Andy Walters, Project Manager in Austin, TX, United States

Andy Walters

Project Manager

Location
Austin, TX, United States
Toptal Member Since
May 1, 2019

Andy brings a decade-long track record of delivering digital publishing projects for marquee clients like Poynter and Stanford. He leverages his passion for Agile, robust technical background, and seasoned managerial skills to shepherd digital projects to success. His veteran approach is high-touch, radically transparent, and focused on outcomes.

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Project Highlights

Web App: Kaplan's Connect for Learning
I was brought in to right the ship of a $600,000+ web app engagement that built math learning games and got off course.
Stanford Parking & Transportation Services Web Redesign and Redevelopment
Managed the overhaul of Stanford's Parking & Transportation Services' web presence including Stanford's first Drupal 8 theme.
Redesign and Migration of Poynter Web Experience
Led the half-million dollar engagement to migrate hundreds of thousands of pieces of content to a new CMS.

Expertise

Agile Project ManagementCost EstimationJiraMobile/Web Project ManagementProject ConsultationScrumStartup ConsultingTechnical Project Management

Education

Bachelor's Degree
Oral Roberts University

Work Experience

2018 - PRESENT

Freelance Project Management Consultant

Self-employed
  • Rebuilt the project management processes for a range of clients to improve scalability, throughput, and reliability. Client roster includes a SaaS company, a full-service digital agency, and a growth agency.
2017 - 2018

Director of Digital Project Management

Voltage
  • Delivered on over $6 million in digital projects. Oversaw a team of project managers with a portfolio of approximately 25 active clients and engagements over $100,000.
  • Implemented cutting-edge industry practices in estimation, sales, and project control including reference class forecasting, value-based pricing, and a customized, streamlined blend of Scrum and Kanban.
  • Promoted to managing director as a result of outstanding performance.
2015 - 2017

Senior Project Manager

Aten Design
  • Managed over $1 million in digital projects, including a refreshed web presence for the Museum of Contemporary Art, in Denver, Colorado, and a unified digital experience for the Poynter Institute. Responsibilities included end-to-end project management, facilitating and shaping planning, design, development, and deployment.
  • Refined Aten’s design and development process by overseeing a transition to small, cross-functional teams, and implementing various Agile-friendly practices.
  • Promoted to senior project manager, after high-value external and internal success.
2013 - 2015

Vice President of Web

Upspring Media
  • Oversaw high-value projects for several of Hawaii’s industry leaders, including Ko Olina Resorts and Big Island Candies.
  • Implemented Scrum and other process improvements such as standardized project charters, information architecture documents, and lightweight design deliverables and prototypes.
  • Received two promotions, from senior developer (a purely programming role) to director, and then to Vice President of Web.
2009 - 2013

Freelance Developer and Project Manager

Self-employed
  • Acquired, developed, and launched over $300,000 worth of projects.
  • Developed custom sites and applications for a range of clients acting as both programmer and project manager. Clients praised me for being able to speak “English” while also being technically proficient.

Project History

Web App: Kaplan's Connect for Learning

I was brought in to right the ship of a $600,000+ web app engagement that built math learning games and got off course.

I oversaw the turnaround of this major engagement with Denver University's Marsico Institute, which received funding from Kaplan to create and implement math games in line with their new pedagogical approach.

A combination of people skills, hard-won intuition, and a rigorous Scrum practice, enabled me to turn this multifaceted project around and bring it to a successful close. Components included a marketing website, an iPhone and Android app, and most importantly, a web app for children, administrators, and educational researchers.

Our team delivered to researchers the ability to build custom reports on data collected on the children's usage of the web and mobile apps, as well as the web and mobile apps the children themselves used.

Stanford Parking & Transportation Services Web Redesign and Redevelopment

https://transportation.stanford.edu

Managed the overhaul of Stanford's Parking & Transportation Services' web presence including Stanford's first Drupal 8 theme.

Stanford required a radically refreshed user experience to bring their web presence into the contemporary era. I led the transformation of the project with a team of talented designers and developers. The result was a successful design the client loved, that was on budget and on time.

Mobile App for Hawaiian Resort

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ko-olina-resort/id989460443?mt=8

I led the scoping, sale, development, and delivery of a location-based companion app for Hawaii's Ko Olina resort.

Working with executive stakeholders at Ko Olina and an internal team of strategists, designers, and developers, I oversaw the creation of this mobile app for both iOS and Android.

Redesign and Migration of Poynter Web Experience

https://poynter.org

Led the half-million dollar engagement to migrate hundreds of thousands of pieces of content to a new CMS.

Executive stakeholders at Poynter sought to unify its WordPress publishing platform with its eCommerce and learning management system (LMS). This involved migrating hundreds of thousands of pieces of content, simultaneously redesigning and redeveloping the visual look and feel of the high-visibility publisher, and upgrading, and combining large portions of the codebase.

Web App: Custom LMS for Real Estate Continuing Education

https://www.realestatecehawaii.com/

I oversaw the design, build, and launch of a custom, Drupal-based LMS for one of Hawaii's leading real estate educators.

Eddie Flores' team requested a custom LMS to facilitate selling courses of different types. This included enabling eCommerce, managing the data flow surrounding those transactions, and providing a back-end portal for staff to administer the functions of the site. Through a collaborative six month engagement, our team delivered these goals and created a great user experience for real estate professionals seeking continuing education on the platform.

MCA Denver, Refresh of Web Presence

https://mcadenver.org

Scoped, sold, and managed the $350,000 delivery of a brand new web presence for the Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver.

The Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver, Colorado, needed a refreshed web presence that honored their artistic brand, yet presented a clean, digestible user experience. Leveraging a team of skilled designers and developers, I oversaw the initiation, planning, and execution phases of work which resulted in a world-class digital product.

Education

2002 - 2006

Bachelor's Degree in Management Information Systems

Oral Roberts University - Tulsa, OK, USA