JENNIFER THARP


San Francisco, CA 94105
<jt@mastodonconsulting.com>

SUMMARY

20 years experience in executive leadership, operations, audit and technology management. Consistently produces extraordinary results, driving business growth through process, organization and technology transformation. End-to-end experience in corporate operations, with excellent M&A integration, turn-around, IPO and start-up leadership experience. Establishes clear vision, determines execution roadmap, and applies appropriate governance, leading with integrity and respect for others. Profiled by Ziff-Davis Media as a “Great Mind in Development.”

  • Regulatory and compliance management (Sarbanes-Oxley, JSOX, PCI, GxP, etc) at finance, IT and entity level.
  • Change management
  • Project, program and portfolio management
  • Performance management and improvement
  • Process re-engineering and design
  • Governance and risk management
  • Business and IT alignment
  • Strategic planning and execution
  • Operational leadership
  • Organizational design and development

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2003 - Present
Mastodon Consulting
San Francisco, California
President
Specializes in large-scale strategic change, governance, compliance, and risk management, to ensure financial statements are trustable and infrastructure is secure. Drives the development, operations and improvement of client infrastructure, systems, and processes in Engineering, Operations, Human Resources, Finance and Administration.

IPO Readiness/SOX Compliance: Drive all aspects of Finance and IT SOX compliance — from gap analysis and project management to testing and training. Automate and streamline technology and business processes, eliminating redundancy and gaining efficiency, while ensuring adequate control. Sarbanes Oxley compliance clients include:

Genentech: Change Management, SOX, GxP
Drove first-year Sarbanes-Oxley compliance — radically improving security, change control and operations, by identifying and resolving dozens of critical risks at the application, database, network, system and physical level. Led internal and external auditors, wrote management letters and directed all audit processes and results.

eBay: SOX, M&A Readiness
Post-IPO, brought Shopping.com into first-year SOX compliance. Substantially reformed methodology development, test automation, capacity planning, vendor selection and release engineering. These offensive measures converted a fire-fighting, error-prone development process into a competitive edge, providing cost-efficient services and high responsiveness to customers. These efforts made the company a strong acquisition target for eBay.

Linden Lab: Pre-IPO Readiness, SOX
Engaged prior to planned IPO, to perform a thorough enterprise risk analysis, determining SOX compliance risks in finance and IT. Finding, targeting and resolving critical gaps increased investor confidence while improving the customer experience and lowering operating costs.

Nikon: JSOX
Developed IT procedures to comply with Japan's Financial Instruments and Exchange Law (JSOX). Embedded compliance into the company’s culture, so that controls were owned and managed at the business level and the use of ongoing consulting resources was minimized.

Shutterfly: SOX, PCI
Drove first year SOX compliance, spearheading sustainable automated controls to manage risk, including disaster recovery, information security, and change control. These defensive measures ensured cost-effective, uninterrupted, secure technology systems. Engineered turnaround of IT performance and service levels and transformed IT into a strategic business partner.

Project Management/Strategic Execution: Create a concrete vision, develop strategic objectives, identify key performance indicators, drive accountability throughout the organization, align incentives and budget, and integrate project and portfolio management to ensure flawless execution.

PG&E: Corporate Governance/Project Portfolio Management
Public utility had been plagued by huge cost overruns and scheduling delays on major capital projects (between $1 million - $5+ billion). Developed enterprise-wide project management standards and a unified reporting structure across divisions, so executives could better evaluate performance and manage risk across a large, bureaucratic and unionized structure.

Genentech: Agile/Project Management
Developed and deployed a custom agile methodology, which increased speed of delivery without compromising the FDA-regulated environment. Deployed portfolio management process and tools, and trained project managers in new processes.

SLAC (SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory): Head of IT Program Office
Lab had suffered from decades of failures in technology, which was not considered to be a strategic business partner. Developed first Project Management discipline in technology for the lab, aligned IT with mission objectives, and launched multiple mission-critical initiatives for the lab.

UC Berkeley Extension: Instructor in Project Management, Leadership and Sustainability

2001 - 2003
Vodafone
Walnut Creek, California & Bucharest, Romania
Senior Project Manager
Directed all phases of technical deployments for Verizon Wireless and Connex. Worked internationally on IT projects and initiatives, creating a cohesive multinational team.
1992 - 2000
Thomson Consumer Electronics
Indianapolis, Indiana
Financial and technical management
Directed several major independent initiatives at this $8 billion global consumer electronics manufacturer, owner of RCA and GE brands. Full P&L responsibility.

EDUCATION / CERTIFICATION

Indiana Wesleyan University, Marion, Indiana
BS, Business Administration
Summa Cum Laude
Outstanding Professional Award (University's highest honor)
Project Management Institute (PMI)
Certified Project Management Professional (PMP)

PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP

PALO ALTO COMMUNITY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
Supervisory Committee
The Supervisory Committee for a credit union is analogous to an Audit Committee for a corporation, independently monitoring the internal controls of the credit union.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE (PMI)
Global Operations Center: Sustainability Strategy
Developed comprehensive social responsibility strategy for this 500,000-member org, including member awareness and education, strategic alignment, philanthropic efforts, integration into programs and services, and value chain integration. Contributed to ISO 26000 for Social Responsibility.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE (PMI)
San Francisco Bay Area Chapter: Past President, Advisory Board
Initiated and developed strategic plan for this 2,500-member chapter, using Balanced Scorecard (BSC), executed upon vision to revitalize organization, growing membership by 25% in two years, and tripling volunteer participation.
ASSOCIATION FOR STRATEGIC PLANNING (ASP)
Northern California Chapter: VP of Operations
Developed and implemented strategic plan, and drove fiscal accountability to move this young organization from crisis to sustainable mode.

SELECTED RECENT SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS & PUBLISHED WORKS

May 2006
Risk Symposium (Houston)
“Organizational Impacts of Enterprise Risk”
Jan 2007
PMI Global Congress (Hong Kong)
“Aligning Operations with Organizational Strategy”
May 2008
PMI Global Congress (Malta)
“Corporate Social Responsibility and the Supply Chain”
Feb 2009
SD Forum: Engineering Leadership SIG (Palo Alto)
“Put your Strategy to Work!”
Feb 2009
Association for Strategic Planning (San Diego)
“Making Sustainability a Strategic Advantage”
Jan 2010
PMI (Silicon Valley)
“Aligning Portfolio Management with Organizational Strategy”
Jun 2010
Nerd Nite (San Francisco)
“Fraud in Virtual Currency”
July 2010
PMI Research Conference (Washington DC)
“Sustainability and Execution”
Oct 2011
PMI Global Congress (Dallas)
“Project Management and Global Sustainability”
Contributing author, “Project Pain Relief,” J. Ross Publishing, 2011
Editor, “Project Management and Global Sustainability,” IGI Global, 2012