Dec. 2013 – Present   ZURICH/FARMERS INSURANCE GROUP (Fortune 118)

SENIOR BUSINESS ANALYST

Act as the Single Point of Contact on Global projects, focused on development and maintaining of a project plans, monitoring the execution of the project per scope, schedule and budget. Analyze system functionality and business processes, identify efficiency improvements, implement changes, and determine and document solutions. Communicate to senior management and the general organization on the support efforts of project related items by keeping the organization aware of Incidents that are the result of Affiliate related support items. Work with stakeholders from other support groups, development teams, infrastructure teams and business contacts for production issues and implementations. Communicate project health to the project team, stakeholders, steering committee, and executive leadership.

 

Manage relationship with immediate environment, enabling commitment. Works with business unit to define needs and arranges appropriate resources. Coordinate delivery of work from all suppliers for a large scale project, including risk, quality, change management, schedule, and financial management. Accountable for development of work orders/cost estimates to/from suppliers, Acceptance Criteria and User Acceptance Testing. Responsible for project level planning, monitoring and reporting.

 

• Support the deployment of enterprise upgrades for the Infrastructure and Application teams that impacts Farmers, Zurich and other Affiliate companies.

• Own the backlog and deliverables, driven with a clear charter, prioritization, and urgency for delivery.

• Develop strategy to improve customer experience, decrease costs and shorten implementation times that are associated with Global efforts.

• Effectively handles production incidents/outages, including timely and critical communications to stakeholders.

• Identifies opportunities and implement automations from manual processes and improve Operational efficiency.

• Coordinates with business partners to recommend solutions to meet business goals and objectives.

• Act as Continuous Improvement Lead and drive a culture of Business Excellence through the design and implementation of major projects that result in financial benefit and/or improved customer satisfaction.

• Provide expertise and work closely with senior leadership, and serve as change agent, internal consultant and mentor.

Act as liaison between Business units and IT at senior level. Possess expertise in the business objectives, processes, and products. Oversee business requirement gathering and analysis, risk assessment and project scope. Mentor lower level colleagues.  Perform impact analysis. Support development of application, conceptual design, testing and implementation activities. Lead and manage project support staff for medium to large projects/enhancements affecting multiple business and IT departments.

 

FINANCE ANALYST

Validate the accuracy of various monthly/quarterly accounting processes including financial statements, exhibits, schedules and note disclosures for GAAP, IFRS and statutory reporting. Analyze existing workflow, ensuring efficient use of resources and participates in the implementation of process improvement projects. Work with internal and external auditors, and state examiners.

• Month and Quarter end accounting close, accruals, reconciliations  and variance analysis

• Budget/expense reporting, and Internal Control Framework (ICF) requirements and Compliance

• Develop recommendations to aid management in short and long-range financial planning

• Measuring profitability and evaluating cost control performance and prepare statutory reports

• Prepare ad-hoc reports, analysis, and conduct special projects

• Design and maintain data management processes and tools resulting in time efficiency and reporting accuracy. 

• Facilitate cross-functional Kaizen events resulting in improved strategic planning process, efficient resource allocation and overall company savings 

• Deliver Lean improvement initiatives by working with the business

 

March 2008 – Nov. 2013 SOMAT CORP.

FINANCE MANAGER

Manage financial planning, reporting and risk management functions with strong emphasis on cash-flow management, budgeting, forecasting, and internal controls. Reported directly to the Chief Financial Officer and worked closely with the various Business Managers. Develop strategies and plans for long-term financial goals.

• Responsible for the management, preparation and analysis of consolidated financial statements for parent and  subsidiaries, quarterly and annual filings, while supervising staff of five accounting professionals

• Develop and led a team, providing business decision support to the various functional and line organizations in the  company, through strategic leadership and financial analysis

• Create long-range financial plans and budgets. Responsible for assigning workloads, evaluating work performance, and making recommendations for personnel actions.

• Responsible for managing the preparation of the Quarterly Business Review presentations, Profitability Analysis, ad-hoc projects, long range & annual planning, quarterly forecast.

• Variances, trends and decision support for IC & MG

• Resource allocation and prioritization

• Drive the annual planning and quarterly forecasting process

• Developed ROI and payback analyses of infrastructure initiatives and technology solutions.

 

Nov. 2006 – Feb. 2008   Vlashev and Associates, CPA P.S

PROJECT MANAGER - FINANCE

 

Ensure compliance with GAAP and regulatory requirements. Business Consulting, Accounting System Design, Incorporation, Related filings, IRS issues, Financial Statements, Forecasting and Cost Calculation.

•  Process improvement, development on financials & financial tools. Design, build and maintain the project plan including scope, schedule, budget and risk management;

• Manage the gathering of project requirements and project scope in a holistic manner across multiple teams or business functions

• Monitor progress to plan and design a recovery strategy if project deviates from baseline plan

• Assemble and publish effective status reports and able to serve a variety of audiences from project team member to Executive

•  Develop complex financial models, quantitative analysis and forecasts.

•  Month to month accounting, Budget preparation and forecasting, Capital budgeting, Sub-ledgers.

•  Business improvement projects - efficiencies, cost efficacy, improvements in internal controls, etc.

•  Communicate cost trends and provide an understanding of operational and financial performance.

•  Perform cash flow and P&L financial modeling under tight deadlines and lead executive-level discussions.

•  Lead financial analyses that assist and influence the business and improve internal reporting processes.

•  Measuring profitability -(ROI) and evaluating cost control performance and prepare statutory reports.

 

June 2004 – March 2008   BP DEVELOPMENT

PROGRAM MANAGER

Develop tailored PM execution plans that deliver positive results. Establish priorities, identify and communicate risks and mitigation plans in collaboration with stakeholders and develop schedules. Build a sustainable risk management program and monitor portfolio. Identify customer needs and constraints such as time, cost and scope baseline.                    

•  Gather requirements, develop business analysis and create project management artifacts.

•  Budget development, assigning cost to work packages, bottom-up estimation.

•  Earned value, EAC; ETC; CPI; SPI; TCPI; EMV; PTA (point of total assumption); Parametric estimation

•  Risk Identification, Qualitative & Quantitative Risk Analysis. Risk management plan and business impact analysis

•  Risk Response Planning, Risk Monitoring, Controlling and Contingency Budgeting        

•  Drive accountability by using risk management tools & processes. Develop performance reports and variance analyses.

•  Monitors and ensures that Critical Success Factors (CSF), Service Level Agreements (SLA) and Key Performance     Indicators (KPI) are met by suppliers

•  Manage, train, mentor and develop diverse project teams and assigned personnel.

 

Oct. 2001 – June 2004   BORSALINO'S/VENICE LLC

PROGRAM MANAGER

Promoted rapidly through a series of increasingly responsible analyst positions based on strong financial, operating and leadership performance. Manage the financial planning, reporting and business development. Collaborate across complex organizational matrix to establish common goals, streamline, integrate processes, and develop performance metrics and KPIs. Led implementation of System Software and developed consolidated financial reporting package.

Successfully transformed group from two independent, local teams into one cohesive regional team that maximizes quality and efficiency.

•  Lead the forecasting efforts of revenue, operating expenses, monetization initiatives, and resource allocation

•  Review financial statements and analyze sales revenues, cost, expenses, and tax rates for all business units. Create and deliver presentations, providing recommendations on short and long range ROI.

 

 

 

EDUCATION AND CERTIFICATIONS

 

MBA-FINANCE - CITY UNIVERSITY OF SEATTLE, WA, UNITED STATES

SCRUM PRODUCT OWNER – INTERNATIONAL SCRUM INSTITUTE

PMP - PROJECT MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE
LEAN SIX SIGMA – BLACK BELT

CSM- SCRUM ALLIANCE