KATHLEEN FORD

1946 Washington Street #435, Auburndale, MA 02466

617-969-0054 a kf104b56a@westpost.net

PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL

PROFESSIONAL PROFILE
Solutions-focused, motivated professional with a comprehensive background in pro
gram and project management.
Ability to juggle several projects simultaneously while working under pressure i
n fast-paced environments. Highly versatile; quickly masters new roles, responsi
bilities, technologies and environments. Demonstrates outstanding problem solvin
g and active listening skills; diffuses difficult situations with tact and ease.
Reputation for integrity, problem solving abilities, work ethic, and analytical
skills.
CORE COMPETENCIES
| Development Lifecycles | Program/Project Management | Software Product Release
s | Graphic Design |
MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and MS Project| Adobe Illustrator, Dreamweaver, and
Fireworks| HTML, CSS
KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
a Successfully built a beta program to support over 90 products.
a Designed, developed and implemented a prerelease program to support entire pro
duct list twice yearly; created, designed and maintained a blog to post and foll
ow comments of the 60,000 customers who enrolled to get their first look at upco
ming release.
a Earned numerous technical awards for book design and illustration.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Publishing Solutions Group, Woburn, MA
Project Manager (October 2010-Present)
Work closely with clients to manage publishing projects. Includes scheduling, pl
anning, organizing, monitoring budgets and resource allocation. Source/commissio
n/supervise freelance copyeditors and proofreaders, assign vendors, monitor prog
ress of vendors and authors.
Independent Contractor
Project Manager/Designer (Oct 2009-October 2010)
Manage marketing/design projects for Birch Companies. Designer of all marketing
collateral, responsible for design and upkeep of websites. Work closely with all
partners and vendors.
The MathWorks, Natick, MA a 1997-2009
Program Manager (1998-2009)
Strategically led program initiatives while maintaining high quality standards i
n leading a cross functional team responsible for delivering several hundred bet
a releases. Applied strategic planning and prioritization skills toward consiste
ntly achieving critical deadlines. Demonstrated strong communication abilities i
n effectively liaising between product and development teams while overseeing fu
nctionality and performance for beta and prereleases and implementing web-based
customer feedback forums. Analyzed operational processes to define inefficiencie
s and provided expert recommendations in boosting performance. Diligently troubl
eshot and resolved customer inquiries and complaints.
Selected Achievements:
a Managed a cross-functional team (US/Japan) for first Japanese version of stude
nt products.
a Delivered superior product design/branding for an internal project management
best practices program; applied strong graphic design skills to create web pages
, logos and graphics.
a Spearheaded four product development teams and served as a key liaison between
development, engineering and marketing to ensure projects were completed timely
and within budget.

The MathWorks
-Continued-
Documentation Specialist (1997-1998)
Planned and coordinated multiple simultaneous projects to maximize efficiency an
d achieve deadlines, with an emphasis on integrating cost analysis processes, co
st reduction and customer service initiatives. Spearheaded the production and co
nversion of documents from external authors and collaborated with Developers and
Development Managers to coordinate timely release. Actively led status update m
eetings vital to ensuring solid client relationships and requirements-compliant
project delivery.
Selected Achievements:
a Designed, developed and updated comprehensive training manuals and Quick Refer
ence Card for MATLAB commands.
Teradyne Boston, MA
Documentation Designer and Illustrator (1995-1997)
Strategically planned and coordinated schedules and production while controlling
costs and meeting company needs. Contributed dynamic leadership skills toward s
upervising all design and desktop publishing activities for a documentation grou
p, with strong focus on optimizing productivity and performance.
Selected Achievements:
a Relied upon to oversee three major releases of documentation consisting of 8,0
00 pages.
a Co-authored a procedure manual to standardize system administration and produc
tion tasks, integral to boosting efficiency and quality.
Career Note: Additional experience as a Documentation Specialist for Phoenix Pub
lishing and Documentation Designer/Illustrator for Apollo Computer/Hewlett-Packa
rd.
EDUCATION & PROFESSIONAL TRAINING
Bachelor of Arts, Fine Arts - Regis College, Weston, MA
Associate of Arts, Fine Arts - Dean College, Franklin, MA
BU PMP Certification (currently enrolled, expected completion 2010)
User Experience Certificate Program - Bentley College (expected completion 2010)