Staff Product Portfolio Lead

Rise8 / U.S. Space Force

Led a balanced portfolio team coaching SLD45 toward modern software delivery for the Digital Spaceport of the Future. Created outcome-based portfolio roadmaps and coached teams through D&F to production.

Jun 2024 - Jul 2025·1 yr 2 mos·Government / Defense

Impact

92%

faster delivery (6 months to 2 weeks)

20+

projects across 3 portfolio pillars

portfolio roadmap iterations

“She trained and led our team that had ZERO experience, and we delivered the first usable product in under 120 days. Three years later, she's one of the best PMs I've been fortunate to work with.”

Frank

Product Designer, U.S. Air Force

In this role

Embedded with Space Launch Delta 45 at the U.S. Space Force, I led a balanced portfolio team coaching a stalled 9-person IT division toward modern delivery. We cut MVP cycle time from six months to two weeks and reformed the Operational Acceptance process that was blocking every production deploy.

I ran 20+ projects across three pillars, designed the K8 Playbook training curriculum, and got to keynote at the AFA Air, Space & Cyber Conference in DC.

Case studies

U.S. Space Force - Platform Delivery Modernization

As the Product Lead for the US Space Force's Capability Delivery Division, I helped transform a stalled, fractured development org into a functioning delivery engine. I rebuilt the backlog, clarified the roadmap, shaped the rituals, and helped engineering teams move from chaos to confidence - without burning out.

Writing

The Bottleneck Is Bureaucracy, Not the Work→What Delivery Transformation Actually Looks Like→What I Look for in a Product Team (And What I Build When It's Missing)→Discovery Is Not a Phase→The Team Is the Product→How to Run a Retrospective That Actually Changes Something→

Skills used

Now/Next/Later Roadmap Delivery Diagnose Opportunity Solution Tree

Meanwhile

What else was running alongside this role.

Side hustle

Fractional Director of Product

FLUXX Health (menopause decision support) and Sperity Health (biomarker-driven wellness). HIPAA-compliant AI MVPs shipped in under 6 months each.

What people said about this work

Grace
Product Manager, U.S. Air Force
“Kate's love and passion for product management is obvious from the moment you start talking to her. She cares deeply about creating something useful, functional, and beautiful. Kate taught and trained me in product management - everything I understand now about Agile software development is thanks to her capable instruction.”

Steph
Product Manager, U.S. Air Force
“Kate's great at getting the right people in the room, asking the right questions, and moving teams forward to make decisions and turn them into action. She excels at rallying groups to share an identity and help each other.”

Anthony Uminn
Director of Digital Transformation & Innovation, U.S. Space Force, Space Launch Delta 45
“I worked with Kate when she served as the Product Portfolio Lead for the Software Delivery Organization project, working closely with one of the key solution-focused divisions at Space Launch Delta 45.”
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