In 2014, I took on a new and exciting challenge. Working with a great team of partners I met during the pursuit of my Master’s degree, I began building Energy Harness Corporation, an organization focused on making the world a brighter, greener place by retrofitting old and inefficient lighting fixtures with beautiful, custom-fitted LEDs. As the Director of Business Development, I established a company brand and marketing, managed customer proposals, explored market conditions, tested new areas, and helped to direct the growth of the company. With my involvement, the leadership team was able to grow the business’ revenue exponentially and start building great teams of dedicated sales, support, and installation personnel.

From 2010 to 2014, I enjoyed working as a lead technical writer, proposal operations manager, and logistics liaison at Northrop Grumman Corporation. In my position there, I supported several different departments in different but complementary capacities, and my efforts contributed to the strategic and tactical growth of the business.

As an acquisition logistics support person on a very large Army procurement contract, I authored documentation, developed web-based logistics data visualization systems, supported customer site visits, and acted as assistant program manager in interactions with the customer and internal management teams. Effective execution of my duties required proactive and thorough communication between internal and external stakeholders, schedule management, team management, flexibility, and adaptation.

I was a member of the business development team, where my primary responsibility was to coordinate all of the department’s bid and proposal efforts. During my tenure, I coordinated more than 30 proposal efforts valued at more than $400M TPV. As a major component of every proposal that occurs, I identified opportunities for improvement in the proposal operations process and assisted with strategic bid decisions. My oversight of the entire proposal process contributed to a 50% reduction in the cost required to produce small proposals (those with a bid and proposal budget less than $100k). Within each proposal, the team’s success largely hinged on my ability to effectively communicate schedules, tasking, and complex ideas. This position also required that I quickly familiarize myself with new and emerging technologies so that I can write accurate and compelling copy. My guidance and support contributed to 100% on-time delivery of proposals.

Outside of bid and proposal efforts, I supported budget maintenance, competitive product analysis, product development, and marketing material design, creation, and publication. In my capacity as a technical writer and editor, I utilized my expertise in Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Suite, coupled with excellent writing skills to ensure customer satisfaction with program deliverables. I managed the editing, production, and delivery of the local organization’s single largest regular deliverable- the monthly status report. Resulting in up to 20 documents with up to 70 pages each, limited by a 10 day delivery window, this effort required me to effectively manage the timelines of more than two dozen contributors, and assist program managers with staying abreast of the monthly delivery schedule and reporting requirements.

I founded and served as managing author and editor of the monthly departmental employee engagement newsletter, communicating relevant technical news, human interest stories, professional development opportunities, and more to a large and broad audience. In 2012, this newsletter was recognized by corporate leadership as a “best practice” example of employee engagement and communication.

My professional experience is complemented by experience in academia. I have completed a Bachelor of the Arts in English at Indiana University and finished first in my class in pursuit of a Master of Science in Management degree, also at Indiana University. I am a proponent of adaptive leadership techniques and believe that optimal customer satisfaction is achieved through the dedication of engaged employees; an effective leader capable of building relationships and creating an effective work environment will lead to prime business results. I am practiced in managerial research methodology and enjoy the excitement of public presentation.

Since 2009, I’ve participated in Special Olympics of Greater Dayton’s annual fundraiser, Battle of the Businesses. This fundraiser brings together more than 30 Miami Valley businesses and raises tens of thousands of dollars for the benefit of Dayton Area Special Olympians. I began coaching the Northrop Grumman fundraising team in 2011. From 2012-2014, I was the manager of Northrop Grumman’s participation in the event, and undertook grant writing, event planning, donation management, and other responsibilities on behalf of the fundraiser.