Vanessa Wood
Verified Expert in Engineering
IT Program Manager and Information Security Developer
Tokyo, Japan
Toptal member since November 27, 2023
Vanessa is an energetic and highly competent Certified Information Systems Security and Project Management Professional (CISSP, PMP). She has spent 10 years successfully directing complex technical programs for companies like Salesforce, Microsoft, and Boeing. Vanessa also has an excellent track record demonstrating leadership abilities, executive decision-making, complex problem-solving, detailed project planning, and effective communication.
Portfolio
Experience
- IT Program Management - 10 years
- Technical Program Management - 10 years
- Information Security - 10 years
- Planning - 10 years
- Complex Problem Solving - 10 years
- Scrum Coaching - 10 years
- Compliance - 6 years
- Strategy - 6 years
Work Experience
Director of Program Management | Government Cloud Security
Salesforce
- Led strategy, planning, and build activities for core compliance investments with the Department of Defense—including impact level 4 (IL4) authorization and the cloud access point and enterprise email security gateway solutions.
- Provided crucial program structure—planning, schedules, progress meetings, and ongoing program status updates to executive leadership—to execute complex, multi-phase projects in the government cloud environment.
- Drove cross-functional collaboration with architecture leads, engineers, and subject matter experts to recognize and remediate compliance gaps and prepare the cloud environment for certification audits and control requirements for IRS 1075 and HIPAA.
- Created and oversaw new program processes, identity and access management, and the long-term roadmap to support the Criminal Justice Information Services' customer and downstream investments.
- Championed knowledge sharing, standard planning and processes, and engagement across the security organization.
Program Manager II | Cloud Health & Security Engineering, Governance & Compliance
Microsoft
- Wrote requirements and managed multiple offshore development teams as the feature program manager on a major project to automate audit technologies and compliance requirements.
- Managed the Azure security, transparency, and accessibility compliance program to validate that Azure services met the government's Section 508 accessibility compliance.
- Stabilized workloads and schedules by implementing Scrum across multiple governance and compliance teams.
Security Project Manager | Information Security Portfolio
Boeing
- Provided crucial program structure—planning, schedules, progress meetings, and ongoing program status updates to executive leadership—to implement complex information protection and computing security infrastructure projects.
- Optimized and supported key information security portfolio management and vulnerability assessment processes.
- Fostered a culture of continuous improvement by training other project managers on current tools and techniques and participating in peer reviews of ongoing and recently completed projects.
Information Security Analyst | Information Security Integrated Vulnerability Assessments (IVA)
Boeing
- Supported end-to-end IVA efforts, including coordination and facilitation of pre-assessment efforts, customer communications, remediation planning, and implementation.
- Defined, documented, and improved consistent processes across all IVA entities and developed new opportunities to better integrate processes within information security.
- Designed and implemented enterprise information security training modules in support of the International Information Security Command Center.
Project History
Government Cloud Environment
I spearheaded the project and was pivotal in establishing a robust program structure. This entailed meticulous planning, detailed scheduling, regular progress meetings, and ongoing communication of the program status to executive leadership and government entity program sponsors.
Education
Master of Science Degree in Management Information Systems
University of Arizona | Eller College of Management - Tucson, Arizona, USA
Bachelor of Arts Degree in English
University of Arizona - Tucson, Arizona, USA
Certifications
Project Management Professional (PMP)
Project Management Institute (PMI)
CISSP – Certified Information Systems Security Professional
ISC2, Inc.
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM)
Scrum Alliance Inc.
Skills
Tools
Microsoft Project, Confluence, Slack
Industry Expertise
Project Management, Cybersecurity, Teaching
Languages
SQL
Paradigms
Agile Software Development, Agile, Scrum, Kanban, DevSecOps
Platforms
Windows, MacOS, SharePoint, Azure, Salesforce
Other
Technical Program Management, IT Program Management, Information Security, Planning, IT Security, Project Management Professional (PMP), CISSP, Project Management Office (PMO), IT Project Management, Communication, Project Management, Compliance, Project Management Professional (PMP), Organization, Certified Information Systems Security Professional, Security Management, Risk Management, Compliance, Scrum Coaching, Strategy, Research & Critical Thinking, EMR, Security, Business Process Improvement (BPI), Certified ScrumMaster (CSM), Web Accessibility, Accessibility, Leadership, GRC, Documentation, IT Security, Security, Risk Analysis, SOC 2, Technical Writing, SOC 2, Vulnerability Management, Risk Assessment, IT Project Management, Complex Problem Solving, Time Management, Organization, Software Project Management, Software Release Management, IT Infrastructure, Writing & Editing, Constructing Arguments, Presentations, Communication, Waterfall Methodology
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