Zachary Lindsay: Helping the Army get down to business

Lindsay accelerated the development schedule for new releases of the General Fund Enterprise Business System, which helped the Army produce its first auditable financial statement.

Name: Zachary Lindsay

Age: 32

Organization: Army Department

Title: Assistant Project Manager, General Fund Enterprise Business System (GFEBS) Project, Program Executive Office for Enterprise Information Systems (PEO EIS)

Nominated for: Accelerating the development schedule for new releases of GFEBS by as much as 30 percent, which helped the Army produce its first auditable financial statement.

First IT mentors: Many leaders have afforded me great opportunities for career counseling and developing leadership skills at an accelerated pace, including Cathy Michaliga, former director of Army Knowledge Management, and Gary Winkler, former PEO EIS.

Latest accomplishment on the job: Being able to see my first assignment on GFEBS through to completion after three years of effort has been extremely gratifying.

Career highlight: I’m proud to have been an integral part of successfully delivering a system of GFEBS’ magnitude because its impact on the Army will be wide-ranging and will change the way the Army does business.

Your advice for a government IT wannabe: Be proactive about taking advantage of education, training and professional growth opportunities. Continuously ask yourself in what areas you need to grow to do your boss’ job someday, and then inform management that you want to be challenged with more responsibility in those areas. But know your limits — don’t set yourself up for failure by taking on too much.

What you enjoy most about working in government IT: I have been afforded admission to some great educational programs at National Defense University, the General Services Administration’s CIO University and Defense Acquisition University.

Three favorite job-related bookmarks/apps: GFEBS portal on the Army’s internal wiki, Defense Connect Online, Defense Acquisition University’s Program Managers e-Tool Kit

Dream non-IT-related job: A special effects designer for major motion pictures

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