Gary Kurihara

About Gary Kurihara

I lead with a unique combination of strategic architect, operational executor, and leader as coach to take organizations out of ambiguity and into disciplined and customer-centered operating systems. My sweet spot is truly where is change is overdue and leaders need a partner who makes transformation not just possible but repeatable. I seek difficult challenges and high stakes situations where leadership is needed to challenge the status quo, raise the bar, and drive transformation. With a career spanning major U.S. government systems and Fortune enterprises, I transform fragmented, siloed, or stagnant operating environments into transparent, accountable, and customer-centered ecosystems that generated continuous performance growth. I build the management systems, leadership capability, and performance infrastructure that allow organizations to run with clarity, discipline, and trust. My goal is to construct spaces where leaders lead better, teams execute better, and outcomes improve at scale.I am known for architecting powerhouse operating models, elevating performance maturity, and embedding Lean/Six Sigma as a leadership discipline. I unify strategy, operations, culture, and performance measures into a coherent system that accelerates ROI and advances organizational identity.SNAPSHOT OF ACHIEVEMENTS— Transformed decentralized operations for Fortune companies and major U.S. government entities, replacing silos with accountable governance, transparent dashboards, customer-centered service models, and measurable performance lift— Built leadership curricula and coaching systems that embedded Lean/Six Sigma and scientific problem-solving into executive identity and daily operational behavior— Rebuilt governance architectures, established enterprise PMOs, created CX measurement ecosystems, introduced cross-agency deployment standards, and designed leadership networks that elevated execution and cultural alignment.AREAS OF EXPERTISEOperating Model Design | Enterprise Performance Systems | Lean/Six Sigma Leadership | Cross-Functional Transformation | Organizational Restructuring | Customer Experience Systems | Performance Analytics & Data Visibility | Executive Coaching | Management Systems Architecture | Enterprise PMO & Governance | Change Leadership | Multi-Sector Transformation | Talent Strategy & Leadership Capability Building | Service & Operational Strategy

Experience

1. Chief Performance Officer

   King County, WA

   Sep 2017 — Present · Seattle, WA, US

   Leading within the 12th-largest county in the country, we operated with 18K employees serving 2.3M residents across 11 department businesses and a $19.7B biennial budget. My mission was to drive the transformation into a Best-Run Government, becoming its first-ever CPO and a senior cabinet advisor. I own enterprise performance, operational strategy, customer experience, organizational design, and cultural alignment. I directed the Lean Six Sigma team to advance systems thinking, leadership capability, customer trust, and end-to-end performance maturity. TOP ACHIEVEMENTS SPAN: Established Executive Department PMO, standardizing how projects were scoped, led, sequenced, and measured. Organized, standardized, and upskilled a stable of PMs to deliver on priority projects. Redefined enterprise strategic planning, creating unified cadence of vision, annual priorities, performance targets, dashboards, investment monitoring, and operational reviews between executive leadership and departments. Constructed customer experience operations and introduced satisfaction measurements for both internal and external services to bring communities’ and the customer’s voice into our operational improvements. Brought Qualtrics online as the CX measurement engine (Phase I–II), enabling transparency in service quality, customer wait times, trust levels, and process bottlenecks across every major service delivery line. Created CX training, escalation pathways, and collaboration workflows, defining service values, protocols, best-practice playbooks, and shared customer ownership across departments previously operating in silos. Established “cascade and roll-up” systems, defining what leaders must know, plan, communicate, and track at each level. Deployed via SharePoint and Power BI to promote visibility of goals, org charts, priorities, and milestones.

Education

• Brigham Young University–Hawaii

  Organizational Development, Organizational Development

  1989 — 1993

Skills

• Continuous Improvement
• Mrp
• Strategic Planning
• Inventory Control
• Change Management
• Lean Manufacturing
• Six Sigma
• Supply Chain Management
• Sales Management
• 5s
• Management
• Cross-Functional Team Leadership
• Operations Management
• Supply Chain
• Leadership Development
• Organizational Leadership
• Critical Thinking
• Value Stream Mapping
• Process Improvement
• Kaizen
• Operational Excellence
• Leadership