Peers have described me to have a contagious positive attitude that effects their own performance. Senior stakeholders rely on me as “the team member with insight into business cases/strategy and understanding priorities.” Customers have learned to trust my performance and in their own words “I don’t recall a situation where we got close to a deadline only to realize we were missing a key component.” From face to face customer engagements through deployment support I lead teams through planning, risk mitigation, effort estimations, and requirements analysis that all in the end guarantee product success. Being a project manager is much more than coordinating Gantt charts and scheduling meetings. It’s owning the team’s success by clearing the roadblocks, one on one coaching, and guiding an agile machine to meeting the customer’s needs. Please scroll down to see a history of my successes and put me to work on your toughest development challenges.
My Journey
Cirrus Logic Inc
Technical Program Manager since August 2015
Mesa, AZ
Starting at Cirrus Logic’s Mesa office over 5 years ago I stepped into a newly acquired office without the history of a project manager. The office was filled with specialized electrical engineers developing the World’s most advanced acoustical algorithms for voice communication devices. However, without the benefit of proper project planning, agile execution, build and test automation, and a PM to manage stakeholder expectations the team struggled to grow beyond it’s product experiences and manage multiple projects at once.
Within weeks I had setup the infrastructure and gained consensuses on tools and procedures how to plan projects and developed a relationship with senior stakeholders. Soon clarity on what the requirements are, the priority and risks, feedback development dependencies between the multiple teams, and the underpinning of a “product agile team” from customer through testing emerged and communication silos were dismantled. Results of these actions have made the site capable of executing a variety of technical projects at once, on time deliveries that customers are now confident in, reduced engineering costs and time wastes by 50% or more in certain projects, and recognition throughout the company as the site for algorithm R&D excellence.
To the left are some examples of the product success my team has had over the years. The audio solutions in these products often start off with a customer’s wants and wishes with little information on performance and technical details. Using and training an agile mindset into the production team we are able to perform research, technical feasibility study, constant customer feedback, development, test, and deployment support in a matter of months on the World’s most challenging audio problems. The team over the last 5 years has evolved from their specialty focused on mobile phones to include smart home devices, biometrics research, and power management products.
National Oilwell Varco
Technical Program Manager
September 2011 – August 2015
Houston/Austin, TX
As my first civilian job after departing the US Air Force I was recruited as a Business Analyst for a technology product startup within NOV called NOVOS. As the group’s BA I transformed desires and wants from the customer into product requirements and specification. My analysis took me direct to the ship yards and oilfields to hold those face to face conversations and on-site observations. As a results the mind maps I developed led a group of developers new to the drilling industry to understand and develop a first in the industry automated drilling control system.
In 2013 I moved up to the Project Manager role and established Product Owner office to continue the requirements writing and definition work. For the next 2 years I managed a total of 52 software developers across 4 time zones with synchronized releases for our products and online catalogue. To gain efficacy with heightened customer feedback I moved the team to an Agile mindset. As a result this new technology in an industry where the stakes are high and trust is hard to earn became a success as it’s presently deployed on operational drilling rigs.
Project Management Institute – Austin Chapter
Vice President of Professional Development 2014
Austin, TX
While employed as the NOVOS Project Manager and NOV, I gave back to the local PMI chapter by serving as the Vice President of Professional Development. In this role I put together weekly Lunch and Learns at rotating locations around the city, monthly development forums presented by PMI professional speakers, semi-annual chapter sponsored PMI conferences giving thousands of PMP professionals access to the latest project management knowledge, and promoted the values of PMI’s education at engineering conferences. The resources and knowledge I gained from this experience continues to serve me in my growth as a project manager.
Intelligence Officer US Air Force
Major, February 2000 – September 2015
Ft. Bragg, NC
Upon graduating Iowa State University with a B.S. in Economics I entered the US Air Force as an Intelligence officer. This is where my lessons in leadership began as my first duty assignment landed me in charge of some of the Air Force’s most talented and brightest enlisted personnel. There I learned humility, servant leadership, the foundations of a high performance team, and the responsibilities of managing a team.
By the end of my career I had the pleasure of leading the Air Force’s top Intelligence flight with 3 Analyst of the Year awards 3 years in a row and 7 Bronze Star earners. I also had the unique experience of leading a 100+ unit mixed with military and civilian agency analysts in Operation Iraqi Freedom. In 2008 our team uncovered the next greatest threat to our military and Iraqi stability. The intelligence we gained changed the course of U.S. policy in the region.