Phillis Thomas

About Phillis Thomas

An aspiring operations manager who is digitally savvy and thrives on simplifying and fast-trackingprocesses. Energised by helping stakeholders and customers achieve their success and comfortable withlarge complex projects. As Business Lead, recruiting and training talent across sales, digital marketing and accounting spaceand delivered 52.5% YoY revenue growth. Proactive administration of financial and accounting systemswith quarterly review of P&L and Balance Sheet ensured avoidance of penalties and secured carryforward of tax benefits. As Purchasing Manager at Caterpillar, was accountable for its Southeast Asia operations handling across all Indirect services and products. Proficient in managing complex projects requiringcoordination across multiple countries across all time zones. As network engineer at Airtel completed its telecom rollout in Southern India. As a self-taught softwareengineer, improved system applications and delivered multiple data analytics projects. With Dishnet DSL an internet service provider, managed liaising with several agencies includinggovernment entities and served many roles including in its undersea cable project. Delivered on significant global and regional projects across US, China, Singapore, Indonesia & Thailandand so interacting with global teams is natural. Leveraged advanced analytics, data visualizations and comfortable with Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint,databases and new tools for RPA. Guided documentation of business strategies for Executive Office towards growth and spend planning. Career spanned across IT, operations, procurement, sales, marketing, branding, finance, taxation,account payables, logistics and legal, the breadth of which gave overall expertise of every function in abusiness.

Experience

1. Principal Project Officer

   Indian Institute of Technology, Madras

   Feb 2025 — Present · Chennai, IN

   Lead the planning, implementation, and delivery of complex projects by managing interdependencies, optimizing resources, and ensuring alignment with organizational goals. Oversee project execution, stakeholder engagement, risk management, and continuous evaluation to drive efficiency, innovation, and process improvement, while coordinating with external auditors to ensure compliance and accountability.Provide expert advice, manage teams, and foster a collaborative culture to achieve strategic objectives while balancing competing priorities and timelines. Proactively drive project momentum by identifying and addressing bottlenecks, resolving issues, and ensuring team members stay aligned with project timelines and objectives.Develop and implement strategies and tools for continuous communication, monitoring, and evaluation, including risk management, benefits realization, and quality measures to assess progress and overall effectiveness. Utilize diverse project methodologies to drive continuous improvement in practices, processes, and policies, providing strategic support to the organization in achieving its objectives and performance targets.

Education

• Alphonsa Residential School, Bharananganam

  ICSE (X)

• College of Engineering, Adoor

  B.Tech (Full Time), Electronics & Communication

• Indian Institute of Technology, Madras

  MBA (Full time), Marketing, Finance

• St Antony's Public School

  AISSCE (XII)

Skills

• Large-Scale Data Analysis
• IT Operations
• Databases
• System Administration
• Indirect Purchasing
• Enterprise Software
• Technology
• Telecommunications Systems
• Purchasing Processes
• Purchase Contracts
• Purchasing Negotiation