VISTA Hires Program Director

VISTA has hired Hal McDonald for the new position of Program Director.

“VISTA’s continued, steady growth has reached a level where both we and our clients will benefit from having someone in the role of Program Director,” said VISTA President and CEO David Baxa. “ We have patterned that position on Hal McDonald’s unique experience in the private sector and his previous career serving the U.S. Army. It is a great pleasure to be able to work with such an accomplished talent and close professional colleague.”

As Program Director, Mr. McDonald is responsible for managing and growing VISTA’s consulting line of business. He will be the principal point of contact for senior client counterparts for on-going projects, and is responsible for ensuring that projects adhere to budgets and timelines. He also is responsible for identifying, qualifying, bidding and closing additional business opportunities with VISTA’s clients. Mr. McDonald will report to VISTA’s Chief Operating Officer, Larry Lincoln.

Hal McDonald has more than 27 years experience with the private and public sectors, including a 20-year career with the U.S. Army performing analysis, personnel management and development, and full life cycle management for information systems. In the private sector, he has managed and won high value contracts with various agencies within the Department of Defense and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Mr. McDonald served recently as a Client Delivery Executive for EDS, where he led a business portfolio with annual revenue exceeding $20million, supporting multiple DoD and Army organizations. He was responsible for service delivery, business growth, and profit and loss for multiple information technology-related contracts and programs, and grew annual account revenue from $7.5 million to $20 million.

Prior to EDS, Mr. McDonald served as a Senior Program Analyst in the U.S. Army Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management (OACSIM), based in the Pentagon. While at OACSIM, Mr. McDonald Prepared, developed, defended and justified requirements and funding for 68 major programs totaling over $11 billion for five programming and budget cycles.

Mr. McDonald has an A.S. degree in Criminal Justice from Vermont College and a B.A. degree in Government from Norwich University. He has completed the majority of his coursework for an M.A. degree from and a Central Michigan University.