Toronto, Canada Area
- Past
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- Vice-President, IT Operations at MDS Inc.
- Vice-President, Information Systems at MDS Inc.
- Senior Director, Information Technology at MDS Proteomics Inc.
- Director, Informatics Operations at MDS Proteomics Inc.
- Manager, Systems Technology at Russell A Farrow
- Connections
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442
connections
- Industry
- Information Technology and Services
John Sulja’s Summary
High performance executive with over 15 years experience directing first-class technology operations, infrastructures, and business strategies. Award-winning track record for building full enterprise IT operations from scratch, improving service, and aligning the IT investment with corporate goals. Experience leading global technology operations.
Complements technology leadership skills with acute business insight to support executive teams on business development, operations, and strategic growth activities. Able to set/execute strategies and lead teams to achieve and exceed business mandates. Known for strong leadership, coaching, and mentoring skills. Expert negotiator with Tier-1 global IT service providers (HP, Oracle, IBM, Capgemini, etc.)
John Sulja’s Experience
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Vice-President, IT Operations
MDS Inc.
(Public Company; 5001-10,000 employees; Pharmaceuticals industry)
September 2005 — February 2008 (2 years 6 months)
Following a breakthrough performance at the helm of the IS division, brought over to rebuild and lead the global IT Operations division plagued with poor service and ballooning outsourcing costs. Managed all operations and service refinements while driving the strategic decisions to renegotiate outsourcing agreements, cut costs, and upgrade technology. Managed $40 million capital and operations budget.
Credited with successfully re-strategizing and revitalizing the entire global IT Operations infrastructure - produced 15 months of consecutive service improvements, aligning with the corporate strategy to improve EBITDA, and reduced the IT spend by over $30 million annually.
Introduced a new multi-sourced service model comprised of global and regional service providers - led the aggressive RFP process, contract negotiations (Capgemini, HP), and oversaw implementation of controls and required governance.
Awarded CEO Award for Leadership Excellence. -
Vice-President, Information Systems
MDS Inc.
(Pharmaceuticals industry)
December 2003 — August 2005 (1 year 9 months)
Senior leadership role overseeing the optimization of all global clinical, administrative, and manufacturing systems deployed across all international business units. Specifically challenged to address a global demand for improved productivity while providing local responsiveness. Managed and redeployed 130 applications and support staff across 6 countries (Canada, US, France, Germany, UK, China).
Created the new IS vision and successfully transitioned all global teams into the new operating model within the first 6 months.
Restructured the leadership team (Directors & Senior Directors) to lead specific verticals across IT.
Created a global virtual team to maximize efficiencies in the areas of database management and applications support, streamlined processes across applications development.
Key player in the global deployment of a new single instance Oracle ERP environment and negotiated a $20 million multi-vendor support agreement with IBM and Oracle. -
Senior Director, Information Technology
MDS Proteomics Inc.
(Biotechnology industry)
October 2001 — November 2003 (2 years 2 months)
During a period of high growth, optimized collaborative efforts between the firm's two largest operations in Toronto and Denmark. Accountable for IT, Informatics, Facilities, and Administration.
Refreshed the IT infrastructure while consolidating operations into a single data center to improve performance, enhance manageability, and reduce operating costs.
Led the Danish team in the development of a new bio-informatics platform and oversaw the technology and knowledge transfer to the Toronto unit.
In 2003, in the wake of funding collapse, supported the divestiture of the Danish unit and coordinated the seamless segregation of all IT and intellectual property. -
Director, Informatics Operations
MDS Proteomics Inc.
(Biotechnology industry)
June 2000 — October 2001 (1 year 5 months)
As the first IT employee hired by start-up Ocata, established the IT delivery organization and new bioinformatics computing platform from scratch. Quickly mandated to lead the integration of all technologies and operations as Ocata merged with three other companies to form MDS Proteomics.
Successfully integrated all IT staff and operations for the new business structure, deployed one of the largest computing clusters in the world, and served as lead Architect overseeing application development efforts.
Co-created and negotiated a new strategic alliance with IBM Life Sciences valued at over $10 million. -
Manager, Systems Technology
Russell A Farrow
(Privately Held; 501-1000 employees; Import and Export industry)
December 1991 — May 2000 (8 years 6 months)
Promoted through a series of increasingly senior technology leadership roles including Systems Administrator and Technical Services Coordinator - ultimately overseeing all iT operations, infrastructure, and IT services for 27 sites and 4 processing centers across Canada.
Directed the successful integration of all operations management, helpdesk support, and diverse IT environments (AS/400, AIX, and Windows) supporting over 400 employees nationally.
Led the IT Services team customizing and deploying a leading-edge managed solution to Tier-1 retail and corporate leaders including LL Bean, Toyota, JC Penney, Honda Canada, John Deere, and others.
