Tom Van Der Leest

As Vice President Consulting Services fully responsible for positioning the Energy Utility & Manufacturing market in the North of the Netherlands. With strong focus on entrepreneurship responsible for managing and balancing interest of all CGI stakeholders: members, clients and shareholders.

Leading a team of 5 directors with each 15 consultants who are responsible for key customer(s) (domains) and delivery of CGI services. Together with this team focused on determining strategy of the unit in this domain, recruitment, strengthening CGI reputation as attractive employer in the region. Ensuring members are engaged and through training and challenging assignments. In this role actively involved with clients and the development of new business in the form of projects, consulting and outsourcing assignments.

As VPCS leveraging strong leadership skills in combination with in-depth knowledge of information technology. Utilizing wide experience with initiating and realizing business and IT solution acting as trusted advisor to clients. Able to manage a team and generate support for new ideas and organizational change / development. Proactive, goal oriented team player who is a strong listener and focuses on inclusion and connection within a diverse multi-generational work force.

Tom has experience in the utilities sector and is a recognized expert in energy market facilitation, including meter data management and settlement processes. Across client engagements, Tom has fulfilled various roles, such as:

• Business Analyst
• Test Management
• UI/UX designer
• Product Owner, and
• Design Authority

During this period, he jointly led the design and implementation of the C-ARM (Central Allocation, Reconciliation and Meter data) solution for the Dutch electricity and gas market. Furthermore he was the lead of the team responsible for the contract extension in which the transformation from a classical delivery model towards a SAFe Agile Way of Working was made.

Additionally Tom has been involved in the development and sales of CGI’s Central Market Solutions IP. Being part of the team that successfully delivered the solution to FINGRID (Finland) and had a Lead role in the that won the PSE contract (Poland)

As a consultant experience in the Telco and Energy & Utility industries holding various positions including: Information Analyst, Product Owner, Scrum Master, Test Analyst, Test Lead, Front-End Design and Implementation, Business Analyst and Business Consultant

During this period Tom:

• Established and maintained relationships with key stakeholders for growth opportunities and successful partnerships.
• Evaluated situations and delivered targeted solutions using various tools and resources.
• Developed complete business plans and operational strategies for new and existing business.
• Implemented process improvement to shape organizational culture, optimize procedures for higher efficiency and help company evolve and grow.
• Developed new proposals, contracts and procedures to draw in more clients and streamline work operations.

• Delivered exceptional customer service on collection calls and maintained calm and professional demeanor.
• Processed payments and applied to customer balances.
• Negotiated to collect balance in full.
• Researched accounts and completed due diligence to resolve collection problems.
• Maintained high volume of calls and met demands of busy and productive group.
• Negotiated re-payment plans by identifying causes of delinquent payments to assist in recovery of debt and meet realistic timeframes.
• Trained new team members on scripts, company services, and collection strategies.
• Achieved performance goals on consistent basis.

• Handled customer inquiries and suggestions courteously and professionally.
• Actively listened to customers, handled concerns quickly and escalated major issues to supervisor.
• Answered constant flow of customer calls with minimal wait times.
• Maintained customer satisfaction with forward-thinking strategies focused on addressing customer needs and resolving concerns.
• Clarified customer issues and determined root cause of problems to resolve product or service complaints.