John Kilgo - Consultant, Tarralou Consulting

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Work Background

Global Science & Technology, IncProgram Manager

Nov. 2021HybridCross-functional individual contributor on the Enterprise Products Team, scaling data connections across seven offices while protecting data integrity. • Transformed Data Efficiency: Led an innovative shift to a relational database, previously thought not possible by management, boosting data update speed by 40% and expanding dataset breadth by 15% without extra resources. • Data Powerhouse: Introduced a custom update method, addressing 27k data gaps. Unleashed data's potential by building 70% of critical documents, reducing manual work by 45%, illustrating data's might in boosting productivity. • Insightful Analysis: I co-directed a two-year study aligning products with user needs, enhancing 120 user requirements, upgrading 20 product descriptions, and refining digital tools. • Cross-functional collaboration: Built and utilized relationships across five cross-functional teams to develop products, improve data utilization, and achieve results previously thought impossible by senior leadership with no additional resources. • Communication Skills: Contributed to developing a robust communications plan that identified target audiences, tailored messages to audiences, and identified messaging tactics to notify a broad user base of project completion and what the project could do for the users. • Project Leadership: Working from a position of influence vice authority, I led a project to identify all uses of a foundational data set from initiation to completion, resulting in the development of an enhanced tool allowing users to filter information to suit their needs and the development of on-demand algorithm descriptions. Projects completed without additional resources. • Problem-solving skills: Identified shortcomings in data utilization and challenged the status quo through working with product and engineering teams, demonstrating how to improve data quality and using data for multiple purposes with no additional fiscal or personnel resources.

Joint Interagency Task Force SouthProject Manager

Oct. 2011 - Oct. 2021Key West Florida · On-siteIndividual contributor working cross-functionally, driving coordination and consolidation across an international team. • Data & Metrics Utilization: Rescued a stalled project, tracking 250 metrics monthly across 30 offices, spurring actionable insights, and aiding ROI analysis. Developed data capture methodology and transformed data chaos into a clear direction. • Process Improvement: Collaborated with CFO to develop an on-time, on-budget web-based tool and process plan linking strategy to finances and merged four documents into one, curbing cost overruns by half and boosting business flow. • Playbook Creator: Constructed playbooks for disaster response scenarios operationally tested during Hurricane Irma – moving 400 personnel to safety and continuing operations at two remote watch centers without losing operational control. • Cross-Functional Collaboration: Led planning teams with representatives from nine offices and 20 nations to address a 40% loss of assets for interdiction and apprehension of narcotics traffickers, resulting in interdiction and apprehension rates equal to before the flop. • Customer Insights: Conducted a survey of operational plan users and refined the operational plan based on survey results, reducing the page count by 20% and updating 15% of the text based on user inputs. • End-to-End Delivery: Led the production from planning to delivery of a ten-year improvement roadmap, which had not existed before in the organization. Drove product adoption, engaged stakeholders at various organizational levels, and communicated project risks to senior leadership. • Technical Expertise: Revamped the Continuity of Operations Plan, ensuring the satisfaction of all IT, security, and staffing requirements and accomplishing mission essential functions when operating with reduced capability away from the home station.

US NavyNaval Officer

Mar. 2000 - Apr. 2020United StatesBuilt a strong team culture, resulting in 90% retention and 56% promotion of assigned personnel. • Adaptability and Efficiency: Engineered an alternative work schedule for inspections, boosting ship score to 98% by allowing vital work while ensuring safety—top inspection score in two years. • Process Improvement: Piloted an improved scheduling and payment process with a small group and scaled the process to 40 geographically dispersed reservists, improving payment timelines by 50% through process review and optimization. • Leadership and Goal Achievement: Adeptly managed time, coordinated documentation, and led operations for a 105-person crew, maximizing productivity. Mastered juggling multiple tasks and completed a six-month training cycle in four. • Attention to Detail: Developed and managed a qualification matrix for a crew of 105 personnel, eliminating single points of failure and accounting for known risks. • Technical Expertise: Directed the maintenance and operation of multiple IT systems for a crew of 300+ personnel, ensuring 100% communications connectivity during a six-month deployment. • Program Management: Spearheaded an effort to lead the Force Management Program from planning to execution. I brought together personnel from eight geographically dispersed offices to collect over 300 annual requirements, educate team members, craft executive-level communication materials, and gain approval from the Director of Operations - representing the office at high-level meetings with force providers. • Stakeholder Collaboration: Collaborated with internal and external stakeholders to develop and manage the 18-month schedule, planning requirements, and communicating goals while accounting for risks. The adept management of the 18-month program resulted in a 33% decrease in the time required to complete the inter-deployment training cycle.

Taralou ConsultingCo-Principal

Oct. 2015 - Oct. 2019Big Pine, Florida, United States · On-siteOne of two founders of a bespoke project/program management firm providing services to U.S.-based organizations. • Business Planning: Developed a five-year business plan for client identification, product offerings, and management of profit and loss (P&L). Exceeded initial profit estimates by 50%. • Data and Metrics Utilization: Constructed production velocity charts for a $10m island modernization project for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, demonstrating project health, identifying areas requiring attention, and focusing leadership efforts. • Effective Communication: Devised a weekly reporting format that captured information to demonstrate project status, enable data-driven decisions, and highlight project risks and associated mitigations. • End-to-end Delivery Experience: Drove end-to-end delivery of a tailored emergency response plan for the Museum of Fine Art, St. Petersburg, Florida. The program accounted for likely danger conditions, provided response templates, and decreased staff training time by 35% for emergency response actions. • Program Management Experience: Constructed a program management framework for a complex island modernization project with multiple project dependencies, a complicated logistics train, and a limited workforce under tight timelines and budget requirements.

USSOUTHCOMProgram Manager

Jan. 2009 - Oct. 2011Miami/Fort Lauderdale Area · On-siteCollaborated with global stakeholders in eight regional offices, developing prioritized solutions for time-sensitive projects. • Process Improvement: Streamlined processes hiked requirement acceptance by 40%—forged solid global partnerships, delivering solutions for time-sensitive projects. • Adaptability and Efficiency: Improved earthquake response efficiency by 60%, speeding up life-saving solutions. Created efficient processes, cutting staff time by 35% while ensuring clear goals. • Skill Enabler: Pioneered a training program for force management tools, accelerating new team members' productivity within two weeks. Brought expertise to remote sites when needed. • Communication Skills: Leveraged data-backed presentations to executive leadership, illustrating the needs in the region, the payoff for investment, and risks if national interests are not maintained in the area, resulting in a 20% increase in assets. • Strategic Planning: Dissected strategy to determine innovative ways to meet strategic objectives across Latin America utilizing an asset mix that would achieve high ROI and developed supporting force requirements. Obtained resourcing for maritime programs that brought medical attention military training, and improved the U.S. image in the region. • Data and Metrics Utilization: Tracked sourcing levels and determined go/no-go criteria for planned missions to include risks, mitigations, and changes to mission planning to achieve the stated intent. Leveraged metrics from past missions to show ROI to senior leadership. • Technical Expertise: As the primary on-site technical expert in force management IT tools. Provided training to new members, managed account permissions and system access, and oversaw requirements transmission to higher headquarters. Contributed to new version builds of existing tools through beta testing and suggested system improvements to the developers.