Dr. Carolyn Conway-Branch
Park Hall ,MD
Summary
Hardworking, dependable, and highly motivated Human Resource Officer offering 16 years of experience managing human resources teams to deliver compliance, personnel communication, and workforce programs. Detail-oriented and focused with expertise in performance management, recruitment, strategic hiring, internship programs, joint duty assignments, and a variety of HR proficiencies. Experienced with promotion cycles, promotion panels, quality step increase panels, interview panels, payroll, benefits, staffing, and personnel action request inquiries. Committed, motivated and known for advising, coaching, mentoring, and training junior employees. Develops and implements HR strategies and initiatives aligned with overall business strategy. Considered highly knowledgeable with Microsoft products, Peoplesoft systems, and policy research.
Overview
9
9
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Supervisor - Human Resources
Defense Intelligence Agency, DIA
Washington, DC
01.2024 - Current
- Directed and supervised team of 6 employees in daily operations.
- Drive innovation & process improvement in the Office of Human Resources through succinct messaging, policy interpretations, user acceptance testing, and IC collaborations.
- Resolved customer complaints in a timely manner while ensuring customer satisfaction.
- Conducted weekly meetings with team members to discuss upcoming tasks and project deadlines.
- Maintained accurate records of employee performance, attendance, leave requests, and disciplinary actions.
Human Resource Officer
Defense Intelligence Agency, DIA
Washington, DC
01.2023 - 01.2024
- Led and co-led several recruiting efforts for event conferences, career fairs & informational sessions in an eight-month period. Visited high-visible and competitive universities and briefed professors and scholars with specialized skills sought out by our agency.
- Prepares slide decks for OHR and Career Development Officers information session briefings to university scholars.
- Creates hidden vacancy announcements for career fields to be distributed to Career Development Officers (CDOs) at recruiting events. Hidden vacancies allow for the agency to track the number of applicants captured from a designated recruiting event.
- Completes detailed after-action reports and excel spreadsheets documenting resumes and sign-in numbers obtained, per career field, at recruiting events. Resumes are sent to Lead CDOs for situational awareness.
- Develops QR Code and surveys that allow candidates to scan the code to sign-in at recruitment events.
- Provides analytical reporting from the data obtained from the QR Codes.
- Collaborates with Career Field Managers (i.e., Senior Executives) and Career Development Officers to develop recruitment strategic plans for each fiscal year.
- Continuously partner with our Strategic Hiring Team sourcing talent from Handshake and Yello apps.
- Developed placemats for recruitment and strategic hiring events, per month.
- Applied knowledge and capabilities of internal and external recruiters to manage the acquisition of unique, diverse talent.
- DIA representative and committee member on the Intelligence Community Recruitment Council monthly meetings with various IC Agencies and military elements.
- DIA representative on the Intelligence Community Virtual Recruiting Tools, Community of Practice quarterly meetings with various IC Agencies and military elements.
- DIA representative and committee member on the Intelligence Community Human Resource Exchange Council bi-weekly meetings with various IC Agencies.
- Sponsored and trained new employees in the Office or Human Resources on creating reports and recruitment processes.
Performance Management - Team Lead
Defense Intelligence Agency, DIA
Washington, DC
12.2021 - 01.2023
- Led the PM Team (6 members) in managing daily performance management processes. Provided weekly activity reports highlighting significant accomplishments, challenges, and concerns that require leaderships awareness.
- Served a ten-month detail assignment to Human Resource Operations Center (HROC) from March 22 thru Jan 2023, serving as HR Specialist and the Subject Matter Expert for Agency employees on a variety of human resource inquiries.
- Reviewed several resumes and served as a panel member for internal hire interviews.
- Briefed Touchstone classes (new hires) on the Talent Management System and a few Talk w/OHR series on the Performance Management Cycle.
- Troubleshoot inquiries from payroll, benefits, personnel action requests (PARs), staffing, promotions, policy, records management, employee management relations etc.
- In 2022-2023 reviewed 15 Promotion Assessment Forms (PAFs) for junior employees and provided constructive feedback, per the promotion criteria in the promotion navigator.
- Provided the Office of Human Resources with Talent Management data points from the National Security Agency’s (NSA's) Talent Evaluation & Advancement (TEA) System.
- While on detail, still executed all performance management duties listed in the subsequent section.
Performance Management Specialist
National Security Agency, NSA
Washington, DC
01.2019 - 12.2021
- Served a 35-month joint duty assignment (JDA) from the National Security Agency to the Defense Intelligence Agency in the Office of Human Resources.
- Provided friendly and expert customer service to DIA internal and external customers regarding OHR initiatives and performance management. Infuse DoD, USDI, IC, and DIA policy and directives in responses to customer inquiries to ensure clarity.
- Acknowledged receipt of Human Resource Operation Center (HROC) requests within 24 hours of issuance and provided timely and accurate responses to customer within one business day.
- Built team cohesion and consensus through collaboration, decision making, and foster a sense of shared accountability amongst peers. Build effective DIA & IC networks, supporting information exchanges.
- Held meetings w/internal and external stakeholders as necessary to solicit ideas on best practices and provide information on Performance Management initiatives.
- Ensured products, projects, initiatives, taskers, and activities are broadly coordinated & communicated within the agency.
- Managed the Integrated Intelligence Centers (IIC) accounts. Provided IIC leadership with subject matter expertise & technical guidance in support of the organization.
- Assisted Staff Directors, Deputy Directors, and staff officers with rating chains, personnel action requests, and manpower data.
- Represented DIA as a member of the IC Talent Management Working Group where major IC elements discussed, universally, moving towards a two-point or non-binary performance management system.
Program Director
National Security Agency, NSA
Fort Meade, MD
09.2017 - 01.2019
- Managed twenty (20) Program Manager Interns through its annual development program, assigning to Directorates of interest and mission need.
- Collaborated across NSA and the Intelligence Community to identify future opportunities for Program Management Development participants. Worked to identify successful tour opportunities and post-program final placement.
- Provided metrics on participant numbers, departures, and follow-on assignments and conducts exit interviews upon departure.
- Actively participated in associated boards (i.e., promotions, annual contribution evaluations, and bonus deliberations), training committees etc., highlighting issues and concerns to influence program improvement. Continually met with mission equities to ensure the program remained current with mission requirements.
- Led efforts to maintain and improve the program. Created required documentation to support program improvement, including program communication strategies, hiring strategies, and outreach frameworks.
- Collaborated with participants on specific tours based on program goals, participant interests, professional development, and mission needs.
- Met regularly with each participant to discuss performance in line with ACE objectives, Individual Development Plans, progress of current tour, prospects for future tour assignments, and other issues/concerns.
- Assessed participant developmental needs; provided opportunities to maximize capabilities and contributions to achieve program goals.
- Established an environment of excellence by identifying and capitalizing on opportunities that promote creativity and innovation within my program.
- Issued on-the-spot and time off awards for PM Interns exceeding performance expectations.
- Actively reviewed, assessed ,and provided feedback to training offices or adjunct faculty that ensured training proactively prepared students to meet mission demands.
- Attended Program Management Intern job fairs and co-conducted interviews with prospective mission Directorate.
Enabling Specialist
National Security Agency, NSA
Fort Meade, MD
05.2015 - 09.2017
- Represented the Business Directorate (B) on working groups for external assignments process improvements, standardizing the process on sending employees on external assignments.
- Selected by the Chief of Staff (B) to represent the organization in the planning of the Enterprise Leadership Summit (ELS). Contributed significantly to strategic discussions while collaborating with all levels of civilian leadership. Produced deliverables thoroughly and on-time. Ensured that CoS (B) vision was well represented. Commended by the Operations Directorate Chief for exemplary contribution to the summit.
- Administratively processed and managed twenty (20) employees on external assignments, i.e., joint duty assignments or rotational assignments.
- Successfully ensured that all Joint Duty Assignments employees (B) had certified Memorandum of Understandings or Agreements at a 98% success rate.
- Identified cost errors within the JDA program; worked closely with OUSDI to collect $110K due to NSA.
- Quarterly: Marketed Business Directorate opportunities in the Joint Duty Application Tool (JDAT). The Business Management and Acquisition group hired twelve (12) incoming joint duty employees from various IC components.
- Met with interns and provided guidance for those who had interested in a joint duty assignment or a field tour. Successfully aided in the placement of six (6) interns for field assignments.
- Briefed senior leaders on joint duty and field employees, policies, and procedures; to include analyzing the footprint and determining the acquisition health of the site.
- Authored standard operation procedures for B Leadership which established a uniform procedure for developing, revising, and approving Joint Duty Assignment vacancy announcements within the Business Management & Acquisition Directorate. The process was shared with the JDA Program Manager and other program offices who requested assistance in completing the joint duty vacancy template.
- Created joint duty assignment and field placemats that visually displayed the location, grades, and return dates of current deployed employees. Senior leaders used the placemats to help determine where B employees were stationed, what locations had vacancies, and when the employees were due to return.
Education
Ph.D. - Business Management
Northcentral University
San Diego, CA08.2018
Master of Science - Business Management
South University
Savannah, GA12.2007
Bachelor of Science - Marketing
Alvernia University
Reading, PA05.1998
Skills
- Communication
- Leadership
- Management
- Interpersonal
- Time Management
- Problem Solving
- Active Listening
- Customer Service
- Talent Recruitment
- Report Writing
- Data Analyzing
- Onboarding and Training
- Performance Evaluation
- Professional Development
- HR Policies Expertise
- Staff Discipline
- Process Monitoring and Improvement
- Policy Enforcement
- Training and mentoring
Career History
National Security Agency - Business Manager (Aug 2008 to May 2015)
Wells Fargo Bank, NA - UCC Specialist (May 2003 to June 2008)
Standard Parking Inc., - Office Manager (August 1999 to May 2003)
The Catholic University of America - Office Assistant (May 1996 to August 1999)
Certification
- Joint Duty Assignment, National Security Agency - Jan 2019 to Dec 2021
- Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) Certification Level III - Business Cost Estimating & Financial Management - Oct 2011
- Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) Certification Level I - Program Management - Dec 2010
Self-Development and Training
- The Art of Supervision Course - May 2024
- The Federal HR Institute Strategic Recruiting Course - May-June 2023
- Leading at the Speed of Trust - Aug 2022
- Leading Teams - July 2022
- The Leadership Challenge (Model the Way) - Apr - Sep 2021
- Human Resource Expert - Promotion Panels - 2019-2023
- Group Evaluation Management Operator (GEMS) - Quality Step/Bonus Pool Panels - 2019-2022
- Emerging Leaders Program, National Security Agency - Oct 2018
- Mid-level Leadership Development Program - Sep 2018
- Front-line Leadership Development Program - Dec 2017
Timeline
Supervisor - Human Resources
Defense Intelligence Agency, DIA
01.2024 - Current
Human Resource Officer
Defense Intelligence Agency, DIA
01.2023 - 01.2024
Performance Management - Team Lead
Defense Intelligence Agency, DIA
12.2021 - 01.2023
Performance Management Specialist
National Security Agency, NSA
01.2019 - 12.2021
Program Director
National Security Agency, NSA
09.2017 - 01.2019
Enabling Specialist
National Security Agency, NSA
05.2015 - 09.2017
Ph.D. - Business Management
Northcentral University
Master of Science - Business Management
South University
Bachelor of Science - Marketing
Alvernia University
- Joint Duty Assignment, National Security Agency - Jan 2019 to Dec 2021
- Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) Certification Level III - Business Cost Estimating & Financial Management - Oct 2011
- Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) Certification Level I - Program Management - Dec 2010
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