Neochromosome
Cierra Sing, Scientist I
As a scientist on the sequencing team, our success depended on developing custom software that integrates with the wet lab to enable efficient processing of multiple customers with diverse sequencing requests. This requires strong communication and collaboration between the sequencing team and software developers. Keith was pivotal in fostering this relationship by ensuring the needs and opinions of both teams were valued and heard. Opening this communication has built a foundation of trust between our teams.
Keith’s leadership and cross-functional communication skills during custom software development have made daily lab responsibilities significantly easier, improved our bespoke customer services, facilitated onboarding and processing of diverse sequencing types, and helped provide a digital history of our sequencing samples. Most importantly, having Keith as a product manager has not only improved the development of our custom software, but continuously led software improvements to meet the evolving needs of our lab.
Beyond leading teams communications, Keith always created a supportive environment where any questions can be asked without judgment. Observing Keith’s ability to direct communication has been extremely insightful, and I aspire to achieve the same level of skill one day. It has been an honor to work with Keith, and any team would be fortunate to have him.
Heidi Engstrom, Senior Software Engineer
I can easily say that Keith is one of my favorite people with whom I have ever worked. Keith and I worked together at both the Pandemic Response Lab and at Neochromosome, he as a product manager and me as a software engineer.
On a daily basis, Keith was an asset to the team and to the success of the work at hand. Whenever we had a question about something, he either knew the answer or knew who to ask. He knew the product inside and out, and he could anticipate the needs of the lab and how everything would work together. His communication skills are unmatched and I am in awe of his ability to speak with stakeholders with ease and clarity.
Anyone would be lucky to have Keith on their team, and I truly hope to work together again!
Rameen Hezarkhani, Senior Software Engineer
Keith is a brilliant product manager who made a massive impact on our team when he joined.
We worked together at Neo during a time when the needs of our scientists and the demands of our customers were constantly evolving, but Keith's ability to wrangle requirements on multiple fronts and stay organized with our sprints and tickets meant that our team was always running smoothly. He also has a great understanding of software engineering principles, so the level of insight and feedback he would provide engineers went far beyond what the average product manager is capable of.
As a software engineer, having a product manager like Keith was a dream, he made my work so much simpler, and any team would be lucky to have him.
Callie Shubin, Product Manager and Scientist
Keith was instrumental in developing custom software the Neo sequencing team relies on daily. His leadership led to significant efficiency improvements with software tailored to their needs. Keith's ability to listen to and gain trust in the sequencing team was crucial to creating actionable software requirements, with software releases on a weekly basis.
I also had the privilege of working alongside Keith on the Product team. Keith's experience working in different disciplines and his ability to foster strong relationships have greatly influenced my own professional growth by providing me with valuable insights into cross-functional collaboration and the importance of building a supportive network. Keith is a pleasure to work with and to have in the office or on a virtual call. He is highly organized, very thoughtful, and genuinely compassionate.
Alan Twaddle, Computational Biologist
I worked with Keith for several months as our teams started to overlap, though he made his presence known throughout the company well before as he was such a facilitator and an important liaison for the software team and the users/clients.
He had a knack for moving projects forward with a focus on user outreach and cross-team communication, the latter being how we met. It was wonderful to see how much he appreciated everyone on the team and all the shoutouts to those who've made contributions of any size, really boosting the morale and confidence. That, coupled with the upbeat energy he brought and his thoroughness as a project manager, had me looking forward to working more with him; he presented both a human and a professionalism side which just made things easy.
I hope to work with Keith in the future, and you will be lucky to have this privilege!
Pandemic Response Lab
Chris Prather, Director of Software
Keith and I started at PRL about the same time and man, I’m not sure what I would have done without him. His understanding of the product, manufacturing workflows, and software development were crucial to our plans for revolutionizing the department and the platforms we were responsible for.
If I were in a position to do so, I’d snap Keith up in a heartbeat.
Sepasoft
Derek Maggio, Lead QA
During Keith’s time as Product Manager I worked alongside him as the Lead QA Engineer.
The improvements that the development team and support team saw as a result of his role as product manager were vast.
The planning that Keith provided helped the development team meet goals, stay on task, and deliver better thought-out features.
The support team saw an improvement in customer satisfaction because they now had a product manager that was deeply invested in support features and fixes that they needed.
[During Keith's time as lead QA] I worked for Keith as an intern and QA engineer at Sepasoft.
Not only was Keith a good mentor, always answering my million questions, he was also a great friend who I enjoyed working with.
Keith has a way of inspiring confidence in his team while still ensuring that project goals are met. If Keith has direct reports you will likely immediately notice an improvement in their morale, efficiency, and quality of their work.