I love challenges. It’s what makes me excited when I wake up in the morning and keeps me energized throughout my day, my year and my career.
This might be considered the mid-point in my career. My journey has been a fun one with many different twists and turns throughout. Yet one thing stays consistent: experiences open doors and experiences drive the next career path.
While my history reads program management, today it is engineering leadership. Supporting five different engineering teams across five different markets is a juggling game, yet the goal is one - to maximize the value of what Cubic Mission Solutions offers.
My role in a nutshell: Break down silos, empower collaboration, seek the streamlined path, and deliver - all with the customer in mind.
Here are three ways I've carved out success throughout my career to date:
1. Fulfilling Jobs
While each career role has been uniquely challenging, I always looked at the big picture and accepted the challenges ahead.
Being able to work with the technologies that keep our military safe, is personally fulfilling. I now have a deeper decision-making ability to drive technology forward and meet the needs of our customers.
For example, I recently witnessed what can be done through innovation when our GATR team took technology used in our inflatable satellite antenna systems to design and produce a ventilator in an effort to address challenges that our county has dealt with during the COVID-19 crisis.
2. Diversification of Thought
Each career path demands a very unique range of skills to create well-rounded experiences.
Playing the role of a Program Manager affords me the ability to augment and address technical challenges with the added context of budget (cost and schedule) impacts.
For example, in my current role, we recently had to create a recovery plan for a troubled program. I was able to draw on previous program management experience and evaluate contractual language and obligations to constrain the plan and minimize the impact to the bottom line - all while ensuring a successful technical delivery.
3. Pushing My Limits
Jumping into a new role can come with hesitation. Each time, hesitation aside, the decision was the right one.
For example, I was recently asked to help kickstart a full rate production program for a new, novel radio. I was still new to the engineering world and I had no experience with manufacturing. I was way outside of my comfort zone. Despite being surrounded by career-long engineers that knew immensely more than I will ever know about that radio, I was able to help the team revise its structure and processes to turn around a very rough start to the program and ultimately deliver on its commitments.
While I didn’t set out in my career to work in business development or as an engineering executive, experiences shaped who I am today.
As the great Yogi Berra once said ”If you come to a fork in the road, take it.”
