Brian Houston Lawson
Midlothian,VA
Summary
Program Manager with over 10 years of experience leading digital initiatives across corporate, government, and nonprofit organizations, from enterprise website builds and CMS implementations to full-scale digital transformations. I've built a career around taking complex, high-visibility projects from discovery through launch, keeping them on time and within budget even when priorities shift and stakeholders don't always agree. As a Certified Scrum Product Owner, I bring structure to that process without losing sight of the people involved: managing risk, allocating resources wisely, and tracking the metrics that matter to leadership. I'm at my best by bridging the gap between technical teams and business stakeholders to build genuine consensus so that teams can stay aligned and projects actually deliver against organizational goals.
Overview
1
1
Certification
16
16
years of professional experience
Work History
Program Manager
Markel
Richmond, VA
02.2020 - 04.2026
- Served as main point of contact for business and development teams to ensure alignment of cross-functional scope, priorities, goals, and timelines.
- Delivered high-visibility, large-scale projects on time and within budget, all while managing multiple work streams, teams, and priorities. All while aligning to specific team and broader organizational goals.
- Cultivated rapport with internal and external project stakeholders to create consensus and influence decision making at key milestones throughout the project life cycle.
- Standardized project communication by using collaboration tools (including Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and Power BI) for weekly status updates and recurring meetings, tailoring messaging to each audience.
- Orchestrated project progress by creating shared digital locations for notes, status updates, goals, and project scope, allowing team members easy access to information and documentation.
- Spearheaded collaborative sessions with development team members and business stakeholders to address inquiries, identify gaps, and prioritize needs.
- Led all team meetings related to specific projects, setting discussion agendas and topics. Tailored meeting frameworks for specific technical, operations, and C-Suite audiences.
- Analyzed current systems and processes to identify improvements, address inconsistencies in communication, and enhance information flow.
- Completed and launched projects specific to the redesign of the Markel corporate website, DAM onboarding, domain management, broker application billing integration, consolidation and migration of content to singular platforms.
Web Strategist
Virginia Tax
Richmond, VA
06.2017 - 02.2020
- Led agency team responsible for web and digital strategy. Created roadmaps, timelines and deliverables for large-scale projects and day-to-day operations. Work with internal IT teams to deploy new back-end features and front-end visual designs within Drupal CMS.
- Delivered web content for annual statewide campaigns and legislative rollouts. Increased total web traffic 58% by incorporating site-tracking and social-tracking codes, a first for the organization.
- Optimized new site search, leading to enhanced user experience with faster and more accurate search results.
- Implemented agile/scrum framework for two direct reports. Set up and facilitated daily standups, bi-weekly retrospectives and overall structure for setting expectations, finalizing work and planning future projects.
- Completed a usability/user experience study for a new online portal. Scheduled interviews with testers, created clickable mock-ups for use during testing and recorded all findings. Compiled seven-plus hours of interactions into a presentation for key stakeholders within the organization.
Manager, Web Development & Digital Communications
WestRock (formerly MeadWestVaco)
Richmond, VA
10.2014 - 05.2017
- Responsible for planning, strategy, and Sitecore CMS implementation of post-merger/interim WestRock.com (July 2015) and new fully branded WestRock.com (June 2016). Project planning included extensive research and design to incorporate global corporate strategy to maximize end user experience.
- Managed day-to-day operations of all external facing web properties. Responsibilities include creation of pages for strategic product rollout, marketing campaigns, content creation and analytics reports.
- Implemented new web lead generation software, fully integrated with SalesForce.com to maximize internal sales leads. Designed forms to collect page visit history, location, and organization of user submissions.
- Oversaw vendor relationship between internal WestRock team and external consulting firm. Includes both small enhancements and large-scale projects.
- Collaborated across business units to update and enhance both Internet and global Intranet.
Manager, Web & Electronic Communications
Association of Clinical Research Professionals
Alexandria, VA
03.2013 - 10.2014
- Managed all digital properties for two associations and Global Conference, including development of a mobile app for members.
- Directed day-to-day operations within marketing department to ensure cohesive branding for all sites, landing pages, and campaigns. Through collaboration with 4 organizational departments, work was done to ensure all information on all web properties was accurate and up to date.
Manager, Web & Production Design
CropLife America
Washington, DC
11.2009 - 03.2013
- Managed all association websites, including text edits, page creation and multimedia updates, such as videos and graphics. Resulting in American Society for Association Executives (ASAE) 2010 Gold Circle Award for best association website.
- Streamlined back-end website processes, including creation of 'members only' section, server maintenance and supervision of member login information and vendor management staff liaison.
- Launched re-design of association website in summer of 2012, coordinating internal staff and outside vendor to ensure comprehensive and timely launch. The project received the 2013 Nonprofit PR Award for best association website.
- Created and optimized communication of web metric reports, reporting directly to organization leadership on monthly basis.
Education
Bachelor of Arts - Communication Studies
West Virginia University
Morgantown, WV05-2007
Skills
- Relationship Management
- Project Management
- Agile and Waterfall Methodologies
- Team Leadership and Direction Jira
Certification
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), 2022
Timeline
Program Manager
Markel
02.2020 - 04.2026
Web Strategist
Virginia Tax
06.2017 - 02.2020
Manager, Web Development & Digital Communications
WestRock (formerly MeadWestVaco)
10.2014 - 05.2017
Manager, Web & Electronic Communications
Association of Clinical Research Professionals
03.2013 - 10.2014
Manager, Web & Production Design
CropLife America
11.2009 - 03.2013
Bachelor of Arts - Communication Studies
West Virginia University