23 Jan Criterion Celebrates Employee Excellence in 2017
At its holiday party in December, Criterion recognized four employees for their exemplary performance in 2017. We would like to thank them again for their hard work and dedication to our customers’ missions!
Technical Employee of the Year: Chris Tilley, Senior Cybersecurity Architect
The Technical Employee of the Year recognizes the individual whose work has significantly advanced the concepts, knowledge, and practices of their customer’s technical strategy while supporting further development of Criterion’s core capabilities portfolio. This person is responsible for brainstorming new initiatives, improving the customer environment, and providing technical thought leadership for our customers and the company.
Chris is a technical expert, mentor, dedicated team member, and tireless employee. He has earned the professional respect of all who work with him. Not only is his work critical to advancing our customer mission, his superb performance provides a significant factor in our customer’s trust in our work, superior past performance ratings, and continued growth in their mission space. He represents everything Criterion should expect from an employee.
Program Manager of the Year: Kathy Wallace, Program Manager
The Program Manager of the Year award recognizes the “Best of the Best” in program management, customer service, and leadership. This individual represents true leadership and is invested in nurturing employee professional development with a steadfast commitment to customer mission success.
Kathy is a skilled professional who excels at maintaining the delicate balance between customer satisfaction and company profitability while handling challenging situations with a diverse workforce who are spread geographically around the world – and doing all of this from a remote location. She is a great manager who individualizes her management approach depending on the employee. By adapting to what the employee needs, she encourages the best effort from her team.
Corporate Employee of the Year: Christy Cooper, Senior Recruiter
The foundation of any great organization is rooted in service. It is the nurturing force that fuels all growth. The Corporate Employee of the Year is given to the individual who most embodies company culture, lives and breathes its values on a daily basis, and delivers exceptional customer service to fellow employees and provides the support required to allow our employees to render exceptional service to our customers. Customer service is not a department…it’s an attitude.
In the tremendously competitive field of Cyber Security and Clearances, Christy has consistently found us a high caliber of candidates. The people she discovers are great fits for the open positions and also good team fits. Christy is technically knowledgeable, a good team player, and shares her knowledge with her coworkers. She is a great ambassador for Criterion.
Employee of the Year: John Pross, Vice President, Senior Program Manager
The Employee of the Year is Criterion’s MVP. This is the employee who consistently goes above and beyond. This person delivers exemplary service to all customers and partners. In their daily work life, they exhibit Criterion’s core values of Commitment, Customer-drive, and Mission-focus.
John leads Criterion’s largest mission-critical program with 110+ people, doing an exceptional job managing a diverse group of technical experts nationwide. He is strictly focused on providing the absolute best customer service, while ensuring his team has everything they need to be successful. He will always fight for his people, is passionate about his team and what they do, encourages a work-life balance, and leads by example.