Shane Thompson, an SMA Associate of eight years, has the spotlight this week. Shane excels at project management and program controls, earned value management, cost analysis, and scheduling. His 15 years of experience proves it. Shane shared his career background, his favorite part of the job, and advice to his colleagues.

Shane received his Bachelor of Science degree from West Virginia University. After graduation, he began his career at Dekker, Ltd. implementing earned value management (EVM) software and systems for government contractors and agencies to support programs with EVM requirements. He enjoyed his work on EVM implementation in supporting audits. During his employment at Dekker, Shane met and worked for our current Chief Operating Officer, Jacque Keats.

In 2014, Shane became a part of the SMA family. His first engagement was supporting Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) on the Rapid Acquisition Integration and Development (RAID) program, which included Northrup Grumman’s cutting-edge radar, the Vehicle and Dismount Exploitation Radar (Vader). Shane was deployed as a Master Planner, overseeing the development of schedules for 5 different aircraft. This engagement was originally supposed to be a three-month contract but lasted two and a half years. He currently supports our long-term client, Parker Aerospace. Today he serves as the administrator for both Project Online and Ares Prism, to support month-end reporting across the entire Aerospace Division. Additionally, Shane supports the development, deployment, and administration of interactive digital Dashboards leveraging Microsoft Power BI.

Shane shared that his favorite part of his job is working on many opportunities and learning new skills with the support of SMA’s professional staff. He explained that SMA’s Talent on Demand platform (TOD®) gives him the opportunity to learn about and be considered for different upcoming projects. This has helped him to accelerate his career at SMA. He said that even though SMA supports a wide variety of industries, it is a small world, and he enjoys crossing paths with other associates he has worked with in the past.

We asked Shane if he had advice for his colleagues. He suggested to find someone that you want to emulate, like a mentor, and build a relationship with them. He also said that it is important to stay open-minded, try new things, and don’t be afraid to make mistakes, because that is the best way to learn.

To meet other hardworking associates like Shane, log in to our TOD® platform. SMA Talent on Demand (TOD®) is the industry-leading platform that connects project needs with an array of professional talent more precisely, efficiently, and effortlessly than before. If you have project needs, click HERE to find the perfect SMA associate or team to help you succeed.