Hilding is the CIO of the U.S Department of Commerce. Before this position, Hilding worked for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. She was at NASA for over 23 years. Her first position with NASA was an instrumentation engineer on a Life Support System project. After that she moved to the Space Shuttle Vehicle Engineering group.
Over the years she moved up the ranks of management. Some of her leadership roles included Executive Director of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, as well as the Chief of Staff to the NASA Deputy Administrator for a few years. Her final position at NASA before moving over to the Department of Commerce was the Assistant Associate Administrator for Space Operations and Exploration Systems Integration.
Hilding graduated from University of Nebraska with a degree in Engineering Physics. Additionally, Hilding has attended various prestigious programs on leadership and management. For example, she attended Syracuse University’s National Security Studies Leadership course in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.