Austin, TX  ·  People Operations  ·  Organizational Transformation

Mike Cilla.

Executive leader at the intersection of People Operations,
Workforce Analytics, and Organizational Strategy

I build People functions that perform with the discipline of an operating system — grounded in behavioral science, enabled by data, and designed to outlast the leader who built them.

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Background
M.S. I/O Psychology
San Jose State University · Behavioral science foundation
Experience
15+ years
People Operations, analytics, and HR technology leadership
Current interests
Workforce & AI Strategy
Where workforce strategy, organizational design, and emerging technology intersect
“Human resources are like natural resources; they’re often buried deep. You have to go looking for them.”
— Sir Ken Robinson
Selected Highlights

The work,
in brief.

Fifteen years across startups, high-growth organizations, and complex enterprise environments. A practitioner first — with the academic foundation and executive judgment to operate at both the strategic and systems level.

01
Built and scaled a People Operations function from the ground up
Designed and led a multi-pillar Center of Excellence spanning operations, systems and data, analytics, and strategic planning — creating a People function built to run on systems, not individuals.
02
Led enterprise HR technology transformation
Directed a full-cycle HRIS implementation from architecture through go-live, stabilization, and governance. Built the data quality standards and operating model that make technology investments actually perform over time.
03
Developed workforce analytics capabilities that inform decisions
Built analytics programs — not reporting functions. Designed the infrastructure, governance, and stakeholder enablement that shift People analytics from answering requests to informing strategy.
04
Partnered with executives on organizational design and workforce strategy
Trusted advisor to senior leaders navigating restructuring, growth, and transformation — providing the people strategy, structural thinking, and data that consequential decisions require.
05
Supported organizations from startup through enterprise scale
Advised early-stage companies, scaled mid-market operations, and led functions within complex enterprise environments. The constant: building people systems that grow with the organization rather than constrain it.
Ideas & Writing

Thinking
made
visible.

A selection of writing from over the years — on behavioral science, operational design, and the intersection of people and organizations. The questions haven't changed much. The answers keep getting more interesting.

Operations · Systems Thinking
The Virtuous Cycle of Operational Excellence in Action
On how operational discipline compounds — and why organizations that invest in getting their fundamentals right unlock a kind of organizational momentum that reactive functions never reach.
→
Behavioral Science · Talent
The Behavioral Science Behind The Alliance
An examination of the psychological principles that make modern employment relationships work — drawing on Reid Hoffman's framework and grounding it in what the science actually says about commitment, reciprocity, and trust at work.
→
Hiring · I/O Psychology
Use Empathy When Hiring Your Next Employee
A case for centering candidate experience in the hiring process — not as a branding exercise, but as a signal of organizational judgment and a predictor of the employment relationship that follows.
→
Careers · Applied Psychology
Optimize Your Job Search: Get Hired ASAP
Practical guidance on job search strategy, written from the perspective of someone who has sat on both sides of the hiring table — and who believes that most job search advice ignores how organizations actually make decisions.
→
Point of View

The organizations that navigate what comes next are the ones that already have their people systems, data, and operating models working. Everything else is catch-up.

On HR as a discipline
HR should be engineered, not administered.
The best People functions have defined ownership, measurable service delivery, and systems that generate insight rather than require heroics. Most don't. That gap is where I work.
On technology and AI
Technology readiness is an organizational design problem first.
Organizations ask which tools to buy when the prior question — what does our role architecture, data infrastructure, and operating model need to look like to absorb new technology — hasn't been answered. I start there.
On People analytics
Data that doesn't change a decision isn't analytics — it's reporting.
I've built both, and rebuilt the latter into the former. The difference is always whether the work is designed to answer requests or to inform decisions. That distinction matters more than the technology stack.
On building People functions
The goal is a function that outlasts the person who built it.
Every operating model and governance structure I design is tested against the same question: does this work when I'm not in the room? Leader-dependent HR is a structural liability.
Career
Fifteen
years.
Four acts.

From behavioral science and early-stage advisory to enterprise HR systems and executive transformation leadership. Each chapter built on the last — the science, the craft, the systems, the scale. Hover to expand.

2023 — Present
Central Health
Travis County Healthcare District
VP · People Operations
VP, People Operations, Planning & Systems
Built and lead a multi-pillar People Operations function within a large People Department — spanning service delivery, systems and data, workforce analytics, and strategic planning. Responsible for the operating model, governance, technology architecture, and team that make the function perform with consistency and at scale.
CoE Leadership HR Technology Workforce Analytics Org Design Data Governance Strategic Planning
Leadership scope
  • Designed and built the CoE structure, team, and operating model
  • Led full-cycle enterprise HRIS implementation through go-live and optimization
  • Built workforce analytics capability from concept to operational program
  • Drove strategic planning, business case development, and governance design
Strategic focus
  • Workforce strategy in a complex, multi-entity public sector environment
  • HR technology portfolio management and integration architecture
  • Organizational design and executive advisory
  • Building analytical infrastructure to enable leadership decision-making
2018 — 2023
Juul Labs
Director · HR Strategy
Director, HR Strategy & Insights
Built the HR Strategy and Insights function at a high-growth, complex organization — owning people analytics, strategic planning, and HR PMO scope. Previously served as a senior HR Business Partner to executive and senior leadership teams across multiple business units during a period of significant growth, geographic expansion, and organizational change.
People Analytics HR PMO Executive HRBP Org Restructure Strategic Planning
Leadership scope
  • Built HR Strategy & Insights function from the ground up
  • Owned people data programs across comp, performance, succession, and org design
  • Supported geographic expansion and multiple major organizational restructures
HRBP scope
  • Field Sales, Marketing, Strategy, Consumer Insights, and DTC
  • Executive-level partnership on org design and talent decisions
  • Delivered people analytics to senior and VP-level audiences
2016 — 2018
Namely
Consultant · Managed Services
HR Consultant, Managed Services
One of the first hires on a new B2B HR consulting practice — responsible for defining the service model, building the operational infrastructure, and managing a substantial client portfolio in close collaboration with HRIS, Benefits, and Payroll teams.
Practice Design B2B Consulting Service Delivery Client Advisory
Scope
  • Built practice infrastructure: case management, SLAs, SOPs, knowledge base
  • Advised clients on compliance, policy, ER, performance, and leave administration
  • Managed multi-million dollar client portfolio across HRIS, Benefits, and Payroll
Context
  • Early-stage practice at a venture-backed HR technology company
  • Operating at the intersection of technology platform and advisory service
2010 — 2016
Various
Consulting · L&D · Advisory
Consultant, Advisor & L&D Professional
Formative years working across early-stage startups, mid-market firms, and large enterprise — in roles spanning talent assessment, learning and development, HR advisory, and organizational consulting. Including L&D work supporting a global corporate university, talent assessment program management at a growing HR technology firm, and HR advisory to multiple early-stage technology companies. Also taught psychology as an adjunct instructor — an experience that still shapes how I think about capability development and behavior change.
Enterprise L&D Talent Assessment I/O Psychology Startup Advisory Adjunct Instructor
Capabilities

Deep
expertise.
Clear focus.

The domains, disciplines, and ways of working where experience runs deep — not surface familiarity.

Individuality
Openness
Efficacy
Winning
Humility
+ Sense of humor
Strategic Leadership
Organizational Design
Structure, role architecture, span of control, CoE models
Workforce Strategy
Planning, scenario modeling, capability frameworks
Executive Advisory
C-suite and senior leadership partnership on people decisions
HR Operating Models
CoE design, service delivery architecture, governance
HR PMO
Portfolio governance, business case development, prioritization
People & Org Strategy
Transformation planning, structural change management
Analytics & Technology
Workforce Analytics
Retention, flight risk, pipeline, and workforce intelligence
HR Technology Leadership
HRIS strategy, implementation, optimization, portfolio management
Data Architecture
Data governance, quality standards, integration strategy
Analytics Infrastructure
Enabling self-service, building toward predictive capability
Technology Strategy
Build vs. buy, vendor evaluation, integration architecture
AI & Workforce
Operating models, capability design, readiness frameworks
Foundations
I/O Psychology
Behavioral science, assessment design, talent selection, engagement
HR Operations
Scalable service delivery, SLA frameworks, operational excellence
Learning & Development
Program design, capability development, manager effectiveness
Talent Acquisition
TA strategy, ATS architecture, recruiting operations
HRBP Leadership
Executive partnership, org change, performance programs
Data Storytelling
Executive communication, visual standards, insight-driven narrative
Beyond Work

The rest
of the
picture.

The person behind the work. I've always believed that how someone spends their time outside of professional life reveals something real about how they think inside it — the patience, the attention, the willingness to stay with something long enough to get good at it.

🥁
Drummer — 30 years and counting
Started playing at 13 and never stopped. Drumming is the longest continuous practice of my life — and the one that taught me more about timing, listening, and working within a structure than almost anything else. There's something about holding a rhythm for other people that translates directly to how I think about operational leadership.
🌿
Gardener and hobbyist landscaper
Austin has a way of humbling you in the garden — the heat, the clay soil, the cedar. I've spent a lot of weekends figuring it out anyway. There's something satisfying about work that requires you to think in seasons rather than quarters, and where the feedback loop is honest and unhurried.
🎬
Film and television — thoughtful consumer
Not a completist, but genuinely invested. I tend to gravitate toward writing-driven work — the kind where you notice the craft in retrospect, when a line lands in the third act that was planted in the first. I think of it as a passive education in how narrative structure creates understanding that argument alone can't.
📍
Austin, TX — by choice, not accident
Moved here by way of a career opportunity and stayed by choice. Married, no kids. We've built a life here — good food, great music, and a city that still has the texture of a place in the middle of becoming something.

Austin, TX · Open to conversation

Let’s talk about
what’s next.

Whether you’re building a People function, rethinking how HR operates in your organization, evaluating technology strategy, or simply looking to connect with someone who thinks seriously about this work — I’m glad you made it this far.

LinkedIn
michaelcilla →
Email
mikejcilla@gmail.com
Résumé
View full CV →

The views, opinions, and content expressed on this site are solely my own and do not represent the positions, strategies, or opinions of any current or former employer. All information is intended to represent my individual professional profile and perspectives.

© 2026 Mike Cilla · Austin, TX · M.S. Industrial-Organizational Psychology, San Jose State University