Carly Keydel
Chief of Staff & Strategic Operations Leader
Wixom,MI
Summary
Dynamic Chief of Staff with a strong emphasis on operational governance and strategic alignment. Delivered significant improvements in project success and efficiency, including a 35% increase in project success rates and a 50% boost in transparency, while facilitating executive communications and driving high-priority initiatives across diverse teams.
Overview
9
9
years of professional experience
2
2
Certifications
Work History
Chief of Staff
Syntracts
12.2025 - Current
- End-to-end ownership of planning, execution, and communications infrastructure for a seed-stage AI legal tech startup, serving as strategic operator and connective tissue between CEO, co-founders, and cross-functional teams.
- Designed and owned company-level planning infrastructure from scratch including OKR framework, annual planning process, quarterly priority-setting, and weekly operating rhythms tailored to how the organization actually operates.
- Synchronized efforts between CEO and cross-functional teams, synthesizing information, surfacing risks and dependencies, and ensuring follow-through on commitments across leadership.
- Managed executive-level communications: board materials, investor narrative, All Hands, and leadership offsite planning and facilitation - proactively drafting and socializing materials to ensure alignment before announcements.
- Led high-priority cross-functional initiatives end-to-end: CRM migration, full company rebrand, LegalWeek NYC strategy, and Series A financial model and investor materials - scoping, stakeholder alignment, execution, and outcomes measurement.
- Built AI-powered operating workflows using Claude, ChatGPT, Make.com, and Lovable, automating investor communications, building custom reporting dashboards, and reducing manual work across operations.
- Replaced a failing financial operations tool with a custom-built Ops Hub covering P&L, scenario planning, headcount management, and runway - giving leadership real-time decision support synced with QuickBooks.
- Developed people ops practices including regular 1:1 cadences, employee recognition program, and proactive identification of blockers across the team.
- AI Legal Tech, Seed Stage
Manager, Program Management & Operations
Underdog
08.2024 - 12.2025
- Program managed major cross-functional product launches - single-app sports betting in North Carolina and Prediction Markets, aligning stakeholders, clarifying decisions, removing blockers, and driving follow-through across Engineering, Product, and GTM.
- Developed operational governance frameworks that reduced rework by 30% and enhanced delivery transparency by 50%, standardized SDLC processes, and restructured centralized product roadmap to accelerate planning cycles by 15%.
- Streamlined end-to-end operating cadence for 200-person organization, designing meeting rhythms, accountability forums, All Hands planning, and monthly business review processes that operated independently of senior leadership.
- Promoted within six months to own operational strategy and cross-functional execution across a 200-person Engineering, Product, Data, and Design organization.
- Coordinated early strategy and planning for company-wide AI enablement initiatives, aligning efforts across the entire organization.
Director, Project Management
emagineHealth
05.2023 - 08.2024
- Directed portfolio of 25 projects ($50K-$1M) across web, UX, paid media, SEO, and QA - managed cross-functional initiative scoping, stakeholder alignment, and accountable execution.
- Introduced standardized PMO frameworks and reporting - increased project success rates 35%, reduced budget overruns 20%, and improved margin predictability 15% YoY.
- Consolidated toolsets and workflows to cut operational costs 20% annually and enhance delivery efficiency 20%.
Manager, Project Management
Attain Partners
03.2022 - 04.2023
- Directed 10 concurrent enterprise Salesforce implementations with $1M budgets, enhancing on-time delivery and resource utilization to increase profitability 20%.
- Championed Jira adoption and Agile transformation, accelerating delivery 25% and establishing risk and financial tracking frameworks for improved executive reporting.
- Developed strategic plans to enhance client service delivery.
Senior Digital Project Manager
Merkle
07.2019 - 03.2022
- Delivered a $9M digital transformation program for a national nonprofit, including complete loyalty platform redesign and ecosystem overhaul.
- Managed enterprise B2B SaaS, loyalty, and marketing programs for global clients, achieving 95% on-time delivery and 4.8/5 client satisfaction across portfolios.
- Promoted from Digital Project Manager for successfully leading enterprise-scale transformations that generated measurable client growth.
Project Manager
Alteris Group
09.2017 - 07.2019
- Managed creative, L&D, and digital marketing programs for Fortune 500 automotive clients; led global rebrand that improved brand recognition by 15%.
- Implemented project management standards across the agency, reducing project delays by 10%.
- Developed project plans using Agile methodologies for efficient workflow.
Education
Bachelor of Arts - Public Relations & Advertising
Grand Valley State University
Allendale, MISkills And Tools
Leadership & Operations: OKR Frameworks · Operating Cadences · MBRs · All Hands · Board Materials · Executive Communications · Program Management · Stakeholder Alignment · Influencing Without Authority · Risk Surfacing · Trade-off Structuring
GTM & Revenue: Pipeline Infrastructure · CRM (Copper, Salesforce, HubSpot) · Revenue Forecasting · P&L Management · Investor Relations · Reporting
Project & Collaboration Tools: Jira · Asana · ClickUp · Notion · Confluence · Smartsheet · Slack
Design & Productivity: Figma · Canva · QuickBooks
AI & Automation: Claude · ChatGPT · Make.com · Zapier · LovableZapier
Certification
Project Management Professional (PMP) - Project Management Institute
Timeline
Chief of Staff
Syntracts
12.2025 - Current
Manager, Program Management & Operations
Underdog
08.2024 - 12.2025
Director, Project Management
emagineHealth
05.2023 - 08.2024
Manager, Project Management
Attain Partners
03.2022 - 04.2023
Senior Digital Project Manager
Merkle
07.2019 - 03.2022
Project Manager
Alteris Group
09.2017 - 07.2019
Bachelor of Arts - Public Relations & Advertising
Grand Valley State University