Ryan Keough
Charleston,SC
Summary
Dynamic Program Manager and Certified Scrum Master with extensive experience leading R&D/S&T initiatives and managing multi-million dollar budgets. Proven track record in enhancing team performance and delivering complex projects on time. Skilled in Agile methodologies and mentorship, driving innovation and collaboration across diverse teams.
Overview
13
13
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Program Manager/Product Owner (R&D)
Scientific Research Corporation
Charleston, SC
05.2022 - Current
- - PROJECT MANAGER specialist working on site at NIWC, Atlantic. Selected by NIWC Atlantic to serve as a Product Owner coordinating with Navy stakeholders and overseeing the research, development, testing, and engineering (RDT&E) of future USN CCOP C5ISR systems. Led three major R&D programs encompassing 14 projects.
- - Responsible for leading a team of 24 personnel through all phases of new projects including the development, support, deployment, and training of newly developed systems. Responsible for the research and drafting of annual bids/proposals resulted in upwards of 3 million dollars in annual revenue per year.
- - Responsible for collaboration and coordination among other internal and external teams within a SAFe/Agile work environment to ensure proper flow and cross functionality of systems and work flow processes.
- - Responsible for the planning, creation, and controlling of comprehensive annual budgets of up to 5M and project schedules to ensure project completion while adhering to customer requirements and needs. Oversaw the creation of Bills of Material (BOMs) and procurement of material in support of technology development.
- - Responsible for the management, leading, and mentoring of seven team members, each responsible for the analysis, research, integration, engineering, software development, dataflow, and research of new and emergent technology with the goal of designing, building, integrating, and delivering new engineering and IT/software-based technology to meet Navy needs.
- - Served as the scrum master within SAFe framework and acted as a servant-leader for a 17-person team of developers, IT/Software professionals, Cyber Security experts, and RF engineers, utilizing Agile processes to ensure the rapid delivery of bi-weekly story level products with the goal of increasing team velocity, maximizing inner-team communication, and meeting project goals and timelines developed by the customer. Mentored and trained teams through both virtual and in-person PI plannings, Iteration plannings, iteration reviews, daily scrums, and collaborated and guided NIWC LANT Product Owners in backlog refinement. Worked to define project scope, develop and monitor KPIs, run bi-weekly sprint planning, and lead sprint retrospectives. Additionally worked through the daily management, removal of impediments and roadblocks, identification of risks, development of risk mitigation strategies, and scrum of R&D sprint back logs in order to ensure government timelines and IMS schedules were met and proper tasks were assigned each sprint with the goal of delivering a functioning product to the customer and the customer.
Military System Specialist IV-TL (R&D)
Scientific Research Corporation
Charleston, SC
06.2020 - 05.2022
- - Systems specialist working on site at NIWC, Atlantic in support of research, development, test, and engineering (RDT&E) of USN sensor systems and associated development, support, deployment, and training.
- - Responsible for the management, leading, and mentoring of three team members, each responsible for the analysis and research of new signal threats.
- - Responsible for the research of solutions for current intelligence gaps and emergent technologies with the purpose of designing countermeasures to support customers in the government and commercial markets.
- - Conducted background analysis/research and system design for a variety of applications and state of the art technologies. Worked on eight projects developing system specifications and applications specifically in regards to signals analysis and user functionality to meet the needs of both military and civilian customers.
- - Worked as the Scrum master within SAFe framework and acted as a servant-leader for a 14-person team of developers, IT professionals, and engineers, utilizing Agile processes to ensure the rapid delivery of bi-weekly story level products with the goal of increasing team velocity, maximizing inner-team communication, and meeting project goals and timelines developed by the customer. Mentored teams through both virtual and in-person PI plannings, Iteration plannings, iteration reviews, daily scrums, and assisted Product Owners in backlog refinement. Worked daily with Project Owners to define project scope, run bi-weekly sprint planning, and lead sprint review sessions. Additionally worked through the daily management, removal of impediments and roadblocks, identification of risks, development of risk mitigation strategies, and scrum of R&D sprint back logs in order to ensure government timelines and IMS schedules were met and proper tasks were assigned each sprint with the goal of delivering a functioning product to the customer and the customer.
- - Success in this role resulted in the promotion to the role of Project Manager.
Lead SIGINT Analyst/Supervisor (LCPO)
Whidbey Island Signal Analysis Lab USN
Oak Harbor, WA
06.2017 - 06.2020
- - Managed a team of 13 Signals (ELINT, COMINT) analysts responsible for the analysis of highly technical data from airborne sensors. Guided and mentored team through the process of planning mission requirements, adhering to customer timelines, and oversight of final mission reports. Responsible for training team members in the application of signals analysis tools (WVT/DVT/Target Tools/ASPEN).
- - Managed a team of 6 IT professionals responsible for ensuring functionality of day-to-day IT communication and networking equipment across the organization.
- - Completed Navy SCMA training for descriptor file/automated collection script creation. Oversaw the creation, validation, testing, and publication of automated collection scripts increasing the effectiveness and fluidity of data collection systems.
- - Provided guidance and oversaw the analysis of 167 airborne missions, analysis of signals, and release of 127 products to national consumers, resulting in the identification of new emitters and a total of 15 national database updates.
- - Contributed to the development and draft of the Navy’s Global Signals Analysis Lab (GSAL) Concept of Operations and structural reorganization.
Lead Supervisor/Cryptologic Technician Collection (CTR)
USS Decatur (DDG-73) USN
San Diego, CA
07.2013 - 12.2016
- - Managed a shipboard watch floor of eight personnel. Responsible for the collection, processing, training, and dissemination of state-of-the-art communications on MCS-21 SSEE INC-E Systems; directly responsible to shipboard tactical commander for the reporting of indications and warning, threat recognition, and safety of the ship.
- - Provided guidance and expertise essential to the collection and dissemination of over 342,000 emitters, and release of time-sensitive reports across the span of 21 months at sea (in theater).
- - Managed shipboard reaction intelligence team of ten personnel in response to foreign contacts/enemy combatants. Responsible for photographs and approval/submission of produced reports. Resulted in the release of 14 intelligence reports in an effort to update national and consumer databases.
- - Coordinated and provided bi-weekly intelligence briefs to senior shipboard officers/VIPs on various threat recognitions, in-theater information, and adversary capabilities.
- - Volunteered and deployed as the cryptologic communications collection lead on a separate Navy platform. Led a team of six analysts resulting in the draft of over 250 reports, and gained OJT qualification with SSEE INC-F Systems.
Education
Master of Science - Leadership
Grand Canyon University
Phoenix, AZ10-2025
Graduate Certificate - Project Management
Grand Canyon University
Phoenix, AZ03.2023
Bachelors of science (BS) - Psychology
Grand Canyon University
Phoenix, AZ06.2022
Associates of Arts (AA) -
Columbia College
Oak Harbor, WA06.2019
Intermediate Signals Analysis Course (451) -
US Navy
Pensacola, FL06.2017
Maritime Cryptologic Systems (MCS) Basic Course -
US Navy
San Diego06.2013
Communication Signals Collection And Processing Course (450) -
US Navy
Pensacola, FL04.2013
Skills
- Project management professional (PMP) and certified scrum master (CSM)
- Certified Scrum Master (CSM/SSM 60)
- Atlassian Tools (JIRA, Confluence, Bitbucket, Jenkins)
- Experienced communicator
- RDT&E and CI/CD pipelines
- Classroom training
- Evaluation writing
- Mentorship and continuous development
- Budget planning and monitoring
- Leading virtual and in-person teams
- SCRUM methodologies (Kanban, SAFe, Agile)
- Project schedule planning
- Budgeting and financial oversight
- Proposal drafting and presentation
- JIRA project management
- Kanban board utilization
- Brainstorming sessions
- Design documentation
- Implementation of new technical systems
- Microsoft Office Suite proficiency (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Projects)
Certification
- Certified Project Management Professional (PMP), 10/01/23
- Certified SAFE Scrum Master, 03/01/22
- Certified Scrum Master (CSM), 05/01/21
Awards
- Navy Achievement Medal
- Navy Commendation Medal (x2)
Timeline
Program Manager/Product Owner (R&D)
Scientific Research Corporation
05.2022 - Current
Military System Specialist IV-TL (R&D)
Scientific Research Corporation
06.2020 - 05.2022
Lead SIGINT Analyst/Supervisor (LCPO)
Whidbey Island Signal Analysis Lab USN
06.2017 - 06.2020
Lead Supervisor/Cryptologic Technician Collection (CTR)
USS Decatur (DDG-73) USN
07.2013 - 12.2016
Master of Science - Leadership
Grand Canyon University
Graduate Certificate - Project Management
Grand Canyon University
Bachelors of science (BS) - Psychology
Grand Canyon University
Associates of Arts (AA) -
Columbia College
Intermediate Signals Analysis Course (451) -
US Navy
Maritime Cryptologic Systems (MCS) Basic Course -
US Navy
Communication Signals Collection And Processing Course (450) -
US Navy