Firuz Tahirov

Sunnyvale, CA 94087 | (408) 628-2254 | zurift@gmail.com | https://www.linkedin.com/in/zurift

PROJECT MANAGER
Specializing in: Data Center Infrastructure, Hardware, and Software

15+ years professional leading IT and telecom projects with an excellent track record of completing suc-
cessful implementations on time and budget in complex cross-functional environments. Experience
running projects at all stages from ideation through planning, executing, monitoring, controlling, and
delivery. Passion for quality and process optimization in business development and transformation pro-
jects.

Skills
Project Management; Risk Management; Change Management; Quality Control; Cost Control; Data Center;
IT Infrastructure; Budgeting; Documentation; Procurement; Roadmaps; Workflow Processing; Training; Agile;
Process Analysis & Bottleneck Hunting; Quality Management Control; AWS Cloud; Big Data Analysis

Professional Experience
Project Manager Consultant – AMN Inc | Chicago, IL | contract & remote| May 2017 – present
- Consult leadership on project planning and implementation strategies on various IT projects
- Create project plans and implementation schedules
- Develop and implement a suite of KPIs to ensure project execution and quality

Project Manager – MIRAPATH | Cupertino, CA | full-time | May 2016 – Mar 2017

- Managed $750K budget to build digital lab and data center
- Performed project management activities related to digital lab and data center installation projects
- Gathered information and evolved/defined project requirements and success criteria
- Developed project plans including work break down structure (WBS), precedence network diagrams (PND), and
a detailed schedule
- Created new DC rack elevation design layouts, including addressing and labeling methods to be populated
during inventory
- Executed project to disassemble and consolidate ~20 HP Aruba design labs into new buildings
- Managed moving and installing of ~6,000 rack-mountable devices from several locations into a single Data
Center (DC)
Project Management Officer – EURODESIGN | Baku, Azerbaijan | contract | Jun 2014 – Jul 2015
- Scheduled all activities for a $1B project for the Summer Olympics
- Designed, developed, and deployed fixed telecom infrastructure for the summer Olympics level sports
competition working as a primary contractor of Baku European Game Operational Committee (BEGOC)
- Assumed a role of sole project scheduler within 30 persons PMO office put together to set up fixed Telecom
infrastructure for the First European Games
- Scheduled design, development, and deployment of the fixed telecom and IT infrastructure consisting of 2
Data Centers, PoPs, and 26 venues
- Prepared and maintained the MS Project plan with ~2500 entries with multiple predecessors and successors
following the standard PMI requirements which enabled decision making, forecasting, and risk management
- Created and maintained bi-weekly rollover plan using Agile methodology and managed weekly reporting for a
steering committee
- Plotted critical path and coordinated installation and deployment teams to deliver project objectives on time
within an extremely tight schedule
- Implemented project quality indicators and real-time monitoring to help detect changes within a rapidly
changing environment

Firuz Tahirov Resume Page 1 of 3

Project Manager – MARINTEL | Baku, Azerbaijan | contract | Apr 2013 – Jun 2014
- Managed a $12M Marine Asset Protection Surveillance System Data Center Project for British Petroleum
across Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey
- Managed projects for implementation of nautical systems (a project related to offshore space monitoring and
security) as prime contractor of BP AGT
- Developed project implementation plan, coordinating tasks and timelines with local engineering teams and
VISSIM’s, a Norwegian subcontractor
- Established a procurement plan and delivery schedule, accounting for the factory’s long lead time for factory
acceptance test (FAT) and delivery
- Mitigated the critical risk on the critical path
- Planned additional DOA testing before sending the radars to offshore platforms
Program Manager – SINAM | Baku, Azerbaijan | full-time | Apr 2008 – Apr 2013
- Defined the departmental budget, reporting spend and profitability to senior management
- Implemented a massive, complex, SCADA/EMS project with a large number of internal cross-functional
contributors, directing the installation in Data Center, integration, and programming of PABX/PBX equipment
- Created and maintained a procurement plan with deliveries from several countries accelerating the project over
two months ahead of schedule
- Kept documentation updated to reflect changes in the system to significantly reduce the time necessary to run
costly document quality validation procedures
- Trained installation teams and coordinate their tasks with internal deployment and customer engineers
- Developed quality control procedures for long-term equipment storage
- Completed client final site acceptance testing (SAT) and commissioning
Project Manager – SINAM | Baku, Azerbaijan | full-time | Oct 2007 – Apr 2008
- Created and managed a brand-new department called IT Service Center
- Managed 35+ employees, including hiring and performance evaluations as well as defining a roadmap for
career development and long-term training for service personnel
- Established a continuous improvement environment, identifying process gaps, defining the workflow and the
procedures to ensure quality
- Developed and maintained best practices based on ITIL to meet changing business needs
- Designed and implemented a unique, universal, and transparent reporting system that interconnects and
harmonizes IT engineers' KPI, quality, salary, bonuses with the IT Service Center's profitability
Product Manager – AZEL | Baku, Azerbaijan | full-time | Avg 2003 – Oct 2007
- Managed $500K monthly budget
- Promoted from a Project Manager to a Product Manager after launching the first product
- Developed a New Product Introduction plan (NPI) and milestone roadmap
- Led the design (R&D) and fabrication of PCs, laptops, and servers, overseeing the ISO 9001 certification
- Curated a vendor network for spare parts procurement and delivery from Original Device Manufacturers
(ODM) (Supply chain) that secured the steadiness of the assembling line and service center
Project Manager – AZEL | Baku, Azerbaijan | full-time | Oct 2002 – Avg 2003
- Created and managed a brand new department for design and fabrication of PCs and laptops
- Led project management initiatives for building out IT Hardware and Assembly production departments using
business case criteria consisting of cost indicators, ROI, and project strategy
- Designed workflow procedures analyzing bottlenecks, and developing solutions meeting predefined quality
metrics to integrate the new department into the corporate workflow,
- Created a service center, procedures, and methods of gathering statistical information for analysis using Six
Sigma

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 Education & Certifications
▪ Bachelor of Science, Radio Engineering, Design, Technology – Azerbaijan Technical University
▪ Certified Master of Project Management (GWCPM based on PMI PMBOK) – The George Washington
University
▪ AWS Cloud fundamentals certifications
▪ Big Data Analysis with SQL
▪ ISO 9001:2000 Certified: QMS Internal ISO Auditor

Technical Proficiencies
▪ MS Project, Merlin, OmniPlan, MS Office, Visio, AutoCAD/ P-CAD, Apache Impala; Apache Hive; SQL
▪ Cloud Computing, Virtualized environments, VPN, load balancing, mesh technologies, active directory, firewall, OSI
model, IT and Cable infrastructure.
▪ Protocols: TCP/IP, MPLS, BGP, FTP, LAN/WAN, WiFi 802.11, WDM - Multiplexing, ISDN/DSL, PBX Systems,
Networking Ethernet, Storage SAS, SATA, FC, NVMe, InfiniBand
▪ Fiber Optical, Cooper cable, AC & DC Power distribution and monitoring, DC thermal and humidity control
▪ Servers, Storage Backup, Network, and System monitoring, Data Center Disaster Recovery setups,
▪ CAD drawings; architectural, electrical, electronic, PCB layout.
▪ VB Script; dBase, FoxBase, Clipper

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