Leading teams in a calm and deliberate way to deliver on time results within budget.

Image: Stephen Hughes-Jelen
01

Project Manager

Hi, I’m Stephen.

I’ve been influencing individuals and teams as a leader for over ten years and leading project teams as a project manager for six years. Because of my extensive background as a technical writer, graphic designer, and work in software development, I understand every detail of a project and every team member’s role to successfully finish that project.

The short and sweet of my experience sounds like this. Six years as a project manager. 20 years as a technical writer. Two years in software development and five years in print production. Always looking for more complex and bigger projects that involve more people with more on the line.

02

Testimonials

Image: LinkedIn headshot of Charmaine

I had the pleasure of working with Stephen on a fast-paced project for a big client in Silicon Valley. I was impressed with Stephen’s professionalism and ability to manage multiple people with competing priorities in a high pressure, deadline driven environment. He was a key member in ensuring we were on scope, and supported all of the developers, producers, and designers on his team. Stephen would be a true asset for any positions requiring a detail-oriented, highly organized, communicative leader with strong work ethic.

Charmaine Estacio

Software Developer

Image: LinkedIn headshot of Douge Timpe

I highly recommend Stephen, we worked closely together on Windows SDK work for a year. He is very detail-oriented and performed his work superbly, and is very willing to share knowledge, tips and tricks.

Stephen is a very quick learner, has an excellent work ethic, and does not hesitate to help others learn more to do a better job. He absorbs new technologies quickly, and is willing to put in the effort it takes to meet deadlines for projects with difficult requirements in quality fashion. 

He excelled in on-boarding new hires, and being a technical mentor to persons just learning new skills. He also is a strong programmer in Microsoft technologies. I would not hesitate to take the opportunity to work with Stephen again, and I give him my highest recommendation.

Douglas Timpe

Principal Software Engineer

Image: LinkedIn headshot of Mike

I’ve known Stephen since 2007. He joined a UI/writing group at Microsoft as a production specialist charged with keeping a very intricate system of interelated technologies up and running. In other words, his job was to keep the train on the tracks by making it all fit together. Quite a challenge to say the least and Stephen was up to the challenge. He has an unusual level of curiosity that is amazing in how focused he can be to find the answer. And one way or another he will find the answer. 

He brings to the table a broad set of skills that enable him to do his job very well.

Michael Paul

Writing about all the people and things I never had time to write about before retiring.

03

Skills and certifications

Certifications

  • CompTIA Project+
  • CompTIA A+
  • MTA (Microsoft Technology Associate) in Database Fundamentals
  • MTA in Networking Fundamentals
  • MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional)
  • CIW Web Foundations Associate
  • UW CE Project Management certificate
  • Education

  • B.S. in Business - IT Management
  • A.S. in Software Engineering
  • A.A. in Visual Communications
  • Tools and Technologies

  • Microsoft Office: Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access
  • Apple iWork: Pages, Numbers, Keynote
  • Microsoft SharePoint, Visio, MS Project, Visual Studio
  • Windows Desktop, Windows Server
  • Adobe Photoshop, InDesign
  • Macromedia FreeHand, Dreamweaver
  • C#, C++, VB.NET, SQL
  • XML, HTML, JavaScript
  • WordPress, WiX, Slack

  • Industry Knowledge

  • Project Management
  • Software Project Management
  • Process Improvement
  • Program Management
  • Strategic Planning
  • Agile Methodologies & SDLC
  • Technical Writing & Documentation
  • Software Documentation
  • Social Media
  • Editing, Copy Editing
  • Customer Relationship Management

  • 04

    What is it I do?

    Businesses value my leadership style because it is selective and purposeful. As a project manager, I direct my team's focus to cover every detail and potential consequence so they deliver the desired results on time and within budget. I am the calm center when a storm of pressures and conflicting interests swirl around me.

    Communication

    I can adjust for any audience, whether higher management, IT professionals, artists, or the public.

    Scheduling

    I create project schedules, tracking critical path deliverables and load balancing resources.

    Reporting

    I can create daily, weekly, or specific case reports using extracted data, and I automate reporting where possible.

    Problem Solving

    I look ahead, always trying to identify possible risks and plan accordingly to prevent them from becoming blocking issues.

    Process Improvement

    I’m constantly analyzing how things are done, and looking for ways to make them faster, easier, and more fool-proof.

    Leadership

    I work with people, encouraging and requesting rather than ordering. I build trust.

    05

    Blog

    Thoughts, ideas, and things I care about.
    Image: A picture of the half-moon on a blue sky background.


    My blog will cover a very diverse set of topics...

    Sometimes stream of consciousness, others will be links to articles I find interesting, and often stories or pictures of trips I've made or things I find interesting. It's a hodgepodge, but it's me.

    The photo above was taken in November of 2016 at Mot. Palomar, CA.

    I’m tired.
    I’m tired. I’m tired of listening to rhetoric that stirs up anger and fear among the people of this great country who have the most to gain from the change they…
    Choosing a Project Management System
    There are so many systems, methodologies, and buzzwords that surround project management these days that it can be difficult to know how to choose what to learn and how to apply…
    Automatic Highways…
    While watching a TV special about car shows, I suddenly had a thought for future roadway controls that could help reduce congestion while freeing drivers that wanted to go faster than…
    06

    Get in touch, even if just to say "Hello!"

    Below you will find the CSS for disabling animations on tablet/mobile and enables animation delay on desktop