Ken Henderson

ABOUT ME

Ken Henderson - Operations Management

Decisive, action-oriented and results-focused professional with a verifiable track record of operating complex IT, business and engineering companies that exceed expectations. Practiced in organization process development and refinement, clarifying business requirements, benchmarking, gap analysis and designing innovative process and system improvements to increase quality and productivity while reducing costs. Strong interpersonal skills, highly adept at diplomatically facilitating discussions and negotiations.

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EXPERIENCE

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

MAY 2014 - TILL TODAY

Emerging Technology Advisors

COO & Co-Founder

Responsible for the operations of the company. Specific responsibilities include management of company finances (acting CFO), management of shared resource pool across multiple clients/projects, HR management activities for the majority of employees, development of methodology and related processes, development of mentorship and training plans, sales actives including proposal and SOW writing, recruiting actives, and management of contractor partnerships.

  • Maintained a 95%+ team utilization
  • Successfully scaled the team by 3X over a 30 day period, in order to meet client needs

Ektron

Sr. Project Manager

Responsible for leading a project management team that consisted of up to 4 project managers. Leadership responsibilities include contributions to and maintenance of the development methodology and related processes, methodology mentorship and training, responsive design & front-end consulting, proposal and SOW writing, and maintaining a realistic projection of the required North American Professional Services Group resources.

  • After corporate reorganization, played a significant role in reigniting the team and increasing billable utilization by up to 2X.
  • Maintained a revenue stream that exceeded management's goals
  • Developed resource tracking tools that integrated with MS Project and provided real-time long term projections
june 2012 - may 2014
april 2011 - june 2012

Ektron

Project Manager

Managed the full life-cycle of 10 concurrent development projects, with budgets of up to approximately $300K each and up to 10 team members each from various levels of the organization including external contractors. Served as the primary customer interface during the project and successfully maintained strong client relationships that consistently led to repeat business and a reliable revenue stream. Projects included requirements studies, hardware / software evaluations, risk analysis, compliance, verification and validation, testing, etc. Managed all aspects of projects from proposal development, creating / tracking the project plan, directing resources, contractor selection, and conducting post project reviews. Additionally, served as a business analyst for many of the projects and was directly responsible for writing functional requirement documents.

  • Developed and provided Microsoft Project training for the management team
  • Directly responsible for managing ~$1.8M of projects on annual basis
  • Earned promotion to lead the the project management team based on record of outstanding performance

Thales Communications

Project Manager & Sr/Principle Engineer

Managed the full life-cycle of 7 concurrent development, production support and re-engineering projects, with budgets of up to $400K each and up to 8 team members each from various levels of the organization. Collaborated effectively with key stakeholders - end users, team leads, financial analysts, hardware and software designers / testers, customers and vendors. Projects included requirements studies, hardware / software evaluations, risk analysis, compliance, verification and validation, testing, etc. Managed all aspects of projects from developing project charters and business cases, creating / tracking the project plan, recruiting / directing resources, vendor selection / contract negotiation / performance evaluation and conducting post project reviews. Additionally, served as the product line manager / business analyst for a rapidly expanding product assortment encompassing 138 high margin communications accessory products, generating up to $14M in annual sales or approximately 5% of Thales Communications, Inc. total annual sales.

  • Earned a promotion 1/11 to lead larger projects based on record of outstanding performance, in the aftermath of a (6% or 35 associate) reduction-in-force staffing correction and company reorganization.
  • Successfully led a cost reduction and process re-engineering initiative that was fully funded and implemented on 10/2010 resulting in projected savings of approximately $2.1M annually.
feb 2010 - march 2011
april 2008 - jan 2010

Ektron

Team Lead & Sr Engineer

Selected as the team lead to manage 8 concurrent development, production support and re-engineering projects of which 4 represented the organization’s highest profile and highest visibility initiatives. Project budgets were up to $400K each, and the teams included up to 3 members. As a hands-on team lead, led and/or participated in all phases of the projects, i.e., requirements analysis, resource recruitment / team staffing, conceptual design and customer approval, product development / configuration / integration, verification and validation, change and release management, status reporting, scheduling, budgeting monitoring and control.

  • Selected out of 9 peers as a team lead for 6 of the highest visibility / highest profile projects in the company.
  • Recognized by Director of Engineering for, “excellent project management and superior verbal, written and presentation skills; managing multiple tasks and projects while continuing to perform at a high level of excellence.”

Thales Communications

Engineer

Collaborated extensively with a highly matrixed team of electrical, mechanical and systems engineers in designing, developing, verifying and testing key components and assemblies of software-defined communications equipment bringing cutting edge, life saving, mission critical products to market.

  • Hand-picked out of 8 peers to lead R & D efforts in developing a product testing methodology designed to increase quality and durability of products used in harsh environmental conditions
  • Recognized by Director of Engineering in 2007 annual review, “excellent project management skills; performs at a high level while handling multiple projects; well organized and willing to go the extra distance to get the job done” resulting in a promotion to Team Lead and Sr. Engineer 4/08.
oct 2005 - april 2008

EDUCATION

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.
- Nelson Mandela

Master Degree

Virginia Tech

Sept / 2005

Mechanical Engineering

Graduated Summa Cum Laude

Bachelors Degree

Virginia Tech

May / 2004

Mechanical Engineering

Graduated Cum Laude

0
YEARS EXPERIENCE

TESTIMONIALS

The business of business is relationships; the business of life is human connection.
- Robin S. Sharma

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