Melissa McGinty
Scottsdale, AZ – Open to Remote, Travel, Hybrid & On-site
- |-| Linkedin.com/in/MelMcGinty/ | Melissa-McGinty.com
Executive Operations & Program Management Leader | Chief of Staff to the CEO
A transformational operations executive known for navigating complexity, aligning global teams, and driving measurable impact across technology, construction, and manufacturing. Delivered over $3B in business outcomes through high-stakes program turnarounds, enterprise SaaS transitions, and AI tool launches. Known for rapid problem-solving, strategic clarity, and unshakable execution cadence in environments where failure is not an option. Adept at leading through ambiguity, scaling cross-functional operations, and restoring momentum in stalled initiatives.
A collaborative, highly inspirational leader who adds value with:
Cross-Functional Operations Management: Led a 300-person, nine-country operation integrating Finance, HR, Legal, Engineering, Product Management, and Marketing.
Global Program Delivery: Led program management to deliver a global AI tool generating over $3B in business impact; managed remote teams across North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
Budget Optimization: Maintained <3% quarterly variance on a $55M+ budget over 4 years; streamlined contract and burden forecasting across geographies.
Crisis Leadership: Intervened to prevent overnight removal of access to code and systems for 50% of the organization due to US sanctions against Russia by conducting a rapid risk analysis (12 Hours) in a very ambiguous environment.
Manufacturing Ramp Management: Recovered $600M+ in production capacity losses through rapid schedule analysis, redirection of misaligned product strategy, and construction intervention.
Professional Experience | Key Achievements
Intel Corporation, Chandler, AZ
Director, Legacy Construction Portfolio March 2024 | January 2025
Led strategic efforts to improve budget and schedule predictability for multi-billion-dollar greenfield and brownfield projects, including a $10B+ semiconductor fab build. Advised senior leadership and project teams, driving executional improvements and workforce safety initiatives across an 8,000-person trade workforce.
Avoided $250K in rework and a 3-week critical path delay on a $10B+ project by resolving a four-month equipment damage stalemate within one week, utilizing decisive stakeholder engagement and data-driven advocacy.
Ensured zero tool docking delays and protected the manufacturing ramp by taking over a stalled cleanroom task force, refocusing trade efforts, and redefining delivery milestones on a high-stakes, multi-quarter construction timeline.
Chief of Staff, Director of Operations & Program Management January 2018 | February 2024
Directed a ~400-person global organization across nine countries, translating executive vision into operational plans and aligning teams for AI software delivery. Oversaw program management, cross-functional coordination, investment assessments, and security and privacy governance adherence while fostering execution discipline and adaptability. Partnered with Finance on revenue growth and spending targets while emphasizing execution cadence, schedule predictability, and timely platform support to mitigate development risks in high-pressure environments.
Maintained less than 3% variance on a $55M annual budget over four years by implementing dynamic headcount forecasting, refining burden modeling across global geographies, and aligning contract spend with hiring trends to optimize resources.
Led Operations and Program Management for an open-source AI deployment and inference tool, driving over $1B in silicon sales and securing $2B+ in silicon design wins across three years.
United four globally distributed teams across Russia, Ireland, China, and the U.S. to mediate a critical compiler conflict, resolve a code fork, and unify 30+ stakeholders, restoring trust, securing consensus, and enabling on-time hardware product delivery.
Capitalized on the 2023 workforce reduction opportunity to reshape the organization strategically, funding critical new skillsets for- while meeting required budget cuts during the downturn.
Preserved $1B in 2022 revenue and sustained uninterrupted OpenVINO delivery by rapidly relocating ~100 Russian employees to four countries, rebuilding lab infrastructure, and securing critical system access amidst wartime and global disruption.
Strengthened team cohesion across global sites during the COVID-19 pandemic by launching weekly All Hands meetings, achieving 60% live attendance, and broad engagement through recorded access.
Accelerated alignment across 50 stakeholders and cut Intel Geti’s projected time to profitability by up to 2 years by launching a cross-functional SaaS working group that resolved persona conflicts and redirected a team from SME to an Enterprise focus.
Senior Program Manager April 2015 | January 2018
Oversaw high-impact programs focusing on ROI, risk mitigation, and timely escalation of investment concerns. Balanced urgency with compliance, mentored peer Program Managers, and led recovery efforts for a delayed IoT Marketplace launch to meet a critical product release deadline, and canceled 93% of negative ROI projects with data-driven analytics.
Secured BU sales commitments in under four weeks and reduced product definition timelines by ~70% by launching a cross-functional task force and implementing a streamlined execution model for an unproven silicon product.
Merged an IoTG-specific silicon program with a Client Computing counterpart to produce an execution-ready plan in 60% of standard timelines.
Delivered plug-and-play IoT gateway solution (Moon Island) 50–65% faster than projected, meeting a four-month executive deadline after years of stalled progress.
Established a leadership triad and a culture of immediate escalation, ensuring alignment, speed, and accountability across 70+ cross-functional contributors.
Resolved critical third-party delivery risks by personally traveling with engineers on 2 hours' notice, identifying and fixing root-cause issues within 48 hours.
Program Manager July 2011 | April 2015
Directed integration of programs, priorities, and personnel across multiple factories and technologies, leading a 30-person senior management team through a merger of two 2,000+ employee organizations. Oversaw output performance, developed a streamlined decision-making structure, and served as the site escalation SME to resolve systemic production and construction issues.
Led efforts to save over $600M in revenue by reducing a critical wafer shortfall by two-thirds and rebuilding a dissolved capacity planning team to restore factory forecasting capability.
Drove efforts to avoid over $25M in capital expense by overriding local protectionism to release critical equipment across the factory network, optimizing virtual factory capacity during peak demand.
Recovered two months of potential production loss by leading the Tool Install task force and aligning construction, qual, and manufacturing to clear priorities for tool up to production scheduling.
Early Intel Career:
Industrial Engineering Manager (3 years)
Generated over $50M in additional revenue by accelerating Arizona's manufacturing ramp and increasing output 7% through cross-site tool redeployment, constraint-based prioritization, and resolution of critical supply delays.
Senior Industrial Engineering Group Leader (1 year)
Saved $8M in capital and expense and deferred $20M in additional spend by leading a phased facility conversion strategy that eliminated over 40 tool relocations while preserving manufacturing capacity during a major retrofit.
Wafer Cost Manager (2 years)
Cut wafer costs for the P860 process by 60% across the high-volume manufacturing network by establishing the first Wafer Cost Manager role, implementing a cross-functional cost reduction framework, and streamlining data access for engineering teams.
Education
Bachelor of Engineering (BE) | Industrial Engineering | Arizona State University
Secretary of Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society; President of Alpha Pi Mu Industrial Engineering Honor Society
Technical & Business Acumen
Software & Applications: Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, Access, Project), Workboard, Workday, JIRA, AutoCAD, Power BI, SAP BPC, Prognos, Primavera, SQL, JMP, SAS, Google Suite, Apple Suite, Zoom, Slack, Salesforce, Buildots (BIM)
Industry Experience: Software, SaaS; Architecture, Engineering & Design; Commercial & Residential Construction; Restaurants; Medical & Surgical Hospitals; Computer Equipment & Peripherals; Automotive Parts; Electronics; Record, Video & Book Stores; Flowers, Gifts & Specialty Stores; Engineering Software; Security Software
Honors & Awards
Intel Achievement Award, for the Fab32 startup; IIE Undergraduate of the Year | Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE)
Core Competencies
Professional & Leadership Skills: Strategic Planning, Operations Management, Global Business Operations, Budget Management, Organizational Development, Program Management, Process Improvement, Cross-Functional Leadership, Change Management, Risk Mitigation, Business Transformation, Objectives and Key Results (OKR) Management, Key Performance Indicators (KPI), Manufacturing Optimization, AI Deployment, SaaS Strategy, Workforce Relocation, Performance Metrics, Cost Reduction, Leadership Development, Compliance, Facilities Management, Vendor Negotiation, Stakeholder Alignment, Execution Cadence, Engineering Operations, High-Stakes Project Recovery, Employee Engagement, Enterprise Solutions, International Team Leadership, Strategic Budgeting, Capital Equipment Planning, Leadership Meeting Facilitation, Confidential Investigations and Analysis
