Nicholas Gracilla

Chicago, IL 60640 USA

Profile

I’m a management and technology consultant with over 20 years of expertise in project management, product development, user experience, and agile team leadership. I have worked in multiple industries, including professional services, research institutions, manufacturing, higher education, and startups.

As a humanities-trained critical thinker with a software engineering background, I demonstrate exceptionally empathetic communication skills. I engage effectively with executives, stakeholders, and engineers. I am passionate about coaching teams to be healthy, happy, and productive.

Experience

09/2022-present: Consultant, SEI

SEI is a business and technology consulting firm. We’re a collaborative team of seasoned problem solvers, approaching every project as leaders in our fields and partners in execution. We support critical client needs in the areas of Data & Analytics, Technology Enablement, Information Security, Strategy & Operations, and Concept to Delivery.

We’re nimble, humble, and driven, offering the quality of local services with the strength of nationwide resources. A 100% employee-owned business, SEI operates offices in Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Miami, Nashville, New York City, Phoenix, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.

Global Professional Services Firm, Security Product Implementation Product Owner

I managed the implementation of a security initiative for endpoint privilege management, overseeing its progression from a proof of concept to a phase 1 rollout to 4,500 users. I ran design workshops, negotiated objectives and measurable key results, and developed flexible deployment strategies. Collaborating closely with teams across IT, data analytics, security, UX, and change management, I built consensus, fostered alignment, and managed stakeholders. I identified MVPs for solution design and delivery, ensured project progress and created a framework for ongoing implementation. As a coach, I introduced the team to enterprise agile, leading quarterly planning sessions and onboarding members to agile ways of working.

Key Skills: Project Management · Solution Implementation · IT Security Operations · Product Owner · Stakeholder Management · Agile Coach

01/2000–03/2022: Founder and Principal, Neoteric Design

Owner and principal consultant of user-centered development firm with deep expertise in web applications, portals, content management systems and research

  • Delivered +300 projects with 3–75k monthly views and $25M+ revenue for brands across business, research, higher education and cultural markets
  • Provided qualitative research and UX design for startups in the logistics, insurance and coupon markets, leading to multiple acquisitions
  • Managed teams of 3-7 developers. Established onboarding, values and inclusive team culture, leading to multiple long-term employee stints and low turnover
  • Developed standardized process for Neoteric’s agile software development and delivery, from vision and specification through testing and DevOps deployment
  • Fostered growth of Neoteric’s intellectual property through rapid development toolkits for portals, payments and custom websites

01/2021–12/2021: Technology Consultant, Ntiva

  • Led assessment and strategy for business and manufacturing firms that established consensus-building product roadmaps
  • Assessed application UX and information systems across marketing, sales and engineering, which led to innovative architectures and customer growth

Skills

  • Product Management: customer life cycle, user story specification, prioritization, leadership
  • User Experience: journey mapping, wireframing, prototyping, usability/accessibility, design systems
  • Engineering Management: SDLC, team processes, onboarding, mentoring, KPIs, 1:1s, happiness
  • Software Development: Swift, Ruby, SQL, RSpec, Hugo, HTML/CSS, CI/CD, Heroku, AWS

Education

Northwestern University, Masters of Arts, Department of Philosophy

Ph.D. candidate, Philosophy of Language

Denison University, Bachelor of Arts, departments of Computer Science and Philosophy

Manga Cum Laude; honor theses in artificial intelligence, neural networks and genetic algorithms