Bruce Ward Jr.

Experience

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  General Dynamics Land Systems

  Dec 1996 - Mar 1999

  Automotive Systems Engineer

  Recruited and promoted for prototype turbine and diesel engine systems integration for auxiliary and main power packs.

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  Ford Motor Company

  Mar 1999 - Jul 2008

  I oversaw improvement of supply chain health while reducing cost and mitigating risk of price increases by leading provisional teams of lean specialists and distressed suppliers. I also leveraged my negotiation skills in closing deals with tier 1 suppliers to significantly map tier 2+ sources and subsequently deliver waste reduction actions to mitigate production shutdown risk. I coordinated with purchasing, product design, and supplier partners to identify waste within value streams and streamlining cost improvement actions which resulted in delivering $18M in annual cost savings. I ensured that the company strictly complied with lean methodology on five commodity group teams by expertly coaching professionals at multiple levels internally and externally. I thoroughly conducted assessment on commodities and was able to integrate long-term waste reduction actions into five-year commodity business plans. Show less Internally recruited and twice promoted to lead global employee development and business integration processes with emphasis on Six Sigma Kaizen© utilizing power of Six Sigma, Lean and Kaizen.• Provided global Six Sigma oversight (43 Sensei, 430 Master Black Belts, 7800 Black Belts, 85,000 Green Belts) yielding $0.5B savings and improved organizational decision making.• Directed recruitment, development, and deployment of Sensei yielding $68MM annual savings.• Led 25 Six Sigma Kaizen© events in Engineering, Manufacturing, Marketing & Sales, Human Resources, Finance and Quality delivering 50-100% improvements against top issues. Show less

  • Lean Supplier Optimization Senior Purchasing Manager

    Jan 2007 - Jul 2008

  • Global Six Sigma Kaizen & Business Integration Lead, Six Sigma Kaizen Sensei & Master Black Belt

    Mar 2003 - Dec 2006

  • Engine Systems Engineer & Six Sigma Black Belt

    Mar 1999 - Mar 2003
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  Asset Acceptance Capital Corporation (Acquired by Encore Capital Group)

  Nov 2008 - Mar 2014

  I exemplified leadership skills in handling Asset Acceptance Solutions Group, a third-party servicing entity, overseeing client management, budgeting/forecasting administration, and performance management. I provided expert oversight to wide business functions which included operations, accounting, learning and development, analytics, and compliance with 250 associates within four sites supporting operations across 14 states to deliver profit and loss (P&L) scope of $112M revenue and $67M expenditure. I developed key operations leaders to create a data-driven, never-content culture that repetitively set production records while delivering 26 straight months of improved efficiency. Show less I was responsible for PMO leadership of third-party servicing initiative which required reorganization, client relationship, and system development efforts to achieve critical adjacent market non-organic revenue streams. I facilitated an information technology (IT) evaluation and delivered interim leadership support to to the IT organization to address system reliability and development constraints which mitigated material corporate risk. Furthermore, I administered enterprise account management platform set up which involved addressing scalability issues, developing gap functionality, converting 28 million accounts, and designing and implementing all new workflow to deliver efficiency and compliance objectives.Note: promoted from Manager to Director level in 15 months. Roles are presented together here given the symmetry in key objectives. Show less

  • Director of Operations

    Sept 2011 - Mar 2014

  • Director Business Transformation

    Nov 2008 - Aug 2011
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  Hungry Hollow Farms

  Mar 2013 - now

  Cash Crop Operations Owner

  Owner and remote operator of a 160 acre cash crop operation• Successfully converted family dairy farm to cash crop operation• Facilitated creation and execution of purchase agreement satisfying objectives of each party• Enhanced short and long term investment decision making to drive continuous improvement in production efficiency and P&L management

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  Encore Capital Group (acquiring company of Asset Acceptance Capital Corp)

  Apr 2014 - Nov 2016

  Director - Operational Excellence

  I played a pivotal role in streamlining technology and business procedures to guarantee company growth and reduce cost base. I set a quality vision as verification of corporate’s conformance with internal policies and regulatory consent decrees.

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  Freelance

  Dec 2016 - Oct 2017

  Independent Contractor, Inventory Management Process Re-engineering

  I was in charge of identifying and resolving all critical program gaps including partnership selection for data conversion, software implementation, system integration, and automation development. My original contract was for developing inventory management disciplines and accompanying procedures to address material financial losses during a three-week engagement. Two weeks into the contract I was asked to lead a company wide transformation effort driven by implementation of Salesforce.com based ERP and Service apps. Show less

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  Stillman Law Office

  Nov 2017 - Oct 2023

  • Vice President Operations

    Feb 2018 - Oct 2023

  • Independent Contractor - Operations Management

    Nov 2017 - Jan 2018
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  Stillman Law Office (MI, MD, DE, DC, MA, NH, CT & VA)

  Oct 2023 - now

  Chief Operating Officer