Deinde Samuel

Throughout my career, I have consistently demonstrated a passion for leveraging digital platforms to connect with target audiences and build strong brand presence. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, I have remained at the forefront of emerging trends, technologies, and best practices. This has enabled me to create and execute successful digital communication strategies that align with organizational goals and engage both internal and external stakeholders.

At my role as General Manager for ICT, I was responsible for developing and implementing comprehensive digital marketing campaigns across various channels, including social media, email marketing, content creation, and website management. Through data-driven insights and continuous analysis, I have successfully optimized campaigns, resulting in increased brand visibility, lead generation, and customer engagement.

One of my key strengths lies in my ability to lead and inspire high-performing teams. I have a proven track record of building and managing diverse digital communication teams, fostering a collaborative and results-oriented work environment. By leveraging individual strengths and encouraging professional growth, I have successfully driven team productivity and delivered exceptional results.

Moreover, I possess excellent interpersonal and communication skills, which are vital for building relationships with cross-functional teams, clients, and stakeholders. I am adept at translating complex concepts into clear, concise, and compelling messages that resonate with target audiences. Whether it's managing large enterprise infrastructure or the risk that’s inherent, crafting impactful social media content, developing thought leadership articles, or managing crisis communications, I am committed to maintaining a consistent and authentic brand voice across all digital platforms.

Head ICT 

Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (September 2020 – February 2022)

• I carried out the Digitization and Digitalization of AEDC Contact Center to move it from an inbound contact center to an omni channel contact center
• As technical lead, I conceptualized, planned, managed and operationalized the Integration of the company’s new AEDC billing and CRM software which was at the core of the automation of 70% of business processes such as meter installation, cash collection, complaint resolution etc.
• I worked with stakeholders to facilitate the adoption of Operational Technology (OT) to achieve business goals by adopting and reduce ATC&C such as Advance Metering Infrastructure (AMI), Advanced Distribution Management Systems (ADMS) etc
• As a member of the Executive Management Team as well as operations team leader, I interpreted business goals and translated user requirements to technology objectives which were smart, measurable and achievable.
• I oversee the smooth functioning of all aspects of ICT operations across the entire ICT infrastructure stack spanning physical infrastructure and facilities, datacenter management, network surveillance, operations and planning, information security, site reliability, disaster recovery and business continuity, enterprise infrastructure and applications, project management and business intelligence
• Automated business processes such as online collection of cash for electricity from customers

BUSINESS ANALYST/PROJECT MANAGER (January 2020-February 2022)

Abuja Electricity Distribution Company

• I Translate business problems and user needs into a set of detailed requirements to deliver value and great outcomes for our users
• I Lead workshops, interviews, and focus groups and to effectively understand the business problems and user needs
• I develop and maintain stakeholder relationships
• Communicating effectively across both technical and business stakeholders
• I collect and collate data from various sources, organizing and interpreting it, and identifying trends and insights that can inform business decisions
• I work with stakeholders to identify the needs and goals of the business, and translate those needs into specific business requirements that can be used to develop solutions
• I act as an intermediary between different stakeholders, such as the business users, IT teams, and management, to ensure that everyone is on the same page and that everyone's expectations are being met
• I develop detailed plans and schedules for implementing new solutions, including timelines, budgets, and resource requirements
• I am responsible for testing and validating solutions to ensure that it meets the business requirements and is functioning as conceptualized
• I track key performance metrics and evaluate the effectiveness of solutions in the short, medium and long term, in order to identify areas for improvement and ensure that solutions are working as documented in the business case
• I create detailed project plans to include timelines, budgets, resource requirements, and risk management strategies
• Through the use of risk assessment strategies, I identify potential risks to the successful completion of the project and achievement of business requirements and thereafter, develop strategies to mitigate them, as well as develop contingency plans in case of unexpected problems
• I ensure that projects meet the quality standards set by the organization, including ensuring that deliverables are completed to the required standard, timelines, budget and that the project meets the needs of stakeholders.

SENIOR CONSULTANT – DELOITTE (JANUARY 2017 - JULY 2017)

Contracted to Abuja Electricity Distribution as Head Cybersecurity and Business Continuity

• I built from scratch the company’s Cybersecurity Operations Center providing visibility into data privacy and cybersecurity threat management
• I created the Enterprise Information Security Strategy, Roadmap and framework for achievement 
• I created the Enterprise Business Continuity Plan and Strategy to align with business strategy and objectives 
• Managed the risk posture for ICT risk within the context of overall business risk and ICT performance objectives and working to mitigate identified risk by the deployment of effective controls
• Architect, plan, build and manage security infrastructure to reduce cyber-attack surface and protect AEDC from breaches
• Carry out regular vulnerability assessments, penetration testing, phishing campaigns to determine the adequacy of security controls and new controls to be implemented to ensure thar services are available in a secure manner
• Manage Audit exercises and reviews to ensure compliance to internal and external audit recommendations
• Optimize cost of security service delivery through a mix of internal and external initiatives as well as the deliberate derivation of 100% return on investment on every component of the Enterprise Security infrastructure

MANAGER INFORMATION SECURITY (August 2012 – April 2016)

Emerging Market Telecoms Services operating as Etisalat

• As the company's pioneer Information/Cyber Security Manager, I built the Information Security team from scratch creating the job descriptions and resourcing staff.
• I set up the first Security Operations Centre (SOC) for the first-time giving executive management a dashboard view into IT/Cyber Risk posture of the company showing threats, controls and effectiveness
• I designed the company's Information/Cyber Security Strategy and framework, based on the objectives of Total Visibility and Complete Control designing the information security Architecture based on the principles of Defense in Depth
• For the first time, I worked with executive management to plan for data-privacy and protection from the conceptualization and planning phases of all commercial projects
• I ensured compliance of all enterprise infrastructure to global standards such as CIS and NIST standards while performing periodic reviews/audits to ensure platforms stay compliant
• I initiated the very first Information security and data privacy audits for all business processes, worked with them to agree on necessary controls, implement the controls and close out the audit exceptions all based on ISO27001 standards.
• I carry regular risk assessments, vulnerability assessments and penetration tests to ascertain the level of vulnerability as well as readiness in the case of a breach.
• I developed the first ever Information security charter information security policies, processes and procedures, worked with the board and management to obtain sign-off of Executive Management
• For the first time, I was able to integrate Information Security Awareness into the HR onboarding program for new staff and also organized data privacy training program for all old staff
• Initiated Independent Information Security Management System (ISO 270001) certification for my company
• For the first time, information security team participates in the software development lifecycle ensuring that data-privacy/ information security is built into new products and services before launch
• Develop a Business Impact Analysis (BIA) and develop an IT DR plan based on the outcome
• Champion the implementation of the IT DR and capacity planning for IT DR based on the results of a Business Impact Analysis I carried out to determine the RTO and RPO for all business applications

OFFICE AUTOMATION/CLIENT SERVER ENGINEER (October 2008 – July 2012)

Emerging Market Telecoms Services operating as Etisalat

• Designing, developing, and implementing automated systems and tools that improve the efficiency of office operations and workflows
• Work with stakeholders across the organization to identify areas where automation can improve efficiency and reduce manual labor.
• Provide training and support to end-users to ensure that they are able to use the new automation system effectively.
• Designed and implemented the Active Directory and Messaging platforms for the company within 2weeks of resumption providing high security, high availability and high redundancy for identity management and enterprise messaging. With this, the company was able to move from commercial email providers to the in-house, on-premise email infrastructure I built.
• Planning, Architecting and deploying a secure company portal for staff collaboration and communication based on Microsoft Yammer and Sharepoint
• Design and implementation of the first ever private cloud platform in Etisalat complete with management, monitoring and capacity management
• This private cloud has reduced server footprint and is the foundation for all server infrastructure in Etisalat.

Post Graduate Diploma ICT

Bachelors Degree Industrial Chemistry

Certified Chief Information Security Officer

Certified Information Systems Security Professional

ISO 27001 Lead Implementer