Quotes

“Tara has been a welcome addition to the NSP senior leadership team. Tara is building a strong IT team which truly embodies the service ethic we strive for at NSP. Under her leadership we have made progress stabilizing our IT infrastructure and ensuring that our licensing is in proper order.  I look forward to working with Tara on the next phase of NSP IT development and feel fortunate to have her on the NSP Team.”  Chief Executive Officer

“I just wanted to let you know how helpful both Tara and her team were in creating the Budget & Forecasting Tool.  It has helped enormously to improve the efficiency of the budget process.  Not only do I have the utmost respect for their technical knowledge but their response time in dealing with my many requests throughout the workday as well as at night and on the weekend was very impressive.” Director Financial Planning and Analysis

“Thank you for all you’ve done for Serco and particularly for me personally with your professional handling of the transition and transfer of control to me.  A lesser professional would have mentally walked away from this days/weeks ago, yet you spent your last minutes (literally I think) making sure all the licenses and accesses weren’t lost.  Well, that figures because you are not a lesser professional by any means!”  Director Cyber Security Operations

“I have been round the block a few times and blown out a few too many birthday candles but I’ve seen a lot and done a lot.  Although we have not worked together very long, I find myself regretting your departure.  You are probably the finest technical manager I have encountered at Serco and you hold a place of respect in my personal list of “the good ones!”  You exert a firm hand in managing, but you listen to and respect your team, and it’s obvious they respect you.  These are increasingly rare qualities.  If I ever get the chance to work with you again it would be met with a smile and if you ever need anything I can help with it will be met with enthusiasm.”  Senior Solutions Architect

“Her greatest strength is in demonstrating her technical knowledge and skill, bringing projects to completion on time and with satisfied internal clients.” Senior Partner

“Tara understands our business and client needs.  She has proactively recommended a number of services and ideas that would benefit our clients.  She really took charge and expanded the document system with [client name], setting up BWB as experts in another service area.” Senior Partner

“Tara manages many vendors dealing with everything from hardware purchases to software licensing.  Comments from others involved good feedback from the vendors about their dealings with Tara.” Finance Director

“Tara is an excellent mentor and her reputation as such leads people outside of her department to choose her as a mentor.  People look to her as a source of information and coaching.  Tara takes this role seriously and is committed to the people she sponsors.” Senior Manager

“Tara was the first director of IS for a start-up consulting company. As such, she had to develop the infrastructure, as well as the practices, for all IT-related activities at the company. She was well organized, efficient, and extremely capable. I recommend her both personally and professionally.” Senior Partner

“I have worked with Tara Santmire on several occasions. Tara is one of the most capable, hard-working and successful people I’ve had the pleasure to know. She is truly one of the smartest people I have ever known, and the best manager I have ever worked for. She builds excellent client and staff relationships, delivers for the client, and truly cares about providing high quality results. She knows not just the technical aspects of project management, but knows how to manage and motivate people, and understands technology better than any manager I have worked with. I have no doubt she will succeed at everything she does.”

Bob Meyer, Program Manager, SI International
reported to Tara at SI International

“Enjoyed working for Tara at OCC for the PMO that she lead for a demanding Project Sponsor. he had earned the respect of this client and she was able to grow the PMO with the needs of the customer. Liked working for Tara as there was never any doubt on where she stood on the work that was being done. It enabled me to focus on what needed to be done and deliver a high level product for the customer. When can we work together again? Phil”

Phil Doty PMP, Project Manager PMP, SI International
reported to Tara at SI International

“I worked with Tara as Sr. Requirement at the Office the Comptroller of the Currency for a year and half. Tara demonstrated a very high level of organization and knowledge in managing multiple OCC project. Her personal and management skills made the communication with her staff and the client very efficient and very constructive. I acquired a tremendous amount of knowledge working for Tara by watching her and listening to her. I really enjoyed working under Tara supervision and I will do again anytime she will need me. Hiring Tara will be a tremendous help for your company. Mohamed Chouaf”

Mohamed Chouaf, Sr. Requirements and Testing Manager, Federal Working Group
reported to Tara at SI International

“Ms. Santmire was my direct supervisor in 2006 and 2007, when she was Program Manager at the Comptroller of the Currency. I found her to be knowledgeable, eager for improvement of the program, and an excellent leader. Ms. Santmire knows the theory and practice of program management, and with focused leadership made great progress towards formalizing an unstructured program. She published policies, vastly improved scheduling, and most significantly instituted fundamental improvements by introducing the use of Rational software and processes. Ms. Santmire also took command of the administrative side of running a program, and her knowledge of the company’s internal business procedures and the relationships she forged with key players made my life simpler and, I expect, filtered up to benefit her directors as well. I am a more able worker due to my association with Ms. Santmire, and I would be happy to work for her again.”

Eugene Dean, Technical Writer, SI International
reported to Tara at SI International

“Tara understands the full services a Program Office provides to its clients. She very capably managed multiple disciplines (Project Office, Program Management, Requirements Management., Risk Management, and Testing) and multiple projects very effectively. I highly recommend Tara for any Senior Management role..”

Leo Nossa, Sr Business Analyst, OCC
reported to Tara at SI International

“Tara is extremely thorough, proactive and professional. As a supervisor she is easy to work with and a strong leader as well. It was a pleasure working for her and I give her my strongest recommendation.”

Tom Hartka, Program Manager, SI International
reported to Tara at SI International

“Tara Santmire is a fair, detail oriented, organized manager with a comprehensive business awareness. She is easy to approach team leader with a high quality standard. Tara is a consistent communicator that manages her team’s expectations through multiple venues. She and he team continuously strive for economy of scale through process improvement by managing to available baselines, implementing commercial best practice and doing a good job for the customer.”

John O’Dowd, Risk Manager, SI International
reported to Tara at SI International

“When I worked with Tara Santmire at the OCC she proved to be an extremely competent, well organized manager with an unquestionable mastery of project management processes and procedures as well as subject matter expertise in the area of IT. Tara also demonstrated excellent leadership qualities which, combined with her commitment to high standards, won her the respect both of the members of her team and the client.”

Desmond Bollers PMP EVP, Lead Program Control Analyst, SI International
reported to Tara at SI International

“I worked under Tara in the Project Management Office of a federal government agency. Tara was responsible for coordinating the efforts of a team of people whose assignments included Organizational Change Management, Deputy Program Management, Risk Management, Requirements Management and Test Management. Tara managed the team with a keen awareness of the important issues of each member’s responsibilities. She functions well as a strong leader giving due consideration to team member’s input and experience and making clear decisions based on her experience and the facts at hand. Tara is a precise communicator, giving clear direction that supports the goals of the client, the team and of the individual team members.”

John Hunter, Principal Consultant/Test Manager, SI International
reported to Tara at SI International

“Tara is one of the brightest, most supportive managers I’ve ever had the pleasure to work for. She is a “10” both technically and managerially.”

Rick Pulsinelli, CPA, PMP, CCEA, Program Manager, SI-International
reported to Tara at SI International

“Tara is a project manager that listens to her technical leads. She empowers all of her staff members and is an excellent motivator. Working with Tara is a 2-way street of communication and respect and I would certainly welcome the opportunity to work with her again in the future.”

David Green, Senior Java Software Developer, Customs and Border Protection
reported to Tara at CIBER

“Tara was a very competent project manager. She was always prepared, followed up on requests, and very supportive of technical staff. She knew her responsibilities as a project manager well and allowed the technical staff to be very successful.”

Nathan Chidester, Unix System Administrator, Computer Sciences Corporation
reported to Tara at CIBER

“Tara sucessfully created and managed a high functioning IT department for a fast growth, extremely demanding start up (Bates White). In a litigation environment, Tara was always knowledgeable and unflappable no matter what the fire drill of the day was and as the firm’s librarian I was always well advised by Tara on decisions involving my needs for software, services and vendor contracts.”

Mariann Kumke, Research Manager, Bates White LLC
worked with Tara at Bates White & Ballentine

“Tara was the first director of IS for a start-up consulting company. As such, she had to develop the infrastructure, as well as the practices, for all IT-related activities at the company. She was well organized, efficient, and extremely capable. I recommend her both personally and professionally.”

Jonathan Neuberger, Senior Vice President, Economists Incorporated
worked with Tara at Bates White & Ballentine

Additional Statements from reviews and 360s

• Since Tara has joined the EPM II team, she has immersed herself in the task of staffing support.  She has developed processes and procedures which have been implemented by all of the staffing team members.  She is a valuable asset who has been praised by the program managers and our subcontractor teammates.
• Ms. Santmire has provided excellent mentoring to the Country Leads in both technical areas and project management.  She has also provided mentoring and guidance to the support staff.
• Ms. Santmire was brought to the SLD program to help in the management of the technical staff.  She had made substantial progress in these areas (including increased utilization, mentoring and training programs, clearer reporting structure, better forecasting of work loads and deadlines), when we were forced to reduce staff on the program due to a lack of incoming work from the client.
• Tara has worked hard during this rating period, and has concentrated on building the SPMO into the model for PMO activities here at the OCC.  She and her people are constantly sought out to provide input in other offices approaches based on the reputation she has been able to establish.  She has had exceptionally successful year.
• Tara has become the “go to” resource for a very difficult and demanding client.
• Tara has won work for SI away from our competitors and client satisfaction interviews indicate a high degree of satisfaction with the quality and quantity of work.
• Tara has been a substantial asset in assisting senior team members with overall strategies and in mentoring them into being great assets for SI.
• Tara has designed and implemented an excellent work request system to track and report on PMO work load and ensure timely delivery of high quality work.  This system is being adopted by other teams as well.  This system has been highly praised by the client.
• Tara is very results oriented and the standards developed by Tara and her team in both project management areas (WBS, Schedule, EVM, Risk, etc.) and software development areas (requirements, QA, Testing, SDLC, IV&V processes, etc.) have substantially increased the PMOs ability to generate software that actually solves end user problems and is widely adopted and to do so on schedule and within budget.  These processes should be considered for wider adoption within SI.
• Tara has done a superb job starting up the OCC LB PMO Task Order from scratch, while simultaneously learning the processes in SIT International as a new hire.  Her tenacity and absolute professional competence are well-known throughout the portions of the agency that she deals with and have brought her substantial respect.  Tara continues to grow the Task Order effectively, yet in a controlled manner that ensures results.
• Tara has been a very strong asset as my deputy in managing and growing the overall contract at the OCC.  Growing the IDIQ contract from one task order to over 40 has been a challenge and would not have been possible without Tara’s strong organizational skills and her ability to write strong proposals.  Also, her ability to do very accurate cost estimations and justify them effectively to the client has been invaluable.
• The senior client management stated that she “understands the technical issues and provides the right stuff on project management items”.  Another client manager stated she has “some of the best planning and project management skills he has seen”.
• Mrs. Santmire is extremely organized and effectively leverages this skill to deliver quality output, coordinate multiple integration efforts, and keep her client management informed.
• Mrs. Santmire has demonstrated the ability to successfully adapt to the audience she is addressing, by providing clear and concise information at the executive level and more detailed verbal and written communication at the project level.
• Mrs. Santmire does an excellent job of keeping her team members and management team apprised of the current state of affairs
• Mrs. Santmire is an assertive and capable leader, who has very good management skills.
• Her “organizational skills, ability to see both the details and their affects on the big picture have been instrumental in her ability to coordinate between multiple groups and to meet critical deadlines for the client”.
• Mrs. Santmire delivers a quality work product.  Of note, it is good to know the client communicated her level of analysis dealing with process metrics was a goal to strive for by other projects.
• Tara is very proactive and accommodating to those she supervises and assigns work to.  Members of her team consistently thought she balanced her time well.
• Tara is really good at letting me know what the deadlines are and sticks to them so that everything comes together in the end.
• Tara has many responsibilities and is constantly involved in multiple projects at one time.  Although this is not unique amongst managers, Tara has set herself apart by immediately providing us with her full attention when a problem arises.
• Tara is extremely dedicated, willing, and motivated.
• Tara did a great job when I worked for her in giving me new projects that I was accountable for and making me feel like I am making a difference.  I feel that Tara is an effective delegator and that she effectively manages and structures her work.
• One of Tara’s better qualities as a manager is that she’s not afraid nor is she too busy to delegate work to me and other staff members.
• She plans regular meetings to keep our team organized and up to date.  Since every member of our team is assigned to multiple groups and juggles many responsibilities, these meetings allow us to coordinate with a minimal effort.  Tara constantly asks for our suggestions and progress, and allows us to voice our opinions and concerns during team meetings.
• Tara is excellent and highly proactive in providing updates and status reports.
• Tara effectively lets everyone know her expectations of him or her.
• She is very good about managing expectations and sharing information.
• She proactively reached out to me to provide updates and solicit feedback on project status.
• Tara regularly meets with the team and shares pertinent information.  She always provides clear details and instructions and is always available to concerns raised by staff.
• In areas of technical ability, general project design, or observations of others, Tara often shows excellent judgment and sound decision-making.
• With Tara, you find someone dedicated, flexible, and willing to listen.
• The people that Tara supervises consistently comment on her openness, spirit, and desire to make them feel valued.
• Tara understands our business and client needs.  She has proactively recommended a number of services and ideas that would benefit our clients.  She really took charge and expanded the document system with [client name], setting up BWB as experts in another service area.
• Tara manages many vendors dealing with everything from hardware purchases to software licensing.  Comments from others included good feedback from the vendors regarding their dealings with Tara.
• Tara is an excellent mentor and her reputation as such leads people outside of her department to choose her as a mentor.  People look to her as a source of information and coaching.  Tara takes this role seriously and is committed to the people she sponsors.
• Tara is a great mentor and coach.  She is passionate about making sure that the people she sponsors are taken care of.  She does a great job at being proactive with feedback and finding out what needs to be done to help people perform better.
• She has been one of the most active mentors that I have worked with and people look to her for guidance.
• As my sponsor, Tara has demonstrated interest in my career development and has met with me consistently throughout the year to work on my improvement.
• Tara has approached me numerous times to discuss her career and what she can to improve what she does.  She has stayed current on technologies relevant to the firm and is always looking out for new services and techniques that will benefit her and the firm.
• As a senior department head, I look for someone who can take a generic idea and come back with a solution that exceeded my expectations.  Tara meets my expectations in this regard.
• Tara demonstrates superior technical knowledge of programming standards, and methodologies.  Her downstream view of issues such as .NET and its impact to our existing code, as well as her relentless pursuit of development knowledge is exceptional.  I consider her to be one of the best programmers/developers I have worked with.
• I believe that she is always on the look out for new technologies or opportunities for the firm to improve its capabilities.
• Tara always brings new ideas to the table and does not need to be asked for follow up and suggested items.
• In addition to her formal coding and technical knowledge, Tara has strengths in coaching and mentoring, project management, dedication and willingness to get the job done, flexibility, and most importantly desire.
• She has been good at seeking out individual development opportunities; she works hard to look for ways to improve the firm; and she has been good at mentoring her direct reports.
• Her greatest strength is in demonstrating her technical knowledge and skill, bringing projects to completion on time and with satisfied internal clients.
• In a coaching role she is very good at explaining technical issues to staff.
• She has shown her ability and willingness to be flexible in changing the focus of her work at a moment’s notice.
• She has shown a willingness to take on many different tasks/initiatives.
• She is good at recruiting people who contribute to the success of the firm.
• She is highly valued for her strong management skills; technical skills; programming skill; and database skills.
• She has proven herself to very valuable in project delivery teams, as well as IT support.

E-mail from satisfied internal client:

To the [client name] team:

The [client name] team is in the process of analyzing data collected from about 150 different clients.  During this process, we have been working with Tara and her team to help with some of the database design and management issues.  They have provided ideas and designed database tools that in many cases represent significant improvements over the way we analyzed and managed data in the [client name] case, particularly in maintaining data in Access and Excel.  Their ideas have resulted in considerable time savings for all members of our team.

I recommend working with them if you are faced with collecting and centralizing purchases from future [client name] clients.  Feel free to stop by and discuss if you would like more details about the improvements that they have suggested.

Thanks,

[Manager Name]

Bates White & Ballentine, LLC