Administrative Team

Jeff Fleetham, Director

Governor Doug Ducey appointed Jeff Fleetham as Director of Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC) effective February 9, 2015.

Prior to his appointment, he owned 12-88 LLC, a residential project consulting and dispute resolution company, licensed as a B-3 General Residential Remodeling Contractor. His background includes construction, consumer products, consulting, and dispute resolution in both public and private sector industries. Director Fleetham was an investigator with Arizona Registrar of Contractors from Jan. 2007 to Sept. 2013.

He serves on several councils and boards and in mid-2015, the National Association of State Contractors Licensing Agencies’ (NASCLA) Executive Committee appointed him to their Board of Directors.

In addition to NASCLA, Director Fleetham is a member of Arizona Building Officials (AZBO) – where he was named Member of the Year 2013/2014; Central Arizona Chapter of the International Code Council (ICC); International Code Council – holding multiple certifications; National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) and Arizona NFIB Leadership Council; an Arizona Construction Career Days (AzCCD) Steering Committee member; Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE); National Association of Bunco Investigators (NABI); Association for Career and Technical Education of Arizona (ACTEAZ)

Director Fleetham came to Arizona when his father moved the family and business from Oregon in 1959. In 1962, Fleet Construction was founded and licensed in the State of Arizona until 2015. He attended Tavan grade school and graduated from Arcadia High School in 1970. He currently lives in the house he grew up in and has three children and four grandchildren, all currently living in the Phoenix-metro area.

Joseph Citelli, Chief of Legal & Recovery Fund & Chief Counsel

On March 21, 2016, Citelli started working at the AZ ROC as a Staff Attorney. In August 2016, Citelli was appointed the agency’s official Public Records Officer. Citelli also serves as the Vice President of the Arizona Chapter of the Association for Records and information Managers and as a Young Lawyers Division Representative to the State Bar of Arizona Construction Law Section.

In 2019, Citelli was accepted as a Fellow to the Flinn-Brown Civic Leadership Academy. The Academy is sponsored by the Flinn Foundation and the Thomas R. Brown Foundations to help expand the cadre of Arizonans in state leadership positions with the knowledge, skills, and commitment to address the state's critical long-term issues.

Citelli graduated from the University of California in Davis with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Communications in 2010. He received his Juris Doctor from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University in 2015 where he received recognition as a Willard H. Pedrick Scholar. While in law school, Citelli served as Editor-in-Chief of the Sports and Entertainment Journal. Citelli was also a member of the Corporate and Business Law Society and Sports and Entertainment Law Society.

Before coming to the AZ ROC, Citelli worked as a law clerk for Napier, Coury and Baillie, P. C. Law focusing on administrative, employment, and personal injury law. He also clerked as a judicial extern for the Honorable Judge Daniel P. Collins in the United States Bankruptcy Court, District of Arizona.

Contact ROC Legal staff at [email protected]

Jeff Wills, Assistant Director Compliance & Chief of Investigations

Jeff Wills began his construction career in 1999 working as a third-party inspector for Motorola at their Chandler, AZ location within their clean room and fabrication facilities. A short time later, he moved on to Intel Corporation inspecting clean room stainless steel piping and connections for microchip production.

In 2001, Chief Wills went to work for a large national homebuilder in the Phoenix-area as a Warranty Customer Service Representative and within a few years he was afforded the opportunity to supervise the customer service department as the Director of Warranty Customer Service.

In 2005, he was asked to oversee the warranty customer service department and their JD Power rating system of a competing national homebuilder. As with many in the industry, though, due to the economic downturn during that time, he was forced to change gears and in Oct. 2007 Chief Wills went to work for AZ ROC as an Inspector. While there, he performed numerous jobsite inspections as well as working on other projects within the agency. In Dec. 2012, he was promoted to Assistant Chief of Inspections supervising 18 Construction Inspectors statewide.

In late-summer 2013, Chief Wills returned to the national homebuilding scene accepting the position of Special Projects Construction Manager. In this position, he oversaw and managed class action lawsuit repairs, difficult construction situations and day-to-day homeowner and contractor interaction.

Knowing Chief Wills’ public and private experience, Director Fleetham asked him to return to AZ ROC to serve as the Chief of Compliance in Mar. 2015. In this position, Chief Wills and his staff are tasked with ensuring all licensed contractors are performing work in a professional and workmanlike manner; adhering to the rules and regulations set forth by the State of Arizona. Chief Wills and his staff also ensure unlicensed entities operating outside of statute and state law are penalized and cited within the boundaries of Contracting Without a License.

Contact ROC Unlicensed Investigations staff at [email protected].
Contact ROC Construction Investigations staff at [email protected].

Julie Pickerill, Chief of Licensing

Julie Pickerill has over 20 years of leadership experience she gained through the running of several small businesses. 

After joining the AZ ROC in January 2016 as a Customer Service Representative II, Julie quickly worked her way up the ranks until she was promoted to the Chief of Licensing position in April 2019.  Julie enjoys problem solving, process improvement and is committed to providing exceptional customer service. 

Julie grew up in a small town in Nebraska and attended the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. She spent 30 years in Northern California before moving to Arizona by way of Oregon.

Contact ROC Licensing staff at [email protected].

Brian Kirby, Chief Information Officer

Brian Kirby has over 20 years of leadership experience, managing operations and process improvement, including working with Fortune 100 companies. Brian joined the AZ ROC in October of 2016 and serves the citizens of Arizona as the ROC’s Chief of Licensing.

Brian was raised in the Phoenix-area, where both his grandfather and father were long time contractors. While working for the family business, he gained firsthand knowledge of different aspects of contracting. Chief Kirby holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Operations Management. As a Six Sigma Black Belt Professional with LEAN and other continuous process improvement capabilities, Kirby is proficient in process improvement techniques. As a former consultant, he assisted small- to mid-sized businesses in Arizona with process improvement and operational efficiencies from start-up through operations. His unique combination of construction, process improvement, and management experience allows him to effectively lead the Licensing team while improving existing processes.

Brian and his wife Nikki have two daughters and live in Peoria.

Jeff Zimmerman, Assistant Director of Continuous Improvement

Jeff Zimmerman serves the Citizens of Arizona within the Registrar of Contractors by applying proven improvement methods to deliver quality services supportive of Governor Doug Ducey’s 21st Century Economy priority.

Asst. Dir. Zimmerman is an alumni of Arizona State University. He refined his skills as a Quality Manager at Intel Corporation and Lean/Six Sigma Process Manager at CVS Health. Although credited with millions of dollars in savings throughout his career, Zimmerman says the most satisfaction comes from building a sustainable continuous improvement culture with the people he works with.

Raised as a farm boy in North Dakota, Zimmerman’s family moved to Mesa, Arizona in 1972, where his father practiced real estate and owned a land development company. Zimmerman and his wife have five children and live in Tempe.

Laura Hunter, Human Resources Manager

Laura Hunter joined AZ ROC in August of 2013 and serves as the Human Resources Manager.

Ms. Hunter has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management and Organizational Behavior from Brigham Young University and a Masters of Business Administration from Colorado State University. During her education, Ms. Hunter received numerous leadership designations including four Diamond Service Awards, the Bank of America Award, Business Student of the Year and three Scheid Writing Contest Awards.

Ms. Hunter has a strong background in public and private sector human resources. She began her career working for several private sector agricultural companies doing HR support and analyst duties. On a whim, Ms. Hunter took a college course on public sector human resources and knew this was the right fit for her. Since that time, Ms. Hunter has worked in human resources at both the county and state government levels.

In her current position, Ms. Hunter manages all HR functions for the agency including recruitment, compensation, employee relations and strategic HR planning. Ms. Hunter maintains a Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification and a Society for Human Resources Management Certified Professional (SHRM-CP) certification.

Jim Knupp, Chief of Operations and Chief Communications Officer

Jim Knupp joined AZ ROC in late-April 2015 and serves as the Chief of Operations, Chief Communications Officer, Legislative Liaison, Ombudsman, and Tribal Liaison.

Mr. Knupp earned a BA in Political Science and International Studies from Wright State University, in Dayton, OH. Also in Dayton, he worked for a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives serving in various capacities from 2005 to 2010.

In 2011, he moved to Arizona and began working for another congressional member in the representative’s Flagstaff and Casa Grande, AZ offices as an Office Manager, Business Liaison and Outreach Coordinator.

For the two years prior to joining AZ ROC, Mr. Knupp worked in Pinal County, AZ as the Public Information Officer for the Pinal County Attorney’s and Sheriff’s Offices.

Contact Jim Knupp at [email protected].

Cindy Casaus, Chief Financial Officer

Cindy Casaus joined the AZ ROC in May 2018 and serves as the Chief Financial Officer. In addition to overseeing the Agency’s business and financial operations, Cindy also serves as the Assistant to Director Fleetham. Prior to joining the AZ ROC, Cindy served as the Accounting Manager for the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, the largest member-driven business association in Arizona. She also held a similar role for a privately owned corporation specializing in data center design, critical power and commercial HVAC..

In her previous roles, Cindy’s responsibilities included overseeing the day to day Accounting functions of the organizations, financial reporting, human resources and working closely with leadership to identify and implement improved processes related to office operations. Additionally, Cindy has experience presenting to and working with elected officials and representatives from many of the Valley’s most recognized and influential organizations and companies, including Dodie Londen Excellence in Public Service Series and Salt River Project.

A third generation Arizonan, Cindy earned a B.S. in Accountancy from the Arizona State University W.P. Carey School of Business and resides in Ahwatukee with her husband David and daughter Adeline.

ROC News

06/14/2019 Repeat Phoenix Offender Guilty Contracting Without a License
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