Jonathan Stearns
Verified Expert in Finance
Management Consulting Expert
Jonathan has 22 years of experience as a business improvement consultant in telecom, software, government, oil and gas, logistics, and other industries in three countries. He specializes in PPP: plans can include strategic, business, departmental, and change management. Processes can include process design and redesign, policies, and procedures. Performance can include KPIs. Jonathan has an MBA and joined the Toptal network to help clients succeed in challenging projects.
Career Highlights
Education Highlights
Case Studies
Expertise
Work Experience
Owner, Senior Business Improvement Consultant
Peak United International
- Conducted a market and competitor analysis and then constructed a strategic plan to revitalize the country's national festival, increase its attractiveness, and achieve profitability.
- Constructed four business plans for startups. Plans included GTM strategy, business model, marketing plan, 3-5 year financial model, and resources. The purpose was to plan the startup and manage the business post-startup.
- Developed and implemented a change management plan as the O&G client responded to a strike by employees against the client's own change initiative. The employees successfully adopted the change as a result of the new plan and its implementation.
- Completed a country-wide needs analysis to find development opportunities, wrote an evaluation structure and prioritization matrix to select the opportunities, and wrote a business plan for the organization in charge of the country's offset program.
- Constructed the organizational structure, wrote job descriptions, developed the job grades, and created the salary matrix for a newly formed charity.
- Wrote the HR and HSE industry standards and certification system for Oman’s oil and gas sector.
- Conducted market analysis and wrote case studies for Oman’s manufacturing sector on the impact of the electricity tariff increases and compared it with other GCC countries. The minister of commerce presented the report to the council of ministers.
- Created a market analysis for a UK company that developed a new underground piping system and wanted to enter the Oman O&G market.
- Completed a fraud risk assessment across all departments for the largest waste management organization in Oman.
- Developed an IADC-approved technical Competence Assurance Program and implemented it in five oil and gas companies, which all achieved the IADC certification for their programs. Project managed the assessments of over 100 employees in one company.
Deputy Managing Partner Oman | Partner for Strategy and Management Consultant for GCC
Mazars
- Hired, trained, and managed full-time and freelance consultants to deliver services to 100+ clients per year and delivered projects for most consulting engagements. Increased Mazars Oman's revenue by 300% in the first two years of joining the office.
- Conducted market analysis and developed a strategic plan for the Oman government to maximize the country's economic impact of the Expo 2020 Dubai for Oman. Then was hired to project manage 10 government entities to implement the plan over 18 months.
- Performed strategic analysis of the company, collaborators, competition, customers, and climate. Created the strategic plan and business plan for the newly formed Oman Arbitration Center. The business plan included a five-year financial model.
- Managed a strategic assessment and recommendations for a large enterprise that owns the Honda, Panasonic, Bluestar, and Raymond Weil Watch brands in Oman. The organization saw a decline in profits and wanted to make changes to circumvent the losses.
- Developed and implemented a business continuity plan and disaster recovery plan for an O&G company in response to an occurrence of a natural disaster.
- Created an SME Toolkit to prepare SMEs to capitalize on the Expo 2020 Dubai. It included market analysis, target market profiles, how to prepare, support and resources available, and funding options. Additionally, facilitated workshops for SMEs.
- Project managed a 12-month SME mentorship program for the Government. The program included over 120 mentors, mentees, and business advisors in the program. Additionally, conducted workshops for the stakeholders and event managed the graduation.
- Performed due diligence for the local branch of a potential international acquisition; it included items such as ownership and organization, assets and operations, financial statements, processes and policies, contracts, management, and HR.
- Managed team to deliver four different Company Valuations utilizing DCF and Book Value. Since public information is very limited in this region, the third desired market value method could not be included.
- Led the team to deliver the accounting outsourcing service line to over ten clients. Industries ranged from O&G Exploration, airport engineering, and facilities management, the world's largest commercial real-estate firm, to software companies.
Business Improvement Manager | Acting HR Manager
Shaleem Petroleum Company
- Wrote a business plan, including the 3-year financial model, for starting a new transportation company and presented it to the board of directors.
- Constructed KPIs and strategic objectives for departments based on the business plan. Worked with and advised the management team on cascading the KPIs down to employees.
- Developed and implemented the new asset management system, processes, and procedures.
- Managed the company’s IT network functions, including servers, software, networking, emails, and databases.
- Implemented and managed a new behavioral safety management program across the company. To adopt it properly—developed and implemented a change management plan over six months.
- Served as the acting head of HR for tenure with the organization. Managed the HR strategy, operations, and team. Additionally, developed and launched numerous new HR initiatives to improve the company's human capital management and development.
- Mapped out the current processes and the future state of each department in the company. Developed a transition plan for the departments and project managed the plans until the transition was completed.
Caretaker | HR Manager and Advisor
Oman Society for Petroleum Services (OPAL)
- Developed and managed the change management plan to help the organization transition from old to new organizational structures.
- Redesigned the certification process and led the team in building the online platform for certifying the organization's members. This included mapping the current process and the future state processes; then project managing the transition.
- Managed the online portal design and development project for member companies' newly re-designed HR and HSE certification process.
- Advised the board of directors on revising the salary structure in response to their desired new organizational structure.
- Wrote the job descriptions for the new organizational structure.
- Implemented performance appraisals and reviews with each employee and collaborated with them to develop career plans to best fit into the new organization.
Senior Consultant
Rikaz Global
- Developed a three-year HR strategy for Oman's largest catering and facilities management company.
- Advised a government organization on a plan for reducing staff without terminating local nationals.
- Consulted a company on improving knowledge transfer from expats and managers to direct reports.
- Developed and delivered training courses on various topics like business writing, public speaking, and presentations.
Senior Advisor
Omantel
- Established two departments: career management and performance management. Constructed the system, processes, and policies; defined job responsibilities; developed the staff; and gained buy-in from the board of directors and senior executive team.
- Constructed and managed a 3-year change management program to transition the company to a performance-based culture as per the board's vision.
- Project managed the development and implementation of the new performance management system to meet the unique needs and culture of the company while preparing the company to achieve its defined strategy set by the board.
- Advised and guided the management team (workshops and individually) on how best to cascade KPIs from the corporate strategy down to the employees and project managed the cascading process.
- Constructed a sales incentive plan to meet their specific culture and lack of data collection on each sales representative for the retail consumer department of 400+ staff.
- Made a business plan, including a 3-year financial model, for establishing a subsidiary technical training company, which was approved and implemented successfully by the board.
- Created and implemented a corporate-wide succession program, both from expatriate experts to local nationals, and prepared replacements for key positions. Developed the policies, procedures, and trained the company on adoption.
- Advised and assisted with the development of the HR policies and procedure manual.
- Set up the internal communications department. Managed the department for the first three months while developing and coaching the new full-time head of the department.
- Developed, managed, and facilitated various internal soft skills training programs, including a leadership development program.
Business Improvement Advisor | Acting Branch Manager II
CSA, LTD.
- Developed and implemented a system to consolidate nine departments and centralize all the company's training into one department that trained 7500+ employees.
- Constructed and managed the change management plan over six months for this significant change in the company's training functions.
- Led the internal communications group and served as the managing editor to plan, write, layout, and publish weekly and monthly publications and other communication deliverables.
- Managed the soft-skills training team to develop, improve, and deliver the soft-skill and mandatory government courses.
- Developed and facilitated the management training and development program.
Owner, Senior Consultant
Self-employed
- Developed and facilitated corporate training on management, leadership, teamwork, customer service, effective communication, conflict management, and employee development.
- Conducted process consulting engagements with organizations to develop and streamline internal business processes.
- Consulted with a Montessori school on growth strategies and developed an expansion strategy for them.
- Worked with companies on using measurements to further their strategies: what to measure, best methods to measure, setting up processes required for measurements, and how best to incorporate them into better management decisions.
Process Manager | Customer Process Consultant
Reynolds & Reynolds
- Reduced software delivery costs by 27% by constructing an implementation analysis of the financial and non-quantitative impact of five delivery options and pinpointing the lowest cost option.
- Expanded annual revenue by $765,000 by recovering lost business with 20 customers.
- Increased customer retention by 35% by analyzing 200 issues and co-developing a troubleshooting guide.
- Designed a new on-the-job training program and presented it to the board. The company implemented the program for 270+ field employees.
- Managed a team of four associates during the pilot and general release periods for one software solution.
- Produced a product gap analysis that was later adopted as the company standard.
- Co-developed a CRM solution, which Mercedes-Benz adopted as its standard to certify its auto dealerships.
- Advised the executive continuous improvement team on strategies and improvements, yielding a 65% increase in customer satisfaction survey results within six months.
- Consulted small to mid-sized businesses through digital transformations: redesign and mapping their processes, managed to change the management plan, and then trained the staff.
- Worked on 100+ engagements and maintained a client satisfaction level above 98%.
Team Leader | Senior Registered Representative
Woodbury Financial Services (Hartford Insurance)
- Ranked third in the nation in sales after three months with the company.
- Earned two promotions in six months and served in a sales leadership position, managing a team of seven associates.
- Discovered a tax-advantaged investment vehicle for small business owners, which resulted in many new clients.
- Built a bankbook from scratch to 550 prospects and clients in six months.
Education
Master's Degree in Business Administration (MBA)
Regent University - Virginia Beach, VA, USA
Bachelor's Degree in Organizational and Interpersonal Communications
Oral Roberts University - Tulsa, OK, USA
Skills
Finance
Financial Modeling, GAP Analysis, Cost Management, Risk, Market Opportunity Analysis, Market Research, Revenue Modeling, Due Diligence, DCF Valuation, Valuation, Accounting
Output Software
Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Project
Other
Mind Maps, Microsoft Visio, Strategy, Customer Service, Operations, Organizational Behavior (OB), Interpersonal Skills, Public Speaking, Business Planning, Feasibility Studies, Needs Analysis, Performance Management, Human Resources (HR), Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Process Flows, Process Mapping, Process Redesign, Change Management, Standard Operating Procedures Development, B2B, Client Management, Client Success, Client Relationship Management, Presentations, Board Presentations, Presentation Design, Executive Presentations, Reports, Reporting, Operational Assessments, Organization Assessment, Job Analysis, Organizational Change Management (OCM), People Management, People Development, Employee Engagement, Employee Communication, Time Management, Process Design, Process Control, Process Modeling, Process Analysis, Process Migration, Policies & Procedures Compliance, Systems & Procedures, Administrative Procedures, Talent Strategy, Change Leadership, Matrix Management, Project Delivery, Project Tracking, Project Controls, Human Capital Management, Human Capital Strategy, Process Improvement, Operations Improvement, Continuous Improvement, Productivity Improvement, Business Process Improvement (BPI), Operational Efficiency Improvement, Performance Improvement, Operating & Service Model Improvement, Process Documentation, Documentation, Service Planning, Productivity, Customer Success, Customer Support, Customer Experience, Customer Analysis, Customer Engagement, Customer Satisfaction, Customer Analytics, Training, Training & Training Content Development, Training Materials, Training Workshops, Leadership Training, Organizational Design, Job Descriptions, Client Presentations, Projects, Project Management, PowerPoint Design, Business Plan Consulting, Analysis, Strategic Planning, Client Services, Client Relations, Microsoft Teams, Employee Competence, Employee Relations, Strategic Planning & Execution, Career Coaching, Talent Management, Business Process Analysis, Business Processes, Business Process Refinement, Business Process Optimization, Business Process Flow Diagrams, Business Process Management (BPM), Business Process Re-engineering, Key Performance Metrics, Organizational Assessment, Digital Transformation, Business Modeling, Financial Statements, Business Models, Business Strategy, Startups, Go-to-market Strategy, Voice of the Customer (VoC), Employee Experience, SaaS, Go-to-market Plans, B2B2C, Competition Research, Competitive Strategy, B2B Partnerships, Business to Business (B2B), Process Management, Process Optimization, Business Process Modeling, Business Transformation, Operating Models, Target Operating Models, Management Consulting, Lean, Transformational Leadership, Program Management, Enterprise Software, Organizational Transformation, Product Launch, B2C, Business to Consumer (B2C), Mobile Apps, Business to Business to Consumer (B2B2C), Marketing, Finance, Risk Assessment, Investing, Python 3, Impact Assessment, Sales Strategy, Resource Management, IT Projects, Policy Development, Payroll & Benefits, Market Entry, Markets, Competitor Analysis & Profiling, Industry Analysis, Financials, DCF Modeling, Business Continuity, Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery (BCDR), Employee Data Management, Recruitment, Organizational Structure, Diversity Awareness & Sensitivity Training, Sales Training, Sales, Kanban, Agile, Agile Project Management, Waterfall Methodology, Confluence, Software as a Service (SaaS), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), System Integration, User Experience (UX), Digital Solutions, Product Management
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