Kelly Ferguson Jones
Burleson
Summary
Technical program management professional with track record in leading cross-functional teams and driving successful project outcomes. Skilled in project planning, risk management, and process optimization. Strong focus on collaboration, adaptability, and delivering measurable results. Known for reliability and effectively navigating changing project requirements.
Overview
15
15
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Technical Program Manager
Elevance Health, Inc.
Virginia Beach, VA
01.2022 - Current
- Serve as Project Management Lead for Medicare implementation Dual Special Needs plans (D-SNP) year over year efforts with oversight, but not direct management, of supporting Project Managers (PM).
- Partner with strategic leads to define Medicare product implementation footprint through introduction of key program implementation materials, defining key milestones, and identifying program success measures.
- Drive cross functional, collaborative, sessions across Business and IT functional areas at onset of implementation phase for elicitation of new and different requirement development, and throughout all phases of implementation ensuring consistency in communication of efforts, early identification and communication of change requests, and to ensure late breaking requirements are cascaded for impact assessment and determination of next steps.
- Serve as initial point of contact for escalation of new and emerging complex program requirements with impacts spanning multiple lines of business and where quick action and decisions on next steps are critical to success.
- Ensure program execution activities are tracking to goal through use of project management tools such as Risk and Issue management, change management review, and managing program milestone completion status against project plan.
- Nurture strong business and IT stakeholder relationships by maintaining open lines of communication throughout program lifecycle stages.
- Mentor incoming Project Managers regarding role within the department, use of department tools and resources, effective facilitation of cross functional meetings.
- Project tools include ServiceNow (SNOW), SharePoint, Jira, Confluence, Microsoft Teams, WebEx, Skype, Microsoft Project, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
Project Manager/Program Director
Elevance Health
Virginia Beach, VA
03.2016 - 01.2022
- Lead PM for Medicare Supplement expansion efforts supporting growth and expansion efforts across 16 Medicare Supplement markets.
- Engaged Department Leads, Business and Growth Development Directors, Health Plan Leads, and Finance during Request for Proposal (RFP) activities to define RFP responses and develop budget needs.
- Identified and defined business requirements upon RFP drop and prior to contract award and through IT requirement development, Level of Effort (LOE) development, budget review/approval and tracking efforts.
- Engaged cross-functional Leads to review and discuss requirements and to define, to extent possible, activities/efforts necessary to operationalize offering prior to and in preparation for contract award (Ops Modeling).
- Developed project plans, timelines, and resource allocation strategies to optimize efficiency.
- Led cross-functional teams to deliver complex healthcare projects on time and within budget.
- VETS Elevance Health Support Network Talent Chair (2020-2023)
- Directly engaged and partnered with corporate Talent Acquisition and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) teams to ensure awareness of VETS activities and opportunities to partner on events such as: supporting job fairs (virtual and in-person), mentoring programs, assisting with department internship programs, and identifying opportunities to reduce veteran hiring barriers.
Project Manager
Smart IT
Norfolk, VA
01.2016 - 01.2017
- Contracted to Anthem Inc., as Project Management support on Medicaid implementation efforts.
- Facilitated cross functional working group meetings to ensure requirements identified in the RFP were completed.
- Participated in Indiana Rebid Operational Readiness Review, Internal Readiness Review, and pre-go live activities.
- Participated in preparation for and the successful completion of the Texas STAR Kids Systems Readiness Review and Operational Readiness Review.
- Worked closely with Provider Reimbursement team regarding Payspan/Emdeon Migration and successful development of Texas STAR Kids Explanation of Payments (EOPs) files.
Project Coordinator/ Meeting Manager / Team Lead
ARDX & Associates
Norfolk, VA
01.2013 - 01.2016
- Re-scoped the integrated project schedule (3500 lines) to achieve 100% compliance for new contract year.
- Revamped clients process for tracking major program inquiries and complaints related to application and implementation of healthcare policy leading to at least an 80% increase in efficiency.
- Greatly increased client satisfaction with overall contract performance resulting in a 4.5 rating and expanded company responsibility base for client deliverables by at least 50%.
- Achieved full compliance with all Project Management artifacts through development or overhauling internal processes and standard operating procedures.
Technical Writer
NCI Information Systems, Inc.
Reston, VA
01.2011 - 01.2013
- Brought program documents and program templates for software applications for government organization into 100% completion meeting all documentation requirements.
- Increased customer satisfaction regarding utilization and understanding of program documentation and requirements through direct training and client relations.
- Customized Standard Operating Procedures and user manual for IBM Jazz Platform to include system administration of site and user perspective.
Education
M.A. - Political Science
American Military University
Charles Town, WVB.A. - Criminal Justice
American Military University
Charles Town, WVSkills
- Coaching/Mentoring
- Integrity
- Verbal Communications
- Written Communications
- Stakeholder Management
- Quality Control
- Developing project strategy
Certification
- PMP - Project Management Professional
- ITIL V3.0 Foundations Certified, Global Knowledge
Military Service
United States Marine Corps, 1997-02-18, 2003-09-04
Timeline
Technical Program Manager
Elevance Health, Inc.
01.2022 - Current
Project Manager/Program Director
Elevance Health
03.2016 - 01.2022
Project Manager
Smart IT
01.2016 - 01.2017
Project Coordinator/ Meeting Manager / Team Lead
ARDX & Associates
01.2013 - 01.2016
Technical Writer
NCI Information Systems, Inc.
01.2011 - 01.2013
M.A. - Political Science
American Military University
B.A. - Criminal Justice
American Military University