Proudfoot, an operational transformation consultancy, has expanded with three new team members: Michael Howard, executive vice president, MRO Americas, Aaron Heidel, vice president of Operations, MRO Americas, and Jonathan Robinson, vice president of Operations, MRO Americas.
This follows the appointment of managing director, Dennis Santare in April 2018 who is in charge of Proudfoot’s MRO Americas practice with more than 10 years’ experience in the aviation industry. Proudfoot says it is taking “a bold leap forward” in its approach to operational and digital transformations across maintenance sectors, but specifically in the world of aerospace and defense. With these three new leaders in place, Proudfoot says it is looking forward to helping more aerospace and defense clients as well as clients from across sectors “to unlock the hidden value in their MRO operations.”
“The Proudfoot model focuses on client capability development and is true to our key objective of delivering meaningful, impactful results through people,” Pamela Hackett, CEO said. “We are focused on Proudfoot leading the way in achieving behavior change at speed and scale with tangible outcomes that stick for the long-term. Some of our incredible results have included freeing up over 200 hanger days for one of our MRO clients to gain more customers. These appointments support our vision to support our clients in capability development to build strong solutions that save time and money.”
The new appointments include:
Michael Howard, executive vice president, MRO Americas, who backgrounnd is a blend of experience as a U.S. Marine Corps officer, electrical engineer, and management consultant. Howard joins Proudfoot as an industry expert in the aerospace and MRO sectors, now leading the US MRO team’s business development efforts. He specializes in strategic planning, operational planning, program management, and transaction support, supporting industry leaders and private equity investors in the aerospace, defense, and automotive industries, having previously led worked at General Motors, and ICF International, a leading aerospace and defense consultancy. “Mike has a proven track record of developing account relationships and delivering high quality engagements. And, he is a treasure trove of knowledge regarding the defense MRO market. We’re thrilled to have him onboard,” said Santare. Michael holds a Bachelor of Science in Control Systems Engineering from the United States Naval Academy and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Michigan. During his ten years as a Marine Corps officer, Michael amassed over 1,500 flight hours in the Boeing F/A-18.
Aaron Heidel has been added as vice president of Operati
ons, MRO Americas. Heidel joins Proudfoot with more than 17 years of industry and consulting experience in operations, strategy, program management, and business development in aerospace and defense. He spent nearly 10 years as an engineer at OEMs and understands the practical implications of process optimization. “Aaron brings to bear direct experience at some of the top aerospace and defense brands, including Airbus and Raytheon. We are excited about the customer perspective that Aaron has,” said Santare. He earned his Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering, his Masters in Aerospace Engineering, and his Masters of Business Administration all from the University of Michigan.
And lastly, Jonathan Robinson has joined as vice president of Operations, MRO Americas. As an operations executive in the OEM and aftermarket operations world, Robinson brings experience as both a consultant 
and industry leader in the aerospace & defense and industrial products industries. Santare said of Robinson, “I’m especially looking forward to the unique perspective he will bring to our leadership team, having served industry leaders such as Pratt and Whitney, private equity investors such as Highland Capital, and spending time strategy consultancies such as PWC and Oliver Wyman.” In his new role as VP of Ops for the US MRO team, Robinson will leverage his career learnings to work with senior executives as well as front-line staff to implement the sustainable behavioral changes that drive operational improvements in areas that include turnaround management, program & project management, Lean Six Sigma deployment, and strategy alignment & deployment. He earned his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech, as well as an MBA from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.