Ben John

About Ben John

I am a business leader with a background in new product development, operational leadership, and financial management. Throughout my career, I have led teams through complex business transformations, improving profitability, efficiency, and market share in highly competitive industries. My leadership philosophy centers on fostering high-trust environments through transparency, collaboration, and competency, empowering teams to innovate and deliver exceptional results. With a proven track record across multiple organizations, I excel in harmonizing purpose, strategy, process, people, and metrics to achieve sustainable success.Most recently, as General Manager of Trimble Inc.’s Mobile Communication Solutions (MCS) division, I led a strategic shift to focus exclusively on Trimble’s core markets. This decision streamlined operations, improved collaboration with internal solution partners, and eliminated distractions. We created a structured product lifecycle management process, allowing for better planning and execution of new product development, reducing component obsolescence risks, and improving market success. Through external partnerships we combined our domain expertise with their scale to enhance product innovation and cost efficiency, positioning the business for long-term sustainability. These initiatives led to a measurable increase in market share, margin improvements, and stronger alignment with Trimble’s broader corporate strategy.As Director of Operations for Trimble’s Geospatial division, I led a team of over 200 employees, driving $400M in annual revenue. I helped turn around product development processes by fostering cross functional collaboration and accountability resulting in numerous new GNSS and Optical solutions, which became industry benchmarks. I also implemented cost-reduction programs that saved millions annually by optimizing manufacturing strategies, renegotiating supplier contracts, and improving production efficiency. Earlier in my career, I held financial leadership roles at Trimble and Agilent Technologies, where I led acquisition integrations, developed financial and operational processes, and improved gross margins through structured cost-management initiatives. At Trimble, I oversaw the implementation of a worldwide standard costing system to improve inventory valuation, and at Agilent, I led a division wide effort that improved gross margins by 700 basis points and increased operating profit by 165%.

Experience

1. Senior Director of Product Operations

   Caterpillar Trimble Control Technologies Llc

   Aug 2025 — Present · Corvallis, OR, US

Education

• Colorado State University

  BS, Business Finance and Economics

  1993 — 1996

• University of Colorado Boulder

  MS, Telecommunications

  2002 — 2004