Conner Heider
Business Partner | IT Leadership | Solutions Engineer | Data Driven Operations
(319) 333-6729 | connerheider@gmail.com | Iowa City-Cedar Rapids Area
"Being a servant leader to me means that I always serve the customer first, and all things will follow from there. Whether that customer is the very organization I work within, my team, or the prospects I work with, that prioritization of the experience makes it so much easier to navigate daily and strategic challenges. As a pattern of my own experience, I see that this always pays off and, in most cases, naturally aligns to the very vision of the products and services an organization intended to deliver in the first place."
Desired Roles
IT - CIO (Mid-Market), CTO (Mid-Market), VP/AVP IT (Mid-Market), Director IT (Upper-Market)
Ops – COO (Mid-Market), Director Operations (Upper-Market)
SaaS - Sales / Territory Manager, Strategic Account Manager, Senior Solutions Engineer
Summary
At Epicor, my role as a Solution Engineer centers around being a trusted advisor to clients within the manufacturing sector. Occasionally I describe my role as a micro-CIO, consistently delivering value to clients throughout the sale and customer management lifecycles, often providing thought leadership and strategy outside the bounds of what is on paper for requirements.
My expertise in Operations and IT strategy has been pivotal in exceeding quota and revenue targets, demonstrating the value of SaaS solutions. My current work involves leading software demonstrations and ensuring clients receive tailored, strategic, insights into their operations. I deliver valuable experiences by sharing capabilities, insights, defining strategy, weaving technology, and operations, and effectively partnering with each of my clients.
The ability to communicate effectively across all organizational levels, from the shop floor to the C-suite, has been a cornerstone of my success. Collaborating with cross-functional teams, I have leveraged broad operational experience to address customer challenges- be it in a sales cycle or contributing as part of an organization. My commitment to excellence is reflected in a track record of successful pre-sale and post-sale solution engineering, successful projects, cost savings, and organizational alignment.
Education
Western Governors University - B.S. Information Technology
College of DuPage - General Studies
Johnsburg High School - HS Diploma
College of Lake County – Cisco Certified Network Associate Program
Certifications
CompTIA Project+ - CompTIA
Linux Essentials - LPI Institute
ITIL Foundation Level - PeopleCert
Prior Certifications (Renewal on Request)
CompTIA: A+, Net+, Security+, Secure Infrastructure Specialist, IT Operations Specialist
Amazon - AWS Cloud Practitioner
Experience
Solution Engineer
Epicor
April 2022 - Present
Lead Software Demonstrations and PoC's as Trusted Advisor for clients in manufacturing.
Effectively communicate with all levels of an organization, from shop floor to C-Suite.
Share experience with prospects, helping to guide decisions around capability and strategy.
Leverage broad operational experience to dive into customer and prospect challenges.
Demonstrate success by exceeding quota & revenue targets (SaaS, Mid-Market+ & Enterprise).
SME for Grow Business Intelligence solution within the Manufacturing Vertical.
Demonstrate solutions and integration pathways via IPaaS, API, and Business Process toolsets.
Provide insight on Manufacturing Ai, LLM, and Automation Solutions.
Pre-Sale Solution Engineering - assisting clients at the beginning of their ERP journey.
Post-Sale Engineering - enhance established partnerships with our existing client base.
Focused on overall experience and value, and providing that for hundreds of organizations.
MHIT Director of Service Management Office
Mercy Iowa City
January 2019 - March 2022
Delivered technologies: M365, MFA, DLP, Cybersecurity, Azure, to 4000+ users.
Co-managed security assessments and compliance for HIPAA / HITECH.
Developed via low-cost solution to revive clinic service line and revenue in response to COVID.
Change Leader, establishing MHIT and broader organizational Change Advisory Boards.
Develop and implement strategy reducing single points of failure within tech stack.
SaaS and Cloud Solution focused strategy to reduce datacenter footprint by 75%.
Directed cross-functional teams of over 200 technical resources.
Successful department transition to hybrid SME + Managed Services Outsourcing.
Leader that works cross-functionally to achieve operational goals beyond tech advancement.
Data Analytics project, Azure Data Lake creation, and rollout /management of PowerBI.
Tier II/III On Site Support for Collins Aerospace
DXC Technology
December 2017 - January 2019
Tier II/III, SME - Desktop, Print, VoIP, ERP, and Software in support of 9000+ Employees
Contracted by DXC/Formerly HP managed services arm directly supporting Collins Aerospace.
Ensure compliance with technologies including - encryption, data loss prevention, DFARS.
Consistently served as "go-to" for re-aligning particular service locations to meet SLA.
SAP, ServiceNOW, Government GSuite, MS Suite, software solutions experience.
Provided training, mentorship, and wrote extensive Technical Documentation.
Provided after-hours and critical event coverage for high priority technical incidents.
Technology Manager & ETO Sales
Makray Manufacturing
March 2013 - December 2017
Provide Customer Account Management and Engineer-to-Order Sales Service for Contract Mfg.
Managed support and strategy for entire tech stack across multiple locations.
ERP Implementation Spanning Quote-Finance, shop floor Automation and tracking.
Audit products and run rates to align cost models against real world performance.
Created custom manufacturing forecasting solution including ingestion of customer supplied data.
Enterprise Resource Planning and Manufacturing Execution System Implementation Lead.
Data ETL, preparation, reporting for implementation and KPI reporting requirements.
Sales Engineer
ValueTronics International, Inc
February 2011 - March 2013
Sales, Application Engineering, Diagnostics, Calibration – Metrology Electronic Equipment
Early Career / Various
2006 - February 2011