蘑菇视频

Leadership
Jeff Fossum

Meet Jeff

Executive Vice President

Growing up, I worked on a farm in North Dakota. But I dreamed of becoming an astronaut.

I almost got there. After college, I听helped build, program, and launch sounding rockets and听satellites at NASA. I was a top candidate for the shuttle program out of Goddard Space Flight Center, but then the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster happened, and I turned my focus to computer systems and artificial intelligence.

I did some applied artificial intelligence research with the federal government, then transferred those concepts to building trading systems on Wall Street.

Today, I鈥檓 helping build 蘑菇视频 Allen鈥檚 Digital Solutions business.

Learn more about Jeff

Click here to learn more about Jeff's career

Jeff听Fossum听is one of 蘑菇视频 Allen's Digital Solutions senior leaders. He drives听digital听solutions capture, delivery, and talent management for the firm鈥檚听Charleston Digital Hub. He has听39听years of commercial and government technology consulting experience and is a recognized expert in large-scale, complex听digital听system transformations.

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Jeff supports several government clients, including the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of听Treasury,听General Services Administration, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.鈥疉t the Charleston Digital Hub, Jeff and his teams use common platforms and pipelines, scaled-agile development, automation and component re-use, and portfolio/product line management to help clients in their digital transformation journey. This predictable, high-quality software factory model reduces time-to-value for client missions.

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Jeff听has听worked for 蘑菇视频 Allen for听26听years overall.听He returned in 2005 after serving as chief technology officer and senior vice president听of two brokerage firms, where he focused on the application of systems and advanced technology in the financial services industry.听

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Jeff earned a B.S. in computer science from North Dakota State University and an M.S. in computer science from George Washington University.听

What inspires and motivates Jeff? Click here.

What path led you to your current role?听I鈥檓 a technologist, but I鈥檓 also a consultant. At 蘑菇视频 Allen, I had a traditional client-facing consulting role for a while. Then, I took on an internal role knitting together and improving our large systems development capability, now called Digital Solutions. We realized we were doing more of this work鈥攃reating new and innovative digital services鈥攖han we knew.

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What鈥檚 one of the highlights of your career?听The firm can now say that it鈥檚 a premier technology provider and I had some part to play in the fact that tech is the fastest growing part of our business. That鈥檚 gratifying.

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What are your key approaches to managing and motivating your people?听I鈥檓 inclusive and try to establish a positive work environment that gives our people opportunities to stretch. I鈥檝e watched people who worked for me grow and move up the ranks. That鈥檚 satisfying. I regularly mentor about two dozen folks from various parts of the firm. And our technologists gravitate to me because I鈥檓 a technologist who made the journey to senior leader.

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What was your first job?听I drove a tractor and helped with the harvest on a farm in North Dakota, so I guess I was a farmer.

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What鈥檚 something not many people know about you?听I鈥檓 a black belt in Tang Soo Do, a Korean martial art.

Want a job like Jeff's?

蘑菇视频 Allen鈥檚 people-focused culture is a cornerstone of our history and how we鈥檙e able to create an amazing workplace. Learn more by exploring our current openings.

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