BRETT SHOULDERS
Experience
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Phoenix, AZ
Management Analyst Feb 2020 - Present
CONSULTING:
Provides advice and assistance to the Director of the Pacific District Office on the objectives, goals, effectiveness, and efficiency of Pacific District operations. Analyze, evaluate, and/or improve the efficiency of internal administrative operations, and management to include planning, analyzing, and/ or evaluating the effectiveness of line and operating programs. Analyze and evaluate (on a quantitative or qualitative basis) the effectiveness of 13 Regional Offices' operations in meeting established goals and objectives.
Prepares and compiles monthly and quarterly operating performance reports, workload data, staffing distribution, and other reports as directed utilizing various visual analytics platforms such as Excel, Tableau and Salesforce. Apply a wide range of qualitative and quantitative methods to assess the Pacific District Office and implement complex management processes and procedures.
Advise management and/or the organization on the potential benefits/uses of automation to improve the efficiency of administrative support or program operations. Research and investigate new or improved business and management practices for application for agency programs or operations. Analyze management information requirements to develop program or administrative reporting systems including the systems specifications, data gathering/ mining, analytical techniques, and systems evaluation methodology. Analyze new or proposed legislation or regulations to determine the impact on program operations and management.
DATA ANALYSIS, PRESENTATION, AND VISUALIZATION:
Identifying data required for use in the management and direction of programs that aligns with strategic objectives; develop data required for use in the management and direction of programs; develop management and program evaluation plans, procedures, and methodology.
Conduct studies of employee/organizational efficiency and productivity and recommending changes or improvements in organization, staffing, work methods, and procedures. Conduct continuing and periodic studies involving compilation and analysis of data for the purpose of evaluating the effectiveness of operations. Conduct management audits, surveys, and systematic analyses of operations to ensure that established policies, practices, and procedures are effectively implemented.
Prepare reports with tables, graphs, charts, and other audio-visual displays depicting program information and data for use in training, management briefings, and information dissemination activities to the Pacific District. Review, analyze, and evaluate reports to advise on trends, out-of-line situations, and anticipated needs. Coordinate incoming data from a variety of sources. Coordinate the review process of all incoming and outgoing deliverables. Reviews documents, reports, and applications for omissions and inconsistencies.
MANAGERIAL COMMUNICATION:
Participates in the composition of complex correspondence or other written work for external, high-level officials. Independently identifies and performs special studies to assure compliance with directives and quality standards.
Maintain effective working relationships across departmental lines and acts as a point of contact throughout the Pacific District for questions and issues that require the attention of management.
· Created a Tableau Availability Report which included the development of an ongoing quantitative analysis of the Pacific Districts Availability % creating a series of visually insightful and interactive dashboards used as a tool for conducting deep dives into availability and its relationship with the following: FYTD Performance (Total TRB Completions, and % of EP 33 Completions), Leave, and Exclusion Hours.
· Conducted a quantitative analysis of select Regional Offices throughout the Pacific District on performance, identifying trends in employee performance, capacity versus transactions, rework, weekend OT usage, and deferrals.
· Tracked and reported $300k spent in overtime within the Pacific District to OFO-NCC to ensure the Regional Offices participating in the MDE VAE Outbound Call initiative were appropriately reimbursed.
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Phoenix, AZ & Denver, CO
Veterans Claims Examiner Sep 2012 - Feb 2020
Analyzed Veterans Affairs (VA) disability compensation and pension claims and evaluated and measured organizational operations' effectiveness and efficiency. Documented basic qualitative and quantitative techniques to determine service connection, percentage of disability, permanent and total disability and entitlement to compensation, competency, pension, vocational training, medical and dental treatment, insurance, specially adapted housing, and dependent education allowances, and other ancillary benefits. Served as a member of the Rating Board.
Conducted de novo and traditional reviews as a Rating Specialist and Decision Review Officer of appeals to previous decisions disputing theory of service connection, evaluation and/ or effective date assigned, and entitlement to all VA benefits to include non-rating issues. Upheld or overturned the original decisions. Knowledgeable of the procedures, regulations, and precedents governing VBA hearings to include expert knowledge of VA's Schedule for Rating Disabilities, written precedents, case law, and legal opinions from the Court of Appeals of Veterans' Claims (CAVC) the Board of Veterans' Appeals (BVA), and state and Federal courts having a relationship to VA programs.
Education
Colorado State University-Global Campus Aurora, CO
Master of Science in Management (M.S.) Business Intelligence (June 2022)
Grand Canyon University Phoenix, AZ
Master of Public Administration (M.P.A.) Government and Policy (August 2013)
Grand Canyon University Phoenix, AZ
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) History (September 2011)
Additional Skills
· Tableau Desktop I & II (filtering/sorting data, creating groups/ hierarchies, working with date fields: discrete and continuous time/ custom dates, working with dual axis/ combo charts/ combined axis charts, using quick table calculations to analyze data, creating dashboards with/ or without layout containers, stories, publishing visualizations)
· SAS (statistical analysis, descriptive analytics, predictive analytics, datasets, programming)
· R, R Studio, & R Markdown (data & text mining, linear/ logistic regression analysis)
· Salesforce (build reports and dashboards, manage employee databases)
· Python, Jupyter Notebook (programming, statistical analysis with pandas, matrices & arrays with NumPy, and visualizations with matplotlib)
· Power BI (novice)
· Microsoft Office Applications (Word, Excel, Power Point, Outlook, and One Note)
Certifications
· SAS- Academic Specialization in Business Intelligence and Performance Management
· Certified Journeyman Veteran Service Representative