Nicole is an accomplished and innovative IT professional with extensive construction industry experience. As technology-enabled projects and services have grown more complex, Graniterock decided it was time to have a dedicated CIO. Nicole joined Graniterock in the CIO role in November of 2017. Nicole is known for strong leadership with smooth implementations, operations support, project management and solving business problems with technology.
She’s worked previously with large construction firms such as Balfour Beatty and Granite Construction, mining company Compass Minerals and many other specialty contractors, manufacturing and distribution companies.
Nicole has focused on gaining an understanding of business capabilities and challenges, along with the systems and services currently supporting Graniterock. She’s working with her team to better manage existing programs and improve the delivery of technology-enabled projects for Graniterock team members and customers.
“We strive to manage projects with the right degree of process without creating a bureaucracy,” Nicole said. “I want to reduce the burden of technology on Graniterock and make IT a true partner to all areas of the business, delivering value across Graniterock.”
She has restructured the department with a focus on teamwork, accountability and eliminating silos, while increasing overall visibility across the Company.
Right out of college at Arizona State University, she answered a newspaper ad for an assistant at the structural steel company Schuff Steel. They were looking for an “organized, technically-oriented assistant to help clean up the IT department” who would “be able to make us computer geeks look like normal human beings to the rest of the company.” That really sums up what Nicole’s been doing ever since. Nicole started the help desk function for Schuff and learned everything from network administration to enterprise software and business processes.
After working for a biotech company in Seattle and then jumping into the consulting world, Nicole landed at Granite Construction in Watsonville. There she managed all of the business systems supporting the company and teams of project managers, analysts, developers and consultants. Nicole took a “business process first” view of systems and established credibility for her team as they developed strong relationships at all levels of the business.
Her previous experience as a CIO was with a global building maintenance company in Sacramento. It was a challenging environment that struggled with serious technology issues when she arrived. Within a year, she was able to stabilize the systems and make sure business-critical capabilities were reliable.
Prior to joining Graniterock, she spent four years with consulting firm CSS International, which specializes in implementing Oracle software, including JD Edwards. Nicole worked closely with clients on strategic initiatives to improve processes and better leverage technology to increase profits and improve efficiency.
Nicole, who lives in Aptos, loves to spend time with her family, gardening, going to the beach and hiking in the redwoods. Her true passion is riding horses and she tries to fit in quality time with her horse, Nelson, as often as possible.