Senior management

Roman Thomassin, President & Regional Director Business Unit Water (BUW) Region 3

As President of Elster AMCO Water, Inc. Roman Thomassin leads the water business for the  North Americas as well as drives business strategy for market implementation of the recently launched evolution™ AMI, Elster’s revolutionary new AMI product solution for the water industry. Roman also serves on the Executive Management Team as Regional Director for the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico water businesses.  A visionary leader and technical innovator with extensive global management experience, Roman has served in leadership positions in the manufacturing sector, both domestically and internationally. A progressive change agent and an International and Multicultural Specialist, Roman is fluent in 3 languages and has lived and worked in several different countries including Germany, Slovakia, Colombia, and the United States. He has hands-on experience in a variety of different countries and cultures all over the world in various industries including automotive, Aerospace, and Energy.  Roman has built start-up companies in the United States, turned around Europe wide relocation projects (Slovakia), reorganized companies in North and South America, and restructured companies in various cultures.

Prior to his appointment as President of Elster AMCO Water, he held several senior executive positions with Elster including chief operating officer for Elster Electricity in Raleigh, North Carolina and general manager for Elster Colombia in Bogota.  Roman lives in Raleigh with his wife Manuela, and  children, Themis 10 years old and Tim 6 years old.

Jamie Allan - Vice President of Sales and Field Operations

As Vice President of Sales and Field Operations for Elster AMCO Water, Inc. Jamie is the key driver in delivering solutions-based products and services to the North American markets of the water utility business.  He serves a critical role in strengthening our position as a leading provider of  water utility metering solutions through the delivery of our solution-based services to our clients in North America.  He is an accomplished sales executive with more than 28 years in sales, manufacturing, and quality in the water metering industry. 

Jamie joined Elster in 1980 and has held positions in sales management and manufacturing/operations, globally and domestically.   He holds CMS, DMS & IQA qualifications from the University of Luton and has served many terms with ASQ, including serving as local chair.

Bruce Bharat - Director of Marketing
Bruce leads the North American marketing division, serving a critical role in strengthening the company’s position as a market leader in solutions-based products and services.  Bruce manages the strategic direction of the North American marketing division and is a key driver in delivering Elster’s world class products and services.  With several years of experience in the radio communications industry as a design engineer and project manager, combined with a keen sense for marketing, Bruce holds the lead role in bringing Elster AMCO Water’s first proprietary AMI product -- evolution™ to market.  Bruce holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Miami.


Tom Goldner - Vice President Operations 

Tom is responsibile for all aspects of manufacturing for the North American Water business.  He is a career operations leader with a strong background in lean manufacturing principles. New to the water business, the majority of Tom's 20 plus years of operations leadership comes from two Fortune 100 companies in the electronics and automotive industries. Tom earned a BS Industrial Engineering degree from North Carolina State University and an MBA from Campbell University.

Kathie Gross - Director of Human Resources

As Director of Human Resources, responsibilities are to  lead, develop and manage HR functions as a strategic partner with the business.  This includes selection, placement and retention; training and development including Elster AMCO University; performance management; payroll administration management; compensation and benefits; health and safety in conjunction with Facilities Management plus employee relations and recognition programs.  Kathie has over 20 years of Human Resource experience primarily in the manufacturing industry.  She is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management and has a Bachelor's degree in Psychology.

John Southerland - Vice President Finance/IT CFO

John is responsible for the overall financial operations and integrity of Elster AMCO Water as well as overseeing the direction and implementation of IT strategy across the company.  He brings a strong background in corporate finance, cost accounting and budgeting to the Elster Group.  John has worked for Elster for the past 15 years having last served as Sr. Financial Manager for Elster Electricity in Raleigh before moving to Ocala in 2006.  He holds an MBA from Francis Marion University and a BS in Accounting from Winthrop University.

Alistair Vaughan-Edwards - Vice President Process Engineering (Lean Champion)

Alistair is responsible for implementing Lean Manufacturing methodologies throughout the business. Prior to joining Elster, Alistair worked for ABB as General Manager for Electromechanical Electricity meters in the UK.  In this time he was involved as the project manager for a new electricity meter range from concept to market launch. Previously he worked for the GEC Group in the UK in various manufacturing divisions.

Ralph Vock - Vice President Supply Management

Ralph is responsible for developing a World Class Supply Chain Management Team that will position the organization for the lean transformation of Elster AMCO.  Ralph has over 24 years of significant international and manufacturing procurement experience. He just recently achieved his CPP/CPPM Professional Purchasing Certification.