Driving Design-Led Innovation: Program Leadership at IA CollaborativE

At IA Collaborative, an innovation and design consulting agency, I served as a Principal Program Manager leading complex, multi-million-dollar programs for enterprise clients while also driving internal transformation initiatives. My role sat at the intersection of strategy, design, research, and delivery, ensuring ambitious ideas translated into executable, high-impact outcomes for both clients and the firm.

Highlights

  • Led multi-million-dollar design and innovation programs across healthcare, consumer, and entertainment clients, orchestrating cross-disciplinary teams, executive stakeholders, and complex delivery timelines to move from research and strategy through validated MVPs and pilot-ready solutions.

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  • Led the re-architecture, redesign, and rebuild of IA Collaborative’s website as a full-scale internal product initiative, aligning executive leadership, designers, developers, and content strategy while personally implementing content in the CMS to deliver a scalable, future-ready platform during the emergence of AI-driven design and innovation.

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Client Programs & Innovation Services

SKILLS & SUbject Matter

ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT • MVP & Pilot Planning

Workshop Facilitation • Prioritization Frameworks

overview

During my time at IA, I led end-to-end program management for a portfolio of large, multi-phase client engagements spanning healthcare, consumer, entertainment, and nonprofit sectors. These programs required tight orchestration across multidisciplinary teams and close partnership with executive stakeholders to balance vision, feasibility, and delivery.

My work included:

  • Leading large-scale design and business strategy programs, coordinating across research, design design, content, strategy, and engineering teams

  • Serving as primary program partner for executive client teams, aligning scope, priorities, and decision-making across complex stakeholder groups

  • Directing the redesign of Double Good’s 40+ page digital experience, facilitating sprint execution and executive alignment to deliver a user-validated, scalable platform

  • Managing an in-venue prototyping initiative for Topgolf focused on redefining the membership experience, overseeing research operations, pattern testing, prioritization frameworks, and pilot planning

  • Overseeing a multi-phase international patient experience program for MD Anderson, managing 10+ design, research, and engineering partners to deliver a validated MVP and pilot-ready digital solution

  • Establishing repeatable operating systems for client programs, including delivery workflows, review cadences, cross-functional communication models, and risk mitigation structures

WEB REDESIGN & Rebuild

SKILLS & Subject matter

Design Strategy • Information Architecture • Executive Alignment

CONTENT MANAGEMENT • CMS Implementation • Digital Strategy

overview

In parallel with client work, I led the end-to-end redesign of IA Collaborative’s website as a full-scale product and platform initiative at a moment when AI was rapidly reshaping how organizations approached design, innovation, and strategy. The effort required rethinking how the firm communicated its capabilities, showcased work, and articulated its point of view in an evolving landscape, while also supporting business development and credibility at scale.

My work included:

  • Leading the re-architecture, redesign, and rebuild of IA Collaborative’s website as an internal product initiative

  • Managing cross-functional teams including executive leadership, designers, developers, and content strategists to align vision, scope, and execution

  • Driving requirements definition, prioritization, and delivery planning to balance brand expression, usability, and technical constraints

  • Facilitating executive reviews and decision-making to ensure the site accurately reflected IA’s positioning, services, and thought leadership

  • Overseeing delivery from concept through launch, ensuring quality, performance, and long-term maintainability

  • Personally implementing and managing site content within the CMS (WordPress) to ensure accuracy, consistency, and timely updates across the platform

From the team

  • — Mark Oddon, Principal Product Strategist @ IA Collaborative

    “I worked with Megan O'Brien on a few different projects where she was the Principal Program Manager and I cannot recommend her highly enough. Megan is an exemplary leader who consistently demonstrates exceptional organizational skills and an innate ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously. Her expertise in keeping teams on track and efficiently navigating through different work streams ensures that projects are delivered on time and under budget.

    Megan's ability to balance competing priorities is unparalleled, allowing her to successfully juggle a variety of projects without compromising on quality or attention to detail. She has a natural talent for client and executive management, fostering strong relationships and seamlessly addressing their goals and concerns while balancing the needs of the project team.

    I deeply appreciated her ability to foster collaboration among our team to build relationships and create innovative ideas. Her leadership style is both motivating and supportive, helping team members to excel and contribute their best work. Megan would be an invaluable asset to any organization seeking a top-tier program manager with outstanding organizational skills, exceptional stakeholder management, and a proven track record of delivering results.”

Across both client and internal initiatives, this work strengthened IA Collaborative’s ability to deliver complex innovation programs with consistency, clarity, and impact. By pairing rigorous program management with design-led execution, I helped clients move from insight to action while also modernizing IA’s own digital presence to support growth, storytelling, and credibility in the market.
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