Ltd., a major UK manufacturer of microwave communications equipment, in connection with the development of a new satellite communications product line which subsequently commanded significant market share.
After relocating from the UK to USA I provided consulting services to Synergistic Technologies, Inc. in connection with design and integration of two Ku Band fly-away SNG terminals and the startup of a highly profitable SNG operations group within the company.
Relocated to the US in this period.
May 91 - August 92
Synergistic Technologies, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA
Director of Satellite Operations
Responsible for day to day management of two Ku band SNG uplinks, which were contracted by the European Broadcasting Union to provide quick response uplink facilities for news coverage.
These uplink facilities were used by all major European broadcasters in such locations as the majority of CIS countries, Kuwait and various places in the former Yugoslavia, including Sarajevo.
Duties included selection and training of staff, development of operational procedures, client liaison and 24hr support of field operations.
August 92 - August 95
Satellite Communications Engineer and Consultant
Focusing on Monitor and Control systems I developed expert level product knowledge with Project Managers seeking my expertise for major projects, including a 52 node multi city deployment in South Korea.
This required extensive international travel to Eastern Europe, Asia and the Middle East to perform installation, commissioning and troubleshooting to obtain final customer acceptance. Additionally I conducted technical training courses for customer's personnel.
August 95 - October 98
Scientific-Atlanta Inc., Norcross, GA
Senior Staff Systems Engineer, Network Systems Group
Senior engineer in the Systems Group responsible for both pre and post-sales design, integration, testing and commissioning of voice and data satellite communications networks.
Duties included producing network topology, link budget analysis, traffic analysis, equipment list, system design, power and heat budgets, facility and rack layouts, wiring schedules and all other relevant documentation. Preparation of test plans, supervision of assembly, installation and test.
Primary responsibility for implementation of a $24M pan-Russia DAMA and IDR network to provide nationwide voice and data connectivity.
October 98 – July 2001
VertexRSI, Duluth, GA
Principal Engineer, Systems Group
Senior Engineer in the Systems Engineering Group reporting to VP of Systems Operations responsible for system design and proposal generation for sales support of satellite earth stations and networks.
Technical lead for $19M upgrade of the entire TV/FM Radio distribution infrastructure in Senegal, Africa. Performed the network design, facility design, specification and purchase of all MEPG-2 DVB satellite and TV/FM terrestrial transmission equipment, supervision of equipment subsystem design and system integration. Primary liaison with customer for all technical aspects of the project.
Developed departmental policies and procedures; provided technical guidance and mentoring to junior staff. Responsible for development of a comprehensive suite of database applications to streamline material management and logistics, increasing department efficiency and reducing project cycle time which results in significant cost reductions both in-house and during field installations.
July 2001 – May 2002
Pathfire Inc, Roswell, GA
Principal Engineer
Performed system design and proposal development. Responsible for system architecture and design of store and forward delivery systems for CNN, Warner Bros and CBS/Viacom. This included bandwidth analysis, storage capacity analysis, network design, redundancy schemas and monitoring systems.
May 2002 – April 2005
Pathfire Inc, Roswell, GA
Director, Network Services
Managed the team responsible for all Pathfire internal network, corporate MIS, Internet and WAN connectivity, security, e-mail, web, DNS, power and satellite systems. Additionally providing operational support for multicast content distribution systems located at major broadcasters facilities in Atlanta, New York and Los Angeles.
This was a multi-disciplined group supporting Unix/Linux/Windows environments using a combination of proprietary and open source software with Cisco based network infrastructure.
- Implemented multiple tiers of system monitoring and alerting to provide both long term trend data and notifications of system anomalies.
- Achieved significant reductions in OpEx through rationalization of telecom contracts and migration to MPLS.
- Leveraged telecom rationalization to implement disaster recovery facilities which eliminated Pathfire facility as single point of failure.
April 2005 – July 2008 (until acquisition by DG FastChannel)
Pathfire Inc, Roswell, GA
Vice President - Operations
Overall operational responsibility for the Pathfire content delivery network which provided store and forward distribution of news, syndication, Ads and other broadcast video feeds to over 1400 TV stations throughout the US and Canada.
Network comprised over 7500 assets located in diverse environments. Responsible for system operational performance, service delivery, system monitoring, customer service and SLA compliance.
The Operations division comprises a staff of 40 encompassing the following groups:
- Customer Care Unit providing 24x7x365 call center support to TV stations and major broadcasters
- Account Management group providing dedicated customer interface for major broadcasters
- Capacity planning and nationwide server deployment
- Network Services team supporting core infrastructure and enterprise IT systems
Implemented several projects and cost reduction initiatives including:
- Migrated 24x7x365 helpdesk from internal phone system to hosted call center platform.·
- Introduced call back requests and web chat to enhance customer interaction experience.
- Adopted Citrix GoToAssist with security policy acceptable to station groups to allow support staff better access to resolve server and desktop issues remotely
July 2008 – August 2009
Pathfire Inc, Roswell, GA (A DG FastChannel Company)
Senior Vice President - Customer, Technical and Satellite Operations
Managed the transition of Pathfire operations as staff were progressively consolidated into existing DG Support and IT organizations.
Assumed responsibility for all satellite operations including those operated by DG for Ads delivery.
September 2009 – February 2014 (until acquisition by Extreme Reach)
Digital Generation, Inc. (formerly DG FastChannel)
Senior Vice President – Technical and Satellite Operations
Responsible for operation and engineering of the DG satellite network which was the worlds largest dedicated file delivery network for broadcast video. Utilizing three transponders the network distributed Ads and Syndicated programming to several hundred TV Broadcast stations, TV and Cable networks nationwide.
- Converted all syndication satellite delivery paths to DVB-S2 transmission with 8PSK modulation which increased aggregate network data capacity by 52% for same transponder cost.
- Implemented ASI/IP transport to create fault tolerant distribution paths to all uplinks with flexibility to support failover to backup uplinks, alternate facilities and a backup data center.
- Developed combined HD and SD multiplexed real-time distribution for launch of a top rated Syndicated medical show. The successful delivery of this show led to additional high value syndication business from the same client and was the catalyst for major growth in market share for syndication distribution business.
- Established and managed all CapEx budgets for facility infrastructure
- Responsible for the technical facility design and buildout of the new DG New York Office in which operations from multiple locations in NY were consolidated into a new 9,000sq ft all-digital technical facility. Also co-managed the overall 80,000sq ft office buildout. This project was fast-tracked from space selection to completion of relocation in just over 6 months.
- Managed the buildout of technical facilities and transition to a new DG San Francisco office.
- Led the fast-track buildout for HD syndication in the DG LA facility to support major studio clients syndication business.
- Designed and implemented a destination-specific versioning system for international Ads delivery, creating bespoke versions for over 250 destinations
- Led the business continuity and disaster recovery response from a fire in the buildings main electrical room of the previous NY facility which rendered the entire 42 story building inaccessible for multiple days. The fire caused loss of power and severe smoke damage to the DG facility. Procedures and data replication I had previously established allowed work to transfer from NY to LA , with minimal client impact while alternate workspaces were established for production and operations. Managed the entire recovery, cleanup and repair/rebuild effort.
- Established first DG ads operations technical facility outside US in London.
- Designed and led the buildout of a data center expansion in DG Roswell facility
February 2014 – October 2024
Extreme Reach, Inc. (acquisition of Digital Generation, Inc. TV business unit)
Vice President – Technical Operations
Extreme Reach is the largest distributor of commercials to Broadcasters, the leading provider of customization and distribution for Direct Response (infomercials) and distributes hundreds of hours of syndicated TV programming per week.
I managed the Technical Operations team across US, UK and AU deploying and supporting the global infrastructure for all media ingest, processing and customization. This encompassed digital video encoding, transcoding, QC systems and automated media processing running both cloud-based and on-premises.
Related to the acquisition of DG I was responsible for multiple projects to consolidate the media processing and operations. Highlights included:
- Developed and implemented solutions for transcode, timing conformance and upload of all media ingested in DG Network to the ER Platform. This allowed literal overnight transition of all Ads business to the ER platform upon acquisition of the business which allowed the immediate realization of significant synergy cost savings.
- Managed the shutdown of the DG Ads satellite distribution path and negotiated the termination of satellite lease and service provider agreements without penalty.
- Led the consolidation of duplicate technical facilities in multiple cities into single locations.
- Managed the transition of all archived media to buyers of ER International Ads Distribution business to facilitate seamless transition of that business which was divested shortly after the acquisition.
With the acquisition of Adstream in 2021 this became a global media platform and added team members in UK and AU. I continued focus to drive increased operational efficiency through application of new technology, process automation, cost optimization and enabling business growth, including:
- Implementation of complex automated workflows to process and conform media which have effectively eliminated manual linear tape operations.
- Realized significant annual operational cost reductions and efficiency improvements through technology refresh and contract renegotiations for space segment lease, support services and hardware/software purchases.
- Negotiated upgrade of transcode platforms from simple transcode to workflow based systems with media analysis capabilities. Reduced per-instance transcode engine costs by 55%, reduced software support costs by 30% and provided opportunities for advanced workflow based media processing solutions and product offerings.
- Led the implementation of large scale file based watermarking of all ingested media assets to establish a new revenue stream in partnership with Nielsen Media Research.
- Designed and led the implementation of systems and processes for high volume file based customization of Direct Response Infomercials which allowed the business to scale and transition from SD to HD.
- Proposed and executed a strategic plan to reduce OpEx for syndication delivery and led the project to transition all delivery to MPEG-4 and eliminated satellite costs of 1.8MM per annum. The manner in which this was implemented provided for easy scalability which subsequently allowed the acquisition and rapid transition of a large amount of business from a competitor.
- Managed the migration of media processing and file based media QC from hosted datacenter locations to all cloud based operation, including 80+ transcode servers. This greatly improved media processing efficiency and allowed previously fixed compute costs to be scaled up/down to match daily traffic patterns.
- Led the migration of media processing for syndication distribution from legacy hybrid systems to full AWS cloud-based platform with automated Ad integration and show splicing/transcode. This eliminated data center costs and provided further scalability for growth.
- Implemented metadata driven dynamic audio mapping to support Audio Description and second language tracks during splicing of syndication program segments and Ads.