PAUL ANTOINE AWKAR

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Mobile: + 971 50 2400169 (Dubai) │+961 70 414488 (Beirut) Email: paul.awkar@gmail.com

Profile: • Technical Account Manager with more than 8 years of experience in the telecommunications

sector with a focus on the Middle East, Africa and Asian markets. • Experienced in leading, supporting and managing field test teams and interfacing with

customers across the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey in delivering large scale projects within deadlines, agreed quality metrics and budget.

• Experience of working with a recognised multinational with diverse cross-functional teams from around the globe.

• Cultural awareness and interpersonal communications skills. • Highly motivated, with high level of personal integrity. • Flexible, disciplined, organized and technically skilled. • Fluent in English, French and Arabic. Career Summary: 2005-2012 Motorola Middle East │Dubai, UAE

Motorola is a mobile phones devices manufacturer, such as smart phones and tablets, best known for its innovative designs, top quality and state of the art products. In 2011, the company was divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility (Owned by Google) and Motorola Solutions.

2011-2012 Technical Account Manager, Middle East & North Africa, Motorola Mobility

Customers served: Etisalat, du, Zain, STC, Mobinil, Vodafone, etc.

Main responsibilities: • Delivering sell-in presentations and supporting sales and commercial

teams in closing deals to operators and distributors. • Supporting and managing operators and distributors as a focal-point of

contact across the region; maintaining long-term and solid relationships, ensuring customer satisfaction, resolving technical problems and attending to queries, locking down NDAs, supplying new hardware and software for approval and communicating feedback to the local organization.

• Simplifying complex technical concepts into sellable features. • Training sales agents, front liners and promoters on Motorola products. • Responsible for all legal/technical regulatory submissions for the

telecom authorities in MENA countries to ensure regulatory compliance within country laws and regulations.

Key achievements and qualifications: • Trained more than 300 promoters, agents and front liners. • Supervised, planned and coordinated the testing of over 70 products

through my 7 year tenure (CDMA/GSM/3G/4G). • Android Operating System Testing; logging, debugging and issue

diagnosing expert. • Developed expertise in Edge, 3G, HSDPA, LTE network features and

limitations in testing mobile devices in corresponding spectrums.

PAUL ANTOINE AWKAR

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2008-2011 Field & Inter-operability Test Manager, Middle East, North Africa & Turkey

Main responsibilities: In Addition to previous responsibilities, was also responsible for: • Planning and supervising test plans coupled with resource allocation

balancing to ensure products are developed and systems integrated in-line with corporate strategies.

• Drafting and creating new processes to leverage internal and external metrics; improving internal productivity to detect issues as far upstream as possible.

Key achievements: • Interviewed, recruited and mentored field test personnel in 5 different

countries. • Was closely involved in setting up a field test office in Egypt (recruiting

and coaching staff, outlining office layout and equipments procurement and providing necessary training for field testers).

• Implemented the first drive test server in the Middle East Region (in Dubai) to promote and facilitate field testing automation activities based on Linux and ISDN technologies.

2005-2008 Team Lead, Field Test Team, Middle East & North Africa

Main Responsibilities: • Monitoring daily performance, investigating problems to ensure

management and business quality standards are met through enforcing accountabilities and promoting self initiative and more engagement.

• Supervising and conducting user trial tests for mobile handsets.

Key Achievements: • Led and mobilized the MENAT multicultural field test team (7

members) and coordinated field test activities for all new and upgraded mobile phone products and accessories from the end stages of development to approval by relevant stakeholders.

• Developed, implemented and tested new features (Bluetooth, phonebook sorting etc.) and language packs for region-specific languages including Urdu, Farsi, Arabic and Kurdish.

• Coordinated and conducted CDMA, PTT, Drive Testing and KPI testing activities.

• Established new process for CDMA testing in MEA and automated Drive Testing activities for both CDMA and GSM/3G.

2004-2005 Lebanese Army (Directorate of Operations _ Compulsory Service) Beirut, Lebanon

Database Administrator, Network Engineer, Developer/ Lieutenant

2004 Sita-Equant │Beirut, Lebanon Network Engineer, Field Operation & Integration Service Department

1999-2002 Saints Coeurs High School │Beirut, Lebanon

Technical Assistant & Computer Supervisor

PAUL ANTOINE AWKAR

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Education: • PMP (Project Management Professional) Certified, Project Management Institute, Prometric

examination.(Dubai, 2012) • CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) Certified, American Center Lebanon Prometric

examination. (Lebanon, 2005) • Université Antonine, Lebanon, Masters in Computer and Telecommunication Engineering,

2004 • Lebanese University, Lebanon, Bachelor of Science in Physics, focus on Electronics, 2001 Trainings & Conferences: • Management skills, development planning, essentials for emerging leaders and environment

evaluation, managing flexible workforces and virtual teams, ISO9001- Motorola University. • How to conduct effective meetings and planning and organizing skills- Spearhead trainings,

2006-2007. • Six Sigma Yellow badge certified. • Research Engineer at Portalys- Lebanon, 2004. • Electronic Technician Trainee at Cherfan Tawil & Co. (Samsung Dealership)- Lebanon, 2001-

2002. • Participant in the Lebanese International Research Achievements (LIRA), The Fifth

Conference and Exhibition, 2001 (Weather station design, execution & development project). Computer Literacy: • Test Automation Tools (Drive test Software, Server implementation, Report Generation). • Operating systems knowledge (Windows OS, Linux) and strong knowledge of back office

(Microsoft office suite). • Hardware assembly for Laptop and Desktops. • Awareness of design packages (Photoshop, Corel Draw). • Familiar with various Programming languages (Visual Basic, C++, HTML, BASIC, JAVA,

MATLAB, Assembly language). • Basic level Experience in Network Administration (Cisco Systems, programming routers &

switches). Interests/ Hobbies: • Social Club “Collège des Soeurs des Saints Coeurs”-Hadath, Member year 1995-1999, Youth

Trainer 2000-2005. • Volunteer at the Lebanese Red Cross, First Aid Division/ Youth Department, 1997-2005; held

the Public Relations Officer position in 2002. • Diving Open Water (Padi certified) Personal Information: • Place & Date of birth: Beirut, July 1980 • Nationality: Lebanese • Marital Status: Single