Meet Katharine Hidalgo, QIP Director of Operations
As director of operations, Katharine Hidalgo plays a large role in keeping QIP running.
A certified Project Management Professional (PMP), she oversees the company’s daily business activities, including managing and improving internal processes, operations, resource allocation, and overall quality and efficiency, while serving as QIP’s contracts administrator on multiple projects.
With a background in data analysis and project management, Katharine said she has been able to apply those skills—and best practices associated with them—into other aspects of the company’s operations.
“It’s a challenge,” she said. “I love it, and I have been able to grow a lot at QIP.”
Katharine started at QIP in April 2019 as the senior project manager and became director of operations in March 2021.
She pointed to the diversity in the company’s capabilities—which include communications and content, data management, and cloud services—as its biggest strength.
“We’re not just producing infographics or videos,” she said. “We are using the knowledge of our researchers and data management folks and presenting things to people in a way that they can understand. We have the expertise to take those types of products to the next level, where we can develop the content and make it look great and be accessible.”
Katharine described herself as organized and detail-oriented and said she always wants to make a difference. Opportunities to do that are more plentiful at a small business like QIP.
“I can make a difference in the work lives of my colleagues and how we do things,” she said. “Our processes can adapt more quickly because we're a small business.”
Some of her most rewarding work for QIP has come as a member of the company’s Diversity & Inclusion Team, she said.
“The work and the process of creating a plan and the changes and new things that have come out of the plan really affect the way that QIP operates and the experience that employees have working for QIP,” she said. “QIP has always treated their employees the way that they would want to be treated, and the commitment to always looking for ways to improve has been great.”
Katharine is a Microsoft Certified Professional in MS Project, Certified Scrum Master, and Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt, and holds an ITIL Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management.
Before joining QIP, Katharine managed an array of projects as a consultant for the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Department of Justice. She holds a Master of Business Administration from Florida State University and a Bachelor of Science in Administration of Justice from George Mason University.
In her free time, Katharine enjoys playing and watching soccer and going to concerts.
