Where I learned to sharpen the saw...Started off managing the contract transition from the outgoing contractor to us. I learned a lot on-the-fly as we did just about everything for the first time in the next year: performing client-specific processes, big year-end close tasks, new relationships with subcontractors.Over the years, some folks left the project and newer folks came aboard. I deepened into the role of manager: recruiting, interviewing, performance evaluations, building teams, building careers. I deepened into the role of a serious “subject matter expert”: learning all aspects of the core financial system, financial statements, establishing a presence when sitting at the table with the client.I learned how to be effective, not just to follow the rules laid out by some methodology. The client may require CMMI, but that doesn’t mean they know what it is or accept it when it makes the project more difficult to execute. Being effective means responding daily to the challenges at hand, getting better at what you do, and ultimately being creative. Sometimes it means figuring out how to do CMMI in way that doesn’t kill the soul of the project and the people working on it.I learned I am a thought leader. People now knew me for my ability to figure out the most essential aspects of a problem, cutting away the noise. I had an opportunity to deepen this understanding during our client’s transition from the legacy financial system to an entirely new platform serviced by another Federal agency. I played the roles of conversion lead, subject matter expert, data analyst, and strategist. Fundamentally, I helped the client to figure out what mattered and avoid fixation on minor details.-- Manage a team supporting the core financial system (FFS) at a large Federal agency. -- User support-- Requirements management-- Software design-- Configuration management-- Data Conversion-- Full life-cycle documentation-- Implemented CMMI Level 2

My most challenging project up to that point and when I discovered my superpower.Our charter was to upgrade the client’s business intelligence tool from the legacy Hyperion Enterprise to the new and completely different Hyperion System 9. We quickly ran into two serious setbacks:-- Stressed and skeptical client who knew accounting, not BI tools-- Internal politics that left our project rudderlessWe burned through our funding for our Hyperion consultant. Much of the team left in frustration. I had a long list of project issues that I was unprepared to deal with. First, I clearly laid all my cards on the table with the client, acknowledged all their concerns as real, and then got busy just doing the work.-- Refactored the metadata (thanks to all that our amazing consultant taught me)-- Taught myself Visual Basic to update the system’s rules (and debug/fix performance issues.-- Taught myself MS Excel VBA to finish a prototype application that pulled data from the BI tool into a spreadsheet.-- Sorted out installation lingering issues in the production environment.-- Completed the project just in time for year-end reporting. A happy client.My superpower: I can figure out what matters, get it done, and figure out the details as I go. I have a big capacity to grind through the work with only my own compass to go by. I can lead myself and don’t need others to tell me the next step.Now that I was an expert with Hyperion FM, I enjoyed the remainder of my time refining the application to an extremely smooth user experience.-- Oracle Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) 11.1.2.1-- Hyperion System 9 installation and implementation -- Hyperion Enterprise-- MS Excel-based application development using Smart View-- FACTS I and II reporting, GTAS-- PAR financial statements and footnotes-- GFRS, SF-133, and Schedule P (P&F) reporting

Town Councilmember

Early success & setback... and more over time hours than I could count.My title progression: systems analyst > team lead > functional manager.Started as a junior analyst on a fast-moving project team rolling out a high volume of enhancements to the client’s central financial system. I quickly worked my way up from authoring memos to leading complex software changes of core code with system-wide impacts. I benefited from an amazing team with generous mentors who allowed me the autonomy to become a high-impact team member.Hard won lessons when working on the first implementation of a new Fixed Assets module to our company’s financial system framework. Learned what software bugs truly are, how frustrating they are for company and client, and how to navigate the conversation in a way that’s fair to everyone.Harder won lessons in success perceived as failure when expanding the client’s use of the Fixed Assets module to include Personal Property assets. The transaction volume was exponentially higher, the data quality lower, and the client’s expectations were results that matched their old reports. I learned the adage “garbage in, garbage out” (the numbers didn’t and couldn’t match). In the end, I learned serious ninja skills with MS Excel and worked out a detailed reconciliation that a Senior VP highly praised. After daily meetings with an angry client and an eventual completion of the work, I learned the adage “success is in the eye of the beholder.” I also learned the importance of clear communication and expectation setting, that it isn’t always easy, that a house divided will fall. Software projects are ultimately human projects.-- Managed a team supporting the core financial system at a large Federal agency-- Extensive requirements management, software design, and system testing-- Team training and mentoring-- Federal Financial System (FFS)-- Momentum Financials®