Monroe, North Carolina, United States
James is a core member of FDY’s executive team, providing strategic guidance with emphasis on cybersecurity, efficiency, and modernization. He brings a wealth of experience to the team, with over 25 years of experience in the field. He is seasoned Director with experience in Professional Services and Product Management. He has a proven track record of leading teams of 30+ professionals and driving innovation for large stadium venues and Quick Serve Restaurants nationwide. He excels in fostering career growth, building strategic partnerships, and delivering data-driven solutions using Salesforce CRM, Jira, and cloud-based POS technologies. With extensive experience at Global Payments Inc., Xpient Solutions, and Heartland Payment Systems, James has overseen major implementations, managed product release cycles, and provided expert guidance in project management, risk mitigation, and operational efficiency.
Core member of FDY’s executive team, providing strategic guidance with emphasis on cybersecurity, efficiency, and modernization. Plays key role in business innovation, asset compliance and implementations of roadmap technology. James is a seasoned Director with experience in Professional Services and Product Management. He has a proven track record of leading teams of 30+ professionals and driving innovation for large stadium venues and Quick Serve Restaurants nationwide. He excels in fostering career growth, building strategic partnerships, and delivering data-driven solutions using Salesforce CRM, Jira, and cloud-based POS technologies. With extensive experience at Global Payments Inc., Xpient Solutions, and Heartland Payment Systems, James has overseen major implementations, managed product release cycles, and provided expert guidance in project management, risk mitigation, and operational efficiency.
Blakeney Technology Consulting is a forward-thinking consulting firm dedicated to providing innovative technology solutions to restaurant operators and businesses that specialize in the food service industry. We offer a comprehensive range of services, including IT consulting, project management, and optimization of our clients IT portfolio.
- Point of contact for all Inventory Related technology issues. - Researched and Implemented cost saving technology modules to support Food Cost, Purchase Orders, Invoicing, Physical Counting, Profit and Loss, and enterprise level (cloud) reporting. - Created and implemented aggressive training plans for both customer and interdepartmental employees. - Primary resource for developing “User Acceptance Testing” criteria for potential customers as well as legacy customers seeking enhancements and upgrades. - Utilized as an onsite product expert responsible for providing prototype modules and proof of concept for high level IT Executives as well as their training and operation teams. - Routinely supports issues escalated from the 24/7 Call Center which decreased resolution time and helped improve customer relationships.
- Simultaneously managed the Point of Sale (POS) software solution for several major restaurant chains including Shoney’s, Denny’s, Arby’s, Steak N Shake, and Golden Corral which consisted of over 1,000 individual locations. - Routinely conducted or facilitated installations, software/hardware upgrades, enhancements and critical software patches. - Maintained quality control processes that were used to verify code changes prior to delivery to the customer. - Setup and maintained lab/test environments that represented the latest client level software, which was used to recreate and document reported issues. This allowed for a single point of contact to communicate with our software engineers giving them pinpoint direction on the source of the issue. - Responsible for ensuring that clients were in compliance with industry specific security standards for protecting sensitive information. This included Payment Card Industry (PCI), Cardholder Information Security Program (CISP). - Promoted healthy business relationships and constructive dialog by hosting routine conference calls with executive and peer level client staff.
- Responsible for maintaining the Payment (Credit) Card Certification program. - Worked directly with all major credit and gift card clearing houses such as: Vital (Visa), Payment Tech, First Data Merchant Systems, Bank Of America, BuyPass and RBSLink to achieve software licensing and certification. - Setup and staged Ingenico, Verifone, NCR, and IBM data capture hardware for customer implementations. - Resident technical expert on IP (Internet Protocol), SSL (Secure Socket Link), and dialup communication methods and their individual configuration as it pertains to the IRIS POS and SMART POS legacy software. - Routinely performed onsite maintenance, training and support for new installations. - Stepped in to fill the role as Account Manager for all SMART Legacy customers as that software was phased out and transitioned to IRIS.
- Reported directly to the Commanding Officer of the Weapons Department. - Managed 4 junior petty officers and seaman in the G5 Division Office. - Troubleshot basic and advance inter-departmental hardware and software computer problems. - Maintained accurate and efficient filing and submission of highly classified material. - Facilitated all incoming requests, personnel evaluations, Aviation Ordnance scheduled movements, Enlisted Aviation Warfare Specialist Awards, and general clerical duties for the department. - Certified Instructor for the Microsoft Office Software Suite. - Wrote several DBASE III, EDLIN and DOS based applications to enhance the usability of the departments software applications. - Became the resident expert on Windows 3.11, WordPerfect 5.0, DOS, OCR scanning applications, modem setup and installation, hardware replacements and upgrades, and all computer based training programs for Senior Management and the ship’s executive staff.