Open to opportunities

James Kisala

@jameskisala

Message

I run high-throughput production systems, teams, and AI-assisted operational tooling.

Kenya

Message

What I'm looking for

I'm looking for remote or flexible roles where I can run and improve production systems, build capable teams, use data and AI-assisted tooling to increase delivery capacity, and take ownership of operational outcomes.

At Avala, I own the end-to-end production line for the company’s largest client, a leading autonomous-vehicle manufacturer. I lead a ~110-person operation billing ~$690K annually and was promoted from Lead to Manager in five months.

I turned a line margin from −23% to +48% by consolidating four workflows into one pipeline, scaled delivery 4×, and cut task time from roughly a week to a day. I’ve also redeployed teams six-plus times to recover at-risk deliveries without missing targets.

Alongside operations, I’ve shipped 65+ production PRs and fixed 130+ issues across dashboards, data pipelines, and CI/CD. I refactored a core pipeline, brought a reporting query down from timing out to about 10 seconds, and built the dashboards used by the data team.

Previously at CloudFactory, I managed client portfolios, built and scaled delivery teams, improved throughput, and designed reporting, incentive, and performance systems. I started on the production front line and grew through reviewer and team leadership roles, so I keep people—not systems alone—at the core of operations.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Current

Production Systems Manager

Current

Avala

May 2025 - Present (1 year 3 months)

Owns end-to-end production for a leading autonomous-vehicle manufacturer, managing a ~110-person operation and AI-assisted tooling. Promoted from Lead to Manager in 5 months, swung margin from -23% to +48%, and scaled delivery 4x.

Next.js React TypeScript Python SQL Metabase CI CD GitHub Actions Django Flutter PostgreSQL Power BI Rippling Snowflake ClickUp Trello Slack Zapier

PM Consultant

Mister Analytics Group

Jun 2024 - Feb 2025 (8 months)

Ran marketing-campaign operations using Snovio, LinkedHelper, Zapier, and ClickUp. Used AI tooling for LinkedIn persona generation and lead engagement for the CEO.

Zapier ClickUp AI Tools Lead Generation Marketing Operations

Associate Project Manager

CloudFactory

Feb 2023 - Feb 2025 (2 years)

Managed a $400K+ client portfolio and a 60+ person delivery team. Delivered a two-month contract in six weeks, achieved a 9/10 NPS, and turned around a failing account by cutting handling time by 33%.

Project Management Team Leadership Client Relations Snowflake Reporting

Assistant Project Manager

CloudFactory

Apr 2021 - Jan 2023 (1 year 9 months)

Built and ran a $100K+ account with 20+ direct reports. Grew the account until handover, designed a tiered-bonus incentive that led to a 33% contract increase, and lifted throughput by 25%.

Project Management Team Leadership Incentive Design Data Analysis Process Improvement

Cloud Worker

CloudFactory

Jun 2018 - Mar 2021 (2 years 9 months)

Started on the front line and progressed to Team Captain, leading a team of ~20. Built a delivery-prediction tracker adopted across the project and automated tracking to cut clerical work by 20%.

Google Sheets Data Tracking Team Leadership Process Automation