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# Stephen Willig

**Headline:** 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 | 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 • 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗳𝗳 • 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 • 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀
**Profession:** Chief of Staff - Customer Operations & Experience
**Location:** New York City Metropolitan Area

## About

Stephen Willig is a senior leader at Verizon, serving in Chief of Staff roles supporting Customer Operations & Experience and Verizon Value’s Customer Operations & Experience organization. He leads business operations, governance, executive engagement, communications, strategic initiatives, financial planning, and organizational execution. Stephen’s strengths include strategic and tactical operations, chief-of-staff support, executive and board communications, operational governance, workforce and organizational design, KPI reporting, and cross-functional program management. At Verizon Value, Stephen supports the Chief Operations & Experience Officer across eight prepaid brands, oversees a $295 million OpEx budget, and leads a distributed operations, communications, and executive-support team. He has managed more than 30 projects, led confidential product and plan-launch initiatives, and delivered communications and events for organizations of more than 1,000 employees. His experience also includes support for Verizon Business leadership, finance and strategy, 5G sales, marketing operations, field sales operations, and retail operations. Stephen led a large-scale workforce reduction involving 13,000 employees, with budget and organizational-design responsibilities, and uses AI to automate administrative work and reporting so teams can focus on strategic priorities. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Italian Language and Literature from Montclair State University and has completed Google AI Professional Certification and additional AI, leadership, marketing-analysis, design-thinking, HR, and Verizon training.

## Services

- Marketing
- Microsoft Office
- Italian
- Customer Service
- Technical Support
- Wireless
- Research
- Translation
- Data Entry
- Italian languages
- Interpreting
- Interpretation
- Classics
- Computers
- Information Technology
- Wireless Communications Systems
- Android
- Apple OS
- Blackberry OS
- Windows Mobile

## Highlights

- Serves in Chief of Staff roles supporting Verizon Customer Operations & Experience and Verizon Value’s Customer Operations & Experience organization.
- Acts as Chief of Staff to the Chief Operations & Experience Officer of Verizon Value, supporting customer experience and operational initiatives across eight prepaid brands, including Total Wireless and Visible.
- Oversees a $295 million OpEx budget and has consistently delivered operating expenses 3% under budget.
- Directs six Senior Managers of Operations Support, a Senior Manager of Communications, and three Executive Assistants across Basking Ridge, Lone Tree, Chandler, Irvine, and Miami.
- Owns internal communications for a 1,000-plus-employee organization, including leadership letters, Slack communications, webcasts, executive messaging, and microsites.
- Leads approximately three concurrent confidential NDA initiatives, including Apple product launches and new plan launches.
- Manages more than 30 projects end to end, applying Agile methodology where appropriate.
- Increased PULSE engagement and achieved a 96% employee-satisfaction score, 6% above the Verizon average.
- Delivered more than 25 high-level events averaging approximately 1,000-plus attendees, all under budget, with employee satisfaction above 90% and leader satisfaction above 95%.
- Developed internal communications that achieved a 93% average open-and-click rate, 5% above the Verizon average.
- Led a workforce reduction involving 13,000 employees, with budget and organizational-design responsibilities.
- Uses AI to automate administrative work and reporting, protecting capacity for strategic work.
- Directed strategic business operations and executive support for the SVP of 5G Business Sales across a 300-employee organization.
- Created approximately 10 executive presentations each quarter in a double-dotted-line role supporting the Verizon Business CEO.
- Delivered 10 external events and speaking engagements for the SVP of 5G Sales, generating average contract revenue of $1 million to $11 million.
- Increased 5G Acceleration volunteer participation from 25% at mid-year to 85% by year-end.
- Built 5G Sales communications infrastructure that achieved 86% employee participation and a 93% average open-and-click rate.
- Served as Chief of Staff to the CFO and Head of Strategy for the $29.53 billion Verizon Business Group.
- Led more than 20 communications and board-related initiatives and owned four annual Board of Directors presentations averaging 30 slides.
- Helped deliver a 92% employee-satisfaction score for the CFO organization and established monthly CFO notes and a Slack engagement calendar.
- Directed communications for a 4,000-plus-employee Verizon Business Group organization and administered a Slack channel with 1,400 participants.
- Prepared the Verizon Business CEO for more than 30 external customer meetings with Fortune 500 and C-suite executives.
- Built an Executive Presentation Toolkit adopted across Verizon Business Group and delivered Executive Presentation 101 training across VBG and VCG teams.
- Created a VBG Leadership Meeting in a Box for more than 300 global leaders.
- Supported four Board operations and strategy reviews that received positive feedback and had no rejected proposed initiatives.
- Contributed to more than 110% of quarterly quota toward Verizon’s 2.5 million volunteer-hours goal for 2019–2025.
- Managed 28 sales representatives and managers across 10 Manhattan retail locations, with indirect leadership of one District Manager and five General Store Managers.
- Achieved the highest risk-score performance in the market, maintained 96% to 100% merchandising compliance, improved merchandising compliance by 5%, and reduced operational risk scores by 14%.
- Supported Verizon 5G initiatives involving Private Wireless Networks, IoT and automotive, Fixed Wireless Access, and Mobile Edge Compute.
- Earned a Bachelor of Arts in Italian Language and Literature from Montclair State University.

## Experience

- **Chief of Staff - Customer Operations & Experience at Verizon** (2024-05-01–present) — Chief of Staff to the SVP of Customer Operations & Experience. Leads business operations, governance, engagement, communications and strategic initiatives for the organization.
- **Chief of Staff- Customer Ops, Exp & Digital - Verizon Value Segment at Verizon** (2024-05-01–present) — Serve as Chief of Staff to the Chief Operations & Experience Officer of Verizon Value, acting as a trusted extension of executive leadership and gatekeeper while directing customer experience and operational initiatives across eight prepaid brands, including Total Wireless, Visible, and \[remaining brands\]. • Oversee a $295M OpEx budget, consistently delivering all operating expenses 3% under budget while partnering with Finance, HR, Field, and executive leadership on annual operating plans, quarterly business reviews, and metric planning. • Direct a team of senior operational professionals, including 6 Senior Managers of Operations Support, a Senior Manager of Communications, and 3 Executive Assistants, across five domestic sites, including Basking Ridge, Lone Tree, Chandler, Irvine, and Miami. • Own end-to-end internal communications for a 1K+ employee organization, producing monthly leadership letters, weekly Slack communications, monthly all-team webcasts executed virtually an
- **Sr. Manager- Strategic Business Operations at Verizon** (2023-05-01–2024-05-01) — Strategic support for 5G initiatives such as Private Wireless Networks, IoT and auto, Fixed Wireless Access, and MEC.
- **Senior Manager, Strategic Business Operations - Verizon Business at Verizon** (2023-05-01–2024-05-01) — Directed strategic business operations and executive support for the SVP of 5G Business Sales, enabling operational execution across a 300-employee organization spanning enterprise, mid-market, and small business segments, while leading an indirect team of senior managers across Sales Operations, Enablement, and Business Development functions in NC, NJ, and CO. • Worked in a double-dotted-line role for the CEO of Verizon Business, creating approximately 10 executive presentations each quarter for Board of Directors meetings, internal leadership meetings, and external functions. • Collaborated cross-functionally with Finance, PR Communications, Sales, Business Development, Engineering, and Operations to develop strategic narratives around private wireless network and Mobile Edge Compute \(MEC\) offerings. • Managed meetings and events of ~100 attendees in hybrid and in-person formats, including ownership of Meeting-in-a-Box for the June VBG Top 400 Leadership Meeting and support for
- **Chief of Staff – Finance & Strategy – Verizon Business at Verizon** (2022-07-01–2023-05-01) — Served as Chief of Staff to the Chief Financial Officer and Head of Strategy of the $29.53B Verizon Business Group, acting as a strategic advisor across finance, strategy, operations, communications, and executive-level initiatives while managing one direct report \(Consultant, Operations Support\) and one indirect report \(Senior Manager, Operations Support\). • Led execution of 20+ communications and board-related initiatives using Agile project management, collaborating with Employee Communications, Human Resources, Sales, Operations, Strategy & Transformation, and Corporate Communications functions. • Oversaw the creation of quarterly all-employee webcasts for the 1,300-employee CFO organization, overseeing scripting, logistics, and stakeholder coordination end-to-end. • Owned end-to-end Board of Directors presentations 4 times per year, developing an average 30-slide deck that combined multiple stakeholders' content and required approvals from the CFO, CEO, and Business Group L
- **Manager, Strategic Business Operations - Verizon Business at Verizon** (2021-11-01–2022-07-01) — Supported the Chief of Staff to the CEO of Verizon Business Group \(VBG\), driving executive materials, communications, and strategic operations for a global organization spanning SMB, mid-market, enterprise, and public sector segments. • Directed internal communications for a 4K+ employee organization, including organizational announcements, volunteer communications, and culture messaging, while administering the Slack channel of 1.4K participants. • Led the preparation of board materials for 4 annual Board of Directors meetings, owning presentation decks and pre-read packages while developing a BOD branding toolkit that standardized design across the executive team. • Prepared the CEO for 30+ external customer meetings with Fortune 500 and C-suite executives at the company's largest accounts. • Built scalable executive enablement tools, including the VBG Executive Support Intake Form, a brand-compliant Executive Presentation Toolkit adopted across the VBG organization, and an Ex
- **Solutions Manager \(Field Sales Ops\) – Verizon Consumer at Verizon** (2017-05-01–2018-08-01) — Managed a team of 28 sales representatives and managers, with indirect leadership of 1 District Manager and 5 General Store Managers, across 10 retail locations in the Manhattan territory, driving performance against monthly sales and operational targets. • Accountable for the operational performance across risk scores, merchandising compliance, crediting, and inventory counts, achieving the highest risk score performance in the market. • Sustained Sarbanes-Oxley compliance across all assigned retail doors by enhancing operational controls and monitoring execution consistency across locations. • Developed emerging operations talent through targeted ride-alongs and coaching sessions, returning underperforming sales representatives to target performance levels. • Partnered cross-functionally with Sales, HR, and Sales Operations teams to drive key initiatives and strategies while managing third-party vendor relationships with external FiOS sales representatives through Sidcor. • 𝗞
- **Sr. Analyst- Marketing Operations \(Events, Prepaid, Fios\) at Verizon** (2016-06-01–2017-04-01) — Supported various marketing operational efforts for the Northeast marketing team, and a critical member of the prepaid, Fios and collegiate marketing initiatives. • Supported local sell-on-site events for the NEM area as well as other marketing events. • Owned projects related to prepaid, Fios and collegiate efforts within local marketing
- **Solutions Specialist at Verizon** (2014-06-01–2016-06-01) — Met and exceeded monthly sales targets for retail wireless sales that led to revenue and net subscriber growth. • Provided onboarding support and training to new hires for sales teams. • Led local skills drills trainings and best practice sharing for sales associates who were not hitting their targets
- **Sales Operational Representative at Verizon** (2012-07-01–2014-06-01) — Performed daily retail operational duties for location, including inventory counts, risk assessments, merchandising and facilitation of wireless workshops. • Provided in-store customer service and Tier 1 & 2 technical support to customers.

## Education

- Bachelor of Arts \(B.A.\), Italian Language and Literature — Montclair State University (2008-01-01–2012-01-01)
- Bachelor of Arts \(B.A.\), Italian Language and Literature — Montclair State University (2008-01-01–2012-01-01)
- Raritan High School (2004-01-01–2008-01-01)

## FAQ

### What does Stephen do?

Stephen is a senior operations and chief-of-staff leader at Verizon. He leads strategic business operations, governance, executive engagement, internal communications, financial planning, organizational initiatives, and executive-level project execution.

### What is Stephen’s current role at Verizon?

Stephen serves in Chief of Staff roles supporting Customer Operations & Experience and Verizon Value’s Customer Operations & Experience organization. In the Verizon Value role, he acts as Chief of Staff to the Chief Operations & Experience Officer and supports customer experience and operational initiatives across eight prepaid brands, including Total Wireless and Visible.

### What are Stephen’s strongest professional capabilities?

Stephen’s core strengths include corporate business operations, strategic planning and execution, chief-of-staff operations, leadership and team development, program and project management, executive communications, internal communications, executive and board stakeholder engagement, corporate governance and compliance, operational-efficiency improvement, KPI dashboards, reporting, executive presentations, action-item tracking, and executive storytelling.

### What financial-management responsibilities does Stephen have?

Stephen oversees a $295 million OpEx budget and has consistently delivered operating expenses 3% under budget. He partners with Finance, HR, Field, and executive leadership on annual operating plans, quarterly business reviews, and metric planning.

### What teams and locations does Stephen lead?

Stephen directs senior operational professionals across five domestic sites: Basking Ridge, Lone Tree, Chandler, Irvine, and Miami. His team includes six Senior Managers of Operations Support, a Senior Manager of Communications, and three Executive Assistants.

### What communications work does Stephen lead?

Stephen owns end-to-end internal communications for a 1,000-plus-employee organization. His work includes monthly leadership letters, weekly Slack communications, monthly all-team webcasts produced virtually and in studio, executive messaging, and organization-wide microsites, including the launch of a Customer-related microsite.

### What strategic projects does Stephen manage?

Stephen leads approximately three concurrent confidential NDA initiatives for executive leadership, including Apple product launches and new plan launches for a 1,000-plus-employee domestic organization. He also manages more than 30 projects from planning through execution, applying Agile methodology where appropriate.

### What has Stephen accomplished in Verizon Value Customer Operations and Experience?

Stephen increased PULSE engagement and helped achieve a 96% employee-satisfaction score, 6% above the Verizon average. He delivered more than 25 high-level events averaging approximately 1,000-plus attendees, all under budget, while maintaining employee satisfaction above 90% and leader satisfaction above 95%. His internal communications strategy achieved a 93% average open-and-click rate, 5% above the Verizon average.

### What did Stephen do in Verizon Business 5G Sales?

As Senior Manager of Strategic Business Operations for Verizon Business, Stephen directed operations and executive support for the SVP of 5G Business Sales across a 300-employee organization serving enterprise, mid-market, and small-business segments. He led an indirect team spanning Sales Operations, Enablement, and Business Development in North Carolina, New Jersey, and Colorado.

### What did Stephen accomplish in the 5G Business Sales organization?

In a double-dotted-line role for the Verizon Business CEO, Stephen created approximately 10 executive presentations each quarter for Board of Directors meetings, internal leadership meetings, and external functions. He helped develop narratives for private wireless network and Mobile Edge Compute offerings, delivered 10 external events and speaking engagements that generated average contract revenue of $1 million to $11 million, and raised volunteer participation from 25% at mid-year to 85% by year-end.

### How did Stephen support communications and events for 5G Sales?

Stephen built communications infrastructure that included a monthly SVP executive-note series, communications calendar, weekly summary system, Google Sites microsite, newsletters, and monthly all-employee webcasts. These efforts achieved 86% employee participation and a 93% average open-and-click rate, 5% above average. He also managed roughly 100-attendee hybrid and in-person meetings, quarterly strategy meetings, more than 10 recurring monthly All Hands and Strategy Connect sessions, the June VBG Top 400 Leadership Meeting-in-a-Box, and support for the Hans Top 300 leadership function.

### What did Stephen do as Chief of Staff for Finance and Strategy at Verizon Business?

As Chief of Staff to the CFO and Head of Strategy of the $29.53 billion Verizon Business Group, Stephen served as a strategic advisor across finance, strategy, operations, communications, and executive initiatives. He managed one direct Consultant, Operations Support, and one indirect Senior Manager, Operations Support.

### What were Stephen’s key Finance and Strategy accomplishments?

Stephen led more than 20 communications and board-related initiatives using Agile project management. He oversaw quarterly all-employee webcasts for the 1,300-employee CFO organization owned four annual Board of Directors presentations averaging 30 slides and requiring CFO, CEO, and Business Group Leader approvals and supported CEO quarterly-results communications, investor-meeting decks, Investor Day 2022, Top 400 Leadership Meeting materials, and the June 2022 VBG Leadership Meeting. His communications and engagement work helped deliver a 92% employee-satisfaction score, and he established monthly CFO notes and a Slack engagement calendar.

### What did Stephen accomplish in strategic business operations for Verizon Business Group?

As Manager of Strategic Business Operations, Stephen supported the Chief of Staff to the CEO of Verizon Business Group, serving a global organization across SMB, mid-market, enterprise, and public-sector segments. He directed internal communications for more than 4,000 employees, administered a 1,400-participant Slack channel, prepared materials for four annual Board of Directors meetings, prepared the CEO for more than 30 external customer meetings with Fortune 500 and C-suite executives, and created executive enablement tools and training.

### What executive tools and engagement results did Stephen deliver for Verizon Business Group?

Stephen created the VBG Executive Support Intake Form, a brand-compliant Executive Presentation Toolkit adopted across Verizon Business Group, and an Executive Presentation 101 training that was delivered across VBG and VCG teams with repeat sessions requested by leadership. He also created the VBG Leadership Meeting in a Box, a consolidated clickable resource with presentations and cascade-ready talk notes for more than 300 global leaders. His work contributed to a 92% Pulse survey satisfaction rate, 5% above the Verizon average four Board operations and strategy reviews with positive feedback and no rejected proposed initiatives and more than 110% of quarterly quota toward Verizon’s goal of 2.5 million volunteer hours from 2019 to 2025.

### What initiatives did Stephen support in strategic business operations?

In the Senior Manager, Strategic Business Operations role, Stephen provided strategic support for Verizon’s 5G initiatives, including Private Wireless Networks, IoT and automotive, Fixed Wireless Access, and Mobile Edge Compute.

### What did Stephen do in Verizon Consumer Field Sales Operations?

As a Solutions Manager in Verizon Consumer Field Sales Operations, Stephen managed 28 sales representatives and managers, with indirect leadership of one District Manager and five General Store Managers, across 10 Manhattan retail locations. He was accountable for risk scores, merchandising compliance, crediting, inventory counts, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, talent development, cross-functional initiatives, and vendor relationships with Sidcor’s external FiOS sales representatives.

### What did Stephen accomplish as a Solutions Manager?

Stephen achieved the highest risk-score performance in his market, maintained 96% to 100% merchandising compliance across retail locations, improved merchandising compliance by 5%, and reduced operational risk scores by 14% through a new Risk 101 process. He also used ride-alongs and coaching to return underperforming sales representatives to target performance levels.

### What were Stephen’s earlier Verizon roles?

As a Senior Analyst in Marketing Operations, Stephen supported Northeast marketing operations and prepaid, FiOS, and collegiate marketing initiatives. He supported local sell-on-site and other marketing events and owned projects related to prepaid, FiOS, and collegiate efforts. Earlier, as a Sales Operational Representative, he handled daily retail operations, inventory counts, risk assessments, merchandising, wireless workshops, customer service, and Tier 1 and Tier 2 technical support. As a Solutions Specialist, he met and exceeded monthly wireless-sales targets, trained new hires, and led skills drills and best-practice sharing for associates who were below target.

### What experience does Stephen have with workforce and organizational design?

Stephen builds relationships across the organization to support people decisions and organizational design. He led a large-scale workforce reduction involving 13,000 employees, with budget and organizational-design responsibilities, and approaches complex operational decisions with a combination of strategy, hands-on execution, and attention to leadership support.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-willig-96a8624a

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