Sales, Marketing, and Customer Service, Information Technology and Systems

AMTRAK GROUP INFORMATION OFFICER

Background

Amtrak (a combination of “American” and “track”) is the brand name of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, created in 1970 by an act of Congress. The National Railroad Passenger Corporation is a private, for-profit corporation established by government with all of its preferred stock owned by the federal government and its budget subsidized by federal money totaling more than $1 billion per year. Some common stock is held by the private railroads that transferred their passenger service to Amtrak in 1971. Though Amtrak stock does not pay dividends and is not routinely traded, a small number of private investors have purchased Amtrak stock from its original owners.

Amtrak, headquartered in the District of Columbia, is currently governed by a five-member Board of Directors, appointed by the President of the United States with the advice and consent of the United States Senate. The Secretary of Transportation, the Honorable Mary E. Peters, represents the federal government as a member of the Board. The day-to-day operations are led by Amtrak’s President and CEO, an ex-officio member of the Board, and a thirteen-member senior management team of dedicated railroad professionals, including the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and the Chief Information Officer (CIO).

Amtrak employs over 19,000 people and has a nationwide network of 22,000 miles of routes serving 500 communities in 46 states and the District of Columbia, with some of the routes serving communities in Canada. The tracks for these routes are owned mostly by private freight railroad companies, with Amtrak owning 650 miles of track, primarily in area between Boston and DC. In fiscal year 2006, Amtrak served an estimated 25 million passengers (where about two-thirds of Amtrak’s ridership taking trains in the Northeast Corridor) and recorded $1.37 billion in ticket revenue, a company record.
 

Current Situation

Amtrak’s information technology (IT) resides in multiple areas due to organic growth of independent software and applications among various departments. Amtrak Technology (AT) group led by the CIO represents the centralized IT function of the organization, while significant IT expertise resides in the functional areas of sales and marketing, operations, finance, risk management, procurement, human resources, etc. Amtrak Technology initiatives for unifying management of IT within Amtrak have been ongoing and have done a good job of keeping pace with the increasing capabilities of the newer software and infrastructure products. Web-based initiatives, SAP, and Oracle-based systems can be found throughout the corporation.

Amtrak’s Customer Service and Marketing and Sales departments were recently merged together to form a new Marketing and Product Management department. The VP of Marketing and Product Management is concentrating on building a more focused Product Management capability at Amtrak, designed to align operations, finance, planning, and customer service efforts around a well-defined set of products across the company’s Northeast Corridor, State Corridor and Long Distance business lines, and to support Amtrak’s growth strategy with an actionable focus on continuous improvement at the product level.

The Marketing and Product Management department has become the premiere department for new IT projects. This department has a strong internal IT presence and controls much of the capital IT budget, with four key units headed by Senior Directors: Sales and Distribution, Reservations, Onboard Communications, and E-ticketing. The Marketing and Product Management IT group manages capital-funded projects and hires contractors as necessary to develop project plans and requirements. There are a number of key projects underway to improve the customer interface with sales and distribution including:
 

• Managing the E-Ticketing project: a multi-faceted project to build in new information and back-end capability, including a real-time ticket database, an automated refund and exchange system, GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) information leveraged to provide real-time information to customers; and new printable electronic tickets for customers;

• Improving the corporate website Amtrak.com (this site is currently responsible for fifty percent of ticket revenue transactions) and developing a customer segmentation database through web services;Establishing a network of ticketing kiosks;

• Developing and maintaining international sales channels;

• Training communications personnel to capture voice and data remotely to provide inventory data and manage inventory;

• Upgrading the Call Center by modifying the Graphical User Interface (GUI) to improve functionality, adding Natural Language Voice and Interactive Voice Response, and replacing ACD call routing software.

The department has created a new Program Management Office to improve communication and collaboration across all technical projects. This Program Management Office will facilitate communications and reporting of all functional and technical groups while recruiting and managing contractors.

To develop a partnership between IT and its business units, Amtrak’s new President and CEO, Alexander Kummant, has recently made a number of key management changes, most importantly making the CIO a direct reporting position to him. This new management team is intent on finding the best and brightest minds to tie together on a higher level the IT platforms across its various business units. To meet this strategic business need, the CIO has created the position of Group Information Officer.

Specific Role

The new Group Information Officer (GIO) will work in a matrixed organization, with a hard-line reporting relationship to the Chief Information Officer (CIO), the leader of Amtrak Technologies (AT), and a strong dotted-line reporting relationship to Amtrak’s VP of Marketing and Product Management. The new GIO will serve as a member of the senior leadership team of Amtrak Technologies, serving along with two other GIOs (for operations and for enterprise resource planning), a Chief Architect Officer (CAO), an IT Chief Operations Officer, and a Deputy CIO.

The GIO will work closely with the Marketing and Product Management executive team and its Program Management Office. The nature of this role and its dual reporting relationships demands that the GIO work collaboratively both with the leadership of Amtrak Technologies and the IT executives of Marketing and Product Management. The CIO and VP of Marketing and Product Management will jointly evaluate the performance of the GIO.

The Group Information Officer (GIO) coordinates the development, enhancement, and maintenance of business systems in the Marketing/Product Management portfolio for Amtrak Technologies. The GIO will supervise full-time staff members, contractor employees, and contracted services. Acting as a business partner, the GIO consults with the VP of Marketing and Product Management and other members of the senior leadership team to develop technology applications that will support the unit’s business operations and objectives and that are compatible with the long term plans for Amtrak’s enterprise architecture and infrastructure.

It is expected that the GIO will work at a strategic level to identify the optimal long-term technology solutions in support of the Marketing and Product Management department while also balancing the need to deliver near-term business solutions. The GIO will work together with key Marketing and Product Management executives, including the new head of the Program Management Office. To be successful, the GIO should have strong subject matter expertise in areas of sales and distribution and be able to translate those needs to the Amtrak Technologies group.

The GIO will be responsible for the following:

• Coordinates the planning, development, implementation, enhancement and maintenance of IT solutions that are effective and cost-efficient within the portfolio including: marketing and sales; customer service; market research & analysis; operations support; sales distribution (reservation sales and support, call center systems, pricing & revenue management); product management (food & beverage and customer service); channels (Amtrak.com, ticket counters, call centers, QuikTraks, travel agents/global distribution systems); and revenue and station accounting;

• Collaborates with the Marketing and Product Management Department to develop a strategic plan for applications in support of the department’s long term business strategy and goals as part of the enterprise architecture, revising and updating the plan as required to maintain its relevance to the organization and its business;

• Collaborate closely with the Chief Architecture Officer (CAO) to develop and implement an enterprise blueprint for the Company’s long-term data and systems architecture;

• Coordinate with the Program Management Office (PMO) to ensure efficient management of projects across all functional organizations;

• Work collaboratively with the AT (Amtrak Technologies) group;

• Collaborates with the Chief Architecture Officer to develop and implement an enterprise blueprint for the Company’s long term data and systems architecture;

• Provides counsel and guidance to Marketing and Product Management executives to ensure the optimal utilization of business systems;

• Monitors significant project progress within areas of responsibility and ensures timely completion;

• Works closely with Marketing and Product Management executives to ensure that all business solutions are compatible with the current and long term strategies for the Information Technology function;

• Oversees the development of and adherence to the GIO’s unit’s budget;

• Provides leadership and management oversight of the unit, including responsibility for the timely and effective delivery of all services in support of the client organization, determination of the unit’s structure and staffing levels, and the utilization of staff;

• Reviews ongoing performance of staff, oversees development programs to provide for the continuity of staff managerial and specialized skills, and ensures appropriate succession planning with the IT function.

Major Objectives

Amtrak expects the new GIO to accomplish the following major objectives over the next 12-18 months:

• Successfully lead a team that will provide the best possible client services to the VP of Marketing and Product Management and his senior management team in a responsive and timely manner;

• Align IT systems with corporate strategic goals by acting as a liaison to Marketing and Product Management that have functioned independently in the past;

• Work to reduce duplication of IT efforts and information between the various departments, minimize costs, and improve reliability.

Professional Qualifications

The new GIO must have the following professional qualifications:

• Minimum of 12-15 years of experience as an IT executive with increasingly responsible business and IT managerial roles, with major project management experience and a track-record of successful strategic planning;

• A strong team- and customer-focused IT leader with a demonstrated ability to manage a significant business (especially sales and distribution) applications function in a complex business environment;

• Demonstrated experience in implementing core business and IT solutions;

• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively across a complex organization like Amtrak and partner with internal and external stakeholders to meet business goals;

• In-depth knowledge of best practices and trends of IT and business industry, especially in marketing and sales;

• Ability to form and maintain business relationships and partnerships with external vendors to drive successful technology solutions;

• Web-enabled electronic commerce experience, ideally in the transportation or hospitality industry;

• Ability to influence a broad spectrum of constituencies, achieving outcomes through influence rather than direct authority.
  
   

Personal Characteristics

The following characteristics are preferred in the new GIO:
 

• Keen intellect with interest in technical IT and business software applications, including those applications that support marketing, sales, distribution, and channels;

• Strong leadership and interpersonal skills, characterized by compassion but tempered by focus and discipline;

• Leadership ability that inspires people to achieve;

• Strong analytical, planning, and organizational skills;

• Interest in innovative best practices regarding customer service and care;

• Goal-oriented, project-oriented, and achievement-oriented;

• Strong verbal and written skills with equally strong presentation/standup skills;

• Healthy respect for colleagues, employees, and superiors;

• Strong sense of integrity and a sense of humor.

Compensation

Compensation will be commensurate with skill and market.

Application

Please forward resumes and appropriate material immediately to:

Anna Koivisto
The Boulware Group
625 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 422
Chicago IL 60611-3172
Phone: 312-322-0088
Fax: 312-322-0092
E-mail (preferred): resume@boulwareinc.com