Christopher J. York

Lead Cost Analyst — Tecolote Research, Inc.

Charleston, SC · 2022–2025

I led cost estimating and project controls end to end for PMW 770 submarine communications integration, infrastructure, and training programs ($30M–$60M annually), identifying more than $10M in cost savings over five years. I developed and maintained Should-Cost initiatives that drove a majority of the portfolio's annual savings, built automated parametric, analogous, and bottom-up cost models and novel CERs, and authored Analyses of Alternatives (trade studies) that supported Department of the Navy fielding and investment decisions. I produced the budget, spend-plan, and performance-reporting analysis that served as a single source of truth for program status and informed funding decisions up to the SECNAV level.

Senior Cost Analyst — Tecolote Research, Inc.

San Diego, CA · 2018–2022

I established and co-led the firm's new West Coast regional office, growing the team from two to roughly fifteen analysts and standing up its cost-estimating and project-controls function from the ground up. My program work centered on NAVWAR satellite communications (SATCOM), submarine communications, shore systems, and military construction ($300K–$60M programs), where I built and calibrated cost models that improved forecast accuracy from roughly 75% to 90% by completion and supported a dedicated satellite-system contract evaluation. I estimated the physical shore and pier installations for the Enterprise Connectivity Pier Architecture (PIERS) under PMW 160 and PMW 790, developing site-installation CERs with Monte Carlo uncertainty distributions.

On the controls side, I developed resource-loaded schedules and ran monthly critical-path analysis and schedule health checks, managed and analyzed quarterly risk registers for both cost and schedule impacts, and automated the monthly estimate/EAC and reporting process — cutting cycle time from weeks to days. I also led mentoring, QA, onboarding, and Core Acquisition/Cost training, teaching cohorts of 12–15 analysts.

Cost & Project Controls Analyst — Tecolote Research, Inc.

Washington, DC · 2009–2018

My earliest years were spent on nuclear aircraft carrier and submarine construction and overhaul programs for DoD and OSD. I produced monthly EACs/ETCs, CPI/SPI, and variance analyses across two to four concurrent programs and served as the cost/EVM liaison to the Cost Assessment Data Enterprise (CADE) for DoD entities at the Pentagon. I led four Integrated Baseline Reviews — establishing and validating Performance Measurement Baselines and pressure-testing contractor-furnished EVM data — and prepared Independent Government Cost Estimates (IGCEs) while reviewing, validating, and challenging contractor cost and pricing, identifying variances from tens of thousands to more than $20M.

Carriers and submarines. I developed detailed cost and pricing positions for the USS Enterprise (CVN 65) refueling, complex overhaul, and inactivation — an approximately $3 billion, first-of-its-kind effort — and for the RCOH of CVN 71 and CVN 72 (roughly $6 billion each). On the submarine side, that work spanned the Ohio Replacement Program (now Columbia-class), Block IV Virginia-class, the Common Missile Compartment, and the Virginia Payload Module (VPM).

Chemical and biological defense. A distinct part of this period was biomedical. Supporting the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense (JPEO-CBD), I performed anti-bacterial and anti-viral threat analysis and cost estimating — working hand in hand with chemists and biologists, and in coordination with BARDA and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to evaluate and cost both the development of new drugs and the repurposing of existing ones, across prophylactic and therapeutic countermeasures.

Instruction. I served as the internal company subject-matter expert for the DCMA 14-point schedule assessment during its early rollout, and taught Earned Value Management, learning-curve theory, and contract types and profit/fee.