Brian Thayer Email & Phone Number

Carmel, In

• Lead product operations and product readiness practice for NextGear Capital; emphasizing product management best practices, skill development, resource utilization, and launch discipline to improve value delivery and product success• Champion product discovery through coaching product professionals to focus on deeply understanding problems and building user empathy before designing solutions iteratively• Drive and coordinate client-centric research activities to validate market need and balance against business viability and benefit• Teach, facilitate, and promote human-centered design practices across NextGear Capital• Partner with the Cox Automotive Product Center of Excellence to define and manage through change initiatives impacting all Cox Automotive Product Group team members• Collaborate within NextGear Capital and across Cox Automotive to explore new opportunities within the independent dealer marketAdditional positions held:Senior Manager, Product Management• Replaced a paper-based credit application with a secure online application• Led the definition and delivery of a B2B sales pipeline CRM and loan origination solution built on the Salesforce platformSenior Program Manager• Led initial strategic planning efforts for a complex cross-company technology investment to migrate legacy platforms to AWSManager, Release Train Engineering• Led Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) program increment adoption across the company in 2016 to align 200+ technology team members to a common product planning process and delivery cadence• In 2017, built a diverse team of Release Train Engineers and served as an active leader in reshaping and clarifying the goals of each Agile Release TrainProduct Manager• Led four delivery teams from ideation through delivery of a title management and OCR solution for Manheim wholesale auctions

Carmel, In

Initially joined KAR Auction Services to develop my project management skills. I quickly gained responsibility for managing many of the company's largest IT infrastructure projects. Managed a team of 20+ contract team members focused on completing the company's three year journey to upgrade nearly 8,000 computers to Windows 7.• Led matrixed technology teams to deliver complex enterprise technology solutions• Leveraged iterative and traditional solution delivery methodologies on multi-million dollar IT infrastructure and shared services programs and projects• Recruited and managed contract teams consisting 15+ dedicated members• Spearheaded continuous improvement initiatives within the Technology Services Project Management teamAdditional responsibilities include:• Led KAR's volunteer Project Management Advisory Council; focused on continuous improvement of organizational project management practices• Mentored fellow technologists with an interest in project managementAdditional position held:Technology Services Project Manager

Indianapolis, Indiana Area

Contract IT services and project management at Eli Lilly in the Manufacturing Information & Control Systems organization.• Led a service desk consolidation project, providing significant billable time savings to the client• Communicated project activities through project plans and status reports to stakeholders• Compiled, analyzed, and delivered service desk performance metrics and lessons learned reports to CTG management and customer stakeholders• Provided IT service industry expertise and leadership to immediate coworkers• Provided software support and system administration for multiple customer sites and numerous internally hosted applications

Indianapolis, Indiana Area

• Led a team of five technical support representatives providing product usability and hardware support for more than 300 customers• Acted as a pre-sales engineer, answering questions about product capabilities and conducting demonstrations, both on-site and remote• Participated in initial on-site system implementation and customer training• Hired, trained, mentored and reviewed performance of service desk employees• Wrote and reviewed both new and existing policies and procedures• Additional positions held: Systems Support Technician 9/2005 - 12/2006 Lead Systems Support Technician 12/2006 - 10/2007

Indianapolis, Indiana Area

• Provided application support to Indiana law enforcement agencies during the transition from a green screen terminal system to a Windows server-based solution• Operated as a real-time liaison on Indiana criminal history and driver data to other state and national agencies during times of crisis• Assisted with fact-finding and information gathering for on-going law enforcement activities nationwide• Additional position held:Telecommunications Operator II 3/2000 - 6/2003

Master Of Business Administration (Mba)

Electives completed in systems thinking, organizational learning, and IT strategy.

B.S., Management

Graduated Magna Cum Laude - Degree focus on organizational development, leadership, personnel development, and ethical decision making..

A.S., Computer Information Technology

Degree focus on professional communication, computer technologies, computer programming, and project management.

Executive Leadership Certificate, Leading Customer-Centric Growth

Six week executive education program focused on customer-centric growth in B2C and B2B organizations. Program facilitated.

Leadership Exploration And Development (Lead)

Ten month long, company-sponsored, leadership development program with concentrations in team leadership, personnel development, time.