Matt Mulhern

About Matt Mulhern

I am a strategic executive and board-ready leader with over 30 years of experience navigating high-stakes environments across the technology, aviation, and defense sectors. I specialize in providing oversight for multi-billion dollar initiatives, ensuring organizational resilience through rigorous risk management, regulatory compliance, and fiscal discipline.Strategic Governance & Financial StewardshipI have a proven track record of managing massive-scale operations and complex budgets: Global Scale: Currently advise leadership for a organization within Google Cloud on global workplace and location strategy. Capital Efficiency: Led an adaptive workplace strategy that achieved over $500M in cost avoidance (2023–2024). Large-Scale Programs: Managed the $54B+ F-35 development contract and a $10.4B V-22 procurement contract, delivering significant savings and meeting critical milestones for the U.S. Government.Risk Management & Regulatory OversightMy career has been defined by leading organizations through high-consequence regulatory and safety landscapes: Aviation Compliance: Established Safety Management Systems (SMS) in alignment with ICAO and FAA standards for \"moonshot\" projects, achieving over mishap-free flight hours. Regulatory Diplomacy: Served as an industry representative on FAA Aviation Rules Making Committees and negotiated overflight permissions with over 20 countries. Crisis Recovery: Handpicked to restructure major programs following Congressional reviews and Nunn-McCurdy breaches, restoring program viability and stakeholder confidence.Innovation & Digital TransformationI provide a forward-looking perspective on how emerging technologies impact organizational infrastructure and strategy: GenAI Governance: Member of the committee overseeing the integration of Generative AI into Google’s real estate tooling. Operationalizing Innovation: Transformed Project Loon from a conceptual R&D effort into a credible, global aviation operation.Board Value PropositionI bring a unique blend of \"big tech\" agility and disciplined defense-sector rigor. I am prepared to contribute to boards seeking expertise in: Audit & Risk: Oversight of complex safety, legal, and operational risk frameworks. Strategic Planning: Aligning global assets and workplace strategies with long-term growth and cost-containment goals. Government & Public Affairs: Navigating intricate relationships between private industry, the Department of Defense, Congress, and international regulators.

Experience

1. Real Estate & Workplace Services Business Partner Lead

   Google

   Jun 2018 — Present

   Managing a team of business partners that enable Google\'s Product Areas to thrive and grow their businesses.

Education

• United States Air Force Academy

  BS

  1976 — 1980

• Industrial College of the Armed Forces

  Master of Science (MS)

  2000 — 2001