John Evans

Engineering leader for enterprise communications, collaboration, and SaaS transformation.

Denver-based enterprise solutions architect and engineering leader with 15+ years experience delivering communications, collaboration, and SaaS modernization—growing from hands-on engineering into leading people, setting technical direction, and helping teams deliver complex change.

About

People leadership, architecture, and modernization

John Evans in a charcoal jacket and light-blue open-collar shirt, smiling in a modern office

I’m a Denver-based enterprise solutions architect and engineering leader with 15+ years experience delivering communications, collaboration, and SaaS modernization. My career has grown from hands-on engineering into leading people, setting technical direction, and helping teams deliver complex change.

I’ve managed teams of up to 10 direct reports across multiple roles, owning hiring, coaching, mentoring, and performance reviews. I stay close to the work while giving engineers the direction, support, and ownership to succeed.

At Starz, I led a multi-site Cisco-to-Webex Calling migration and carrier modernization that cut annual telecom spending by 70% ($220K to $65K). I also led a corporate spinoff’s SaaS separation, reducing operating expenses by 60% ($3M to $1.2M). My experience spans architecture, roadmaps, budgets, governance, and cross-functional delivery.

I’m targeting engineering leadership and Principal Solutions Architect opportunities in cloud communications, UCaaS, CCaaS, and CPaaS—where I can develop talent, advise business leaders, and guide modernization.

Based in Greenwood Village, Colorado. Open to remote and South Denver hybrid roles. Fluent in English and Portuguese.

Up to 10

Direct reports led

Across multiple roles — hiring, coaching, mentoring, and reviews

70%

Telecom cost reduction

Multi-site UCaaS migration outcomes

60%

SaaS operating savings

Spinoff separation and portfolio optimization

100+

Collaboration spaces

Conference, huddle, and executive rooms delivered

Selected work

Collaboration spaces in production

Large, medium, and small rooms, multipurpose common areas, and executive offices—dual displays, video bars, media walls, and room integrations in production.

Browse collaboration spaces

Leadership & expertise

How I lead and where I go deep

From developing technical talent to UCaaS/CCaaS transformation, Amazon Connect, and platform lifecycle governance.

  • People Leadership & Mentoring
  • Hiring, Coaching & Performance Management
  • Developing Technical Talent
  • Cross-Functional Team Leadership
  • Enterprise Program Direction
  • Talent & Resource Alignment
  • Technology Strategy & Roadmaps
  • Budget Forecasting & Cost Optimization
  • Enterprise Systems & SaaS Modernization
  • Cross-Functional Program Delivery
  • Platform Lifecycle Governance
  • UCaaS & CCaaS Transformation
  • Amazon Connect (CCaaS)
  • Collaboration & Contact Center Platforms
  • AI Enablement & Workflow Automation
  • Telecom Operations & Carrier Management

Professional experience

Career timeline

July 2026 – Present

External Solutions Engineer

E-470 Highway Authority (Consulting) · Colorado

External Consultant / Solutions Architect / Engineer supporting communications modernization: Cisco UCCX to Amazon Connect, telecom carrier services, and collaboration-space deployment.

  • Leading a Cisco UCCX to Amazon Connect (CCaaS) implementation—hands-on Amazon Connect and related AWS contact-center delivery (first Connect engagement; go-live targeted shortly).
  • Designing and deploying Business SMS/MMS (Clerk Chat) for one-to-one, one-to-many, HR, project management, and social media use cases.
  • Designed and deployed Microsoft Operator Connect, Auto Attendant and IVR, Agent Call Queues, and voicemail with transcription.
  • Migrated telecom carrier services from 8x8 to Intelepeer across Administrative Headquarters and the Traffic Management Center, supporting 4,000+ calls per month.
  • Deployed RedSky E911 enterprise-wide for the WSP Call Center (200+ agents).
  • Designed and deployed 25+ conference, huddle, and executive rooms—including structured cabling, Logitech Sync, Logitech Rally Bar, wall scheduling, dual display, overhead audio, and automated room-scheduling integrations.

2019 – 2026

Manager of Corporate Systems | Sr. Voice Engineer

Starz · Greenwood Village, CO

Managed 4–7 direct reports across systems administration, systems engineering, and implementation; owned hiring, coaching, mentoring, and performance reviews. Led major enterprise projects—setting direction, leading cross-functional teams, mentoring talent, and aligning resources across Colorado, California, and New York. Developed budget forecasts, lifecycle roadmaps, voice architecture strategies, and hardware refresh plans; oversaw platform stability, maintenance, and end-user support.

  • Migrated the entire multi-site on-premises Cisco Unified cluster to Webex Calling (UCaaS), centralizing communications, eliminating legacy infrastructure and carrier expenses, and introducing AI-enabled services; reduced annual telecom costs by 70% ($220K to $65K).
  • Maintained 100% platform availability throughout large-scale migration initiatives, while reducing overall SaaS operating expenses by 60% ($3M to $1.2M).
  • Migrated, integrated, and optimized Asana, Airtable, Box, Dropbox, Google Workspace, Slack, and Tableau; enabled AI-driven capabilities and workflow automation.
  • Improved platform reliability and lowered Tableau Cloud expenditures by 63% ($550K to $200K).
  • Designed and deployed 100+ multifunction video conference spaces; directed data center relocations, Pub/Sub architecture, CUBE implementations, and carrier circuit deployments.

2018 – 2019

VoIP Engineer

Sinai Health System · Chicago, IL

Delivered enterprise Cisco UC/UCCX solutions, CMS telepresence, CUAC, and PRI-to-SIP modernization with CUBE and VG300 gateways.

  • Launched UCCX appointment reminders, agent queues, automated outbound campaigns, and executive scheduling dashboards across clinical departments, reducing missed appointments by 75%.
  • Engineered enterprise call routing, trained IT support personnel, and ported 7,000+ telephone numbers, including PRI-to-SIP cutovers, reducing annual telecom expenditures by 77% ($2M to $450K).

2016 – 2018

Network Voice Engineer | Team Lead

Tata Consultancy Services · Chicago, IL · Tribune account

Led enterprise communications integration and contact center modernization, including New York Daily News Cisco UC/Unity/UCCX consolidation and Help Desk transition to offshore support in Manila.

  • Designed and deployed an open-source, high-capacity contact center platform, improving inbound call handling, flexibility, scalability, and cost efficiency.
  • Optimized classified advertising call center operations, increasing throughput and accelerating time-to-market.
  • Reduced annual telecommunications operating expenses by 84% ($5M to $800K) and lowered capital expenditures by 70%.

2013 – 2016

Network Voice Engineer | Team Lead

Tribune Publishing Company · Chicago, IL

Led a team of eight analysts and call center staff while fostering strong partnerships with telecom carriers and service providers. Directed a nationwide telecom infrastructure modernization program, replacing production servers, upgrading CentOS-based systems, and migrating PBX environments with minimal downtime.

  • Managed end-to-end voice infrastructure across SIP, PRI, and T1 circuits; oversaw Cisco routing and switching for voice traffic, including EIGRP, OSPF, VLANs, and QoS.
  • Engineered enterprise dial plan architecture supporting 55,000+ DIDs, 250 PRIs, 200+ telecom hosts, and multiple national and wholesale VoIP carrier integrations.
  • Resolved enterprise-wide voice quality and PSTN carrier issues across national operations.
  • Supported Linux-based open-source communications platforms across 71 sites (CentOS, Asterisk, FreePBX, FreeSWITCH, OpenSIPS, MySQL).

Technical proficiencies

Platforms and operations

CCaaS / UCaaS & Collaboration

Amazon Connect and related AWS contact-center services (current engagement); Cisco UC, UCCX, CUBE, Expressway, Unity Connection; Webex Control Hub/Calling; 8x8; Intelepeer; Hybrid Cloud Collaboration; Avaya/Mitel PBX.

Platform Operations

BAT, RTMT, dial plans / device pools / partitions / route groups, CER, RedSky E911, TLS certificates, OS patching, PRI/ISDN.

Education & earlier work

Foundations

Computer Science — Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC

Bachelor of Science — Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL

Associate of Science — Moraine Valley Community College, Palos Hills, IL

Network Engineer — Cianet, Florianópolis, Brazil

Systems Analyst — Khomp, Florianópolis, Brazil

English and Portuguese (native/bilingual)

Next chapter

Let’s talk about engineering leadership roles

Engineering leadership and Principal Solutions Architect roles in cloud communications, UCaaS, CCaaS, and CPaaS—where I can develop talent, advise business leaders, and guide modernization.