Life as a Galois Project Lead

The role of Project Lead

Projects at Galois are most commonly led in a partnership between a Project Lead (PL) and a Principal Investigator, who writes the original technical proposal for the project and serves as technical lead.  The PL’s part of this picture is to ensure the project delivers value to the client on time, on budget, and according to plan.

Further, Galois PLs recognize that a healthy team is critical to project success. They serve team members by:

• helping them find satisfying work (even if that means work on a different project)
• ensuring they can see how their individual contribution is part of a greater whole, and
• providing them opportunities for professional growth.

Autonomy

Each of our many projects is unique, so rather than looking for one-size-fits-all standardized solutions, each Project Lead operates from first principles to find the unique approach to leading that project.  There is no PMO telling you what to do or how to do it. Our PLs have freedom of choice, working with their team to find the best practices for the project, team, and client’s needs. This gives PLs the opportunity to solve problems creatively, choosing between tradeoffs to find the optimal strategy.  

Galois PLs are never in a situation where they are accountable for something without having all the authority that is needed to succeed.

PLs have responsibility for all aspects of their project’s success, including staffing, planning and tracking, task delegation, full project budgeting, and team health.  Galois PLs are never in a situation where they are accountable for something without having all the authority that is needed to succeed. In other words, there is no one making promises for you that you have to keep.

But PLs are not left out on their own to sink or swim, either. They have resources to draw on – from an actively supportive group of peers, from customers, and from our library of tried-and-true approaches that can be adapted to meet their project’s needs.

Learning and growth

There are ample opportunities for professional growth at Galois.  Within the PL role, the wide variety of projects available gives one the chance to learn about a wide variety of technical topics, as well as to exercise and develop a host of leadership skills.  PLs also have freedom to pursue additional roles within Galois, including hands on engineering, supporting people in their careers, contributing to culture at Galois, business development, and leadership roles beyond technical projects.  

“I can keep learning for the rest of my life here, and that’s incredible.”

There is no corporate ladder to climb at Galois, but instead there are many opportunities to explore, learn, and grow skills in many areas of leadership and team coordination.  As one of our PLs says, “I can keep learning for the rest of my life here, and that’s incredible.”

Meaningful Work

Just what makes work meaningful is individualized, but here are some common themes pointed to by Galois PLs:

• Leading teams of volunteers.  Team members choose what projects to contribute to, so the motivation and interests of everyone on the team are aligned with the direction of the project.  At Galois a PL would never “inherit” a team that doesn’t want to be there.
• Breadth of impact.  The PL role is central to the success of this project-driven, client focused company.  Success of projects means success of Galois.
• Galwegians.  Galois is filled with passionate, brilliant people, yet with humility and a love to teach others.
• Supportive environment.  It’s not weird to ask for help.  Failure is okay, as long as you learn from it.  The organizational structure does not impose competitiveness.  Collaboration is not just encouraged, it’s key to our success.
• Being on the technical leading edge.  We are solving some of the world’s hardest computer science problems, working with teams of researchers who are often the world’s authority in a subject area.

For more thoughts on the Project Lead role at Galois, see the Undirector of Engineering article on the Galois website.