Manager/Director
Operational Risk , Internal Auditing, SOX Compliance, Privacy & Financial Analysis

Proven track record of assessing risks and improving operational effectiveness. Strong financial, control, auditing problem solving, business writing and leadership skills. Proactively employed operational auditing techniques across the company to measure process effectiveness and determine Business risk tolerance. Improved overall operational effectiveness across Business to Business and Card Services Groups through detailed process risk self assessment reviews of various processes, highlighting risks and opportunities to the BU Mgt Team. Increased profitability by improving Interactive applications performance and availability capabilities resulting in higher online transactions .

Core Competencies

• Risk Assessment
• Internal Control Analysis
• SOX Compliance Testing
• Document user requirements
• SAS 70 Reviews
• Policy and Procedure Development
• P&L & Trend Analysis
• Financial Reporting & Variance Analysis
• Budgeting, Planning & Forecasting
• Quality Assurance testing and reviews
• Project Management
• Process Improvement
• Business Partnering
• Auditing
• Root Cause Analysis

Professional Experience

Confidential New York, NY 1993 – 7/09
Senior Manager Confidential (2008 – 7/09)

Manage and supported the Business strategic and operational risk goals. Responsibilities included ensuring process activity and governance controls were sufficient and aligned with the Business Units risk tolerance to prevent negative events from occurring. Implemented process risk self assessments, internal audit/control reviews, metric reporting and developed risk-based tools for the Business to manage risk, grow effectively, and ensure compliance with all regulatory requirements (under Sarbanes Oxley, AML, & FCPA). Proactively worked with all internal partners within Amex to optimize Ops Risk evaluation techniques and provide guidance to complete deliverables on time

• Streamlined SOX, Operational and Data Protection risks, controls and tests through detailed end to end reviews of Global Commercial Card (GCC) SOX 404 and 302 processes. (i.e. Client Incentives, CARs & EBTA, etc…) Improved the effectiveness of the control environment and performed detailed quarterly SOX reviews to ensure controls were effective and all risks were properly mitigated. Identified control deficiencies, developed action plans to remediate issues and reported findings to the Management Team.
• Developed metric repotting to highlight all Audit issues raised targeting risks to the business as well as possible SOX implications. Evaluated Audit issues raised to ensure appropriate action plans were in place to resolve issues timely
• Recovered to date approx $550K partnering with the Business through deep dive root cause analysis of all Loss Events for GCC. Ensured proper controls were in place and worked to minimize financial exposure to the BU going forward. Created detailed reporting across the Business to enable Management to identify trends, isolate issues and target the financial exposure impact year over year.
• Improved operational effectiveness by creating best practices in risk assessment analysis, loss event review and evaluation techniques for control adequacy across our Business Unit and Amex.

Senior Manager, Confidential (2006-2007)
Working in the SOX Champions office and served as a point of contact for all Global Merchant Network Operations to ensure compliance with various regulatory requirements and internal procedures. Responsibilities included performing detailed examinations of all key SOX business processes, Global Payments, Rebates, Risk Mgt, & Clearing and Settlement. Evaluated risks, controls, and audited test results to determine financial statement impact to ensure no control gaps were present.

• Enhanced controls to prevent SOX deficiencies and made recommendations to improve procedures.
• Created detailed reporting tools for both businesses which enabled Senior Management to clearly understand how all Audit issues and Transactions In Difficulty affect our business processes as well controls necessary to minimize risk factors present.
• Led several cross functional teams to investigate and resolve issues impacting our Business. Projects focused on ; 1) Evaluating Global Merchant processes to determine the overall effectiveness of controls, 2) Trend analysis of all transaction loss events reported over an 18th month period, and 3) Review of Merchants set at zero discount rate to ensure revenue is recognized properly.

Senior Manager, Confidential (2004-2006)
Managed various Card and Merchant on-Line applications. Responsibilities included conducting detailed benchmarking reviews, analyzing results against the competition, working with Tech on new initiatives to better predict performance of new applications prior to rollout, and establishing performance standards across Amex. Developed and forecasted business results periodically to manage expenses effectively.

• Developed a new predictive testing model, and established Service Level Agreement standards for all Third Parties and Vendors to improve overall operational effectiveness and impact Business profitability.
• Created detailed monthly analysis of Amex Interactive Performance and Availability business results. Highlighting opportunities and risks to the Management Team on a timely basis.

Senior Finance Manager, Establishment Services Confidential (2000-2004)
Finance Manager, Consumer Card Services Business Results (1997-2000)
Finance Manager, Consumer Card Audit/Control Unit (1993-1997)
Developed and managed monthly business results including the month end close process for both the ATM and Consumer Card Service Businesses. Responsibilities include analyzing/reviewing business transactions, development of budget and forecast data across the BU portfolio’s, measuring the effectiveness of new initiatives, establishing relationships with internal/external partners to promote business growth, assessing performance, pinpointing risk and opportunities to the Management Team.

• Results achieved year over year were a 23% reduction in ATM business costs through scrubbing expense base, detailed contract reviews and re-pricing services needed .
• Improved overall profitability in ATM Business through vendor management, operational audits and internal control reviews reducing expenses resulting in $1.8mm of savings year over year.
• Developed detailed tracking mechanisms to support revenue initiatives across the ATM Business. Produced monthly reporting for ATM Management highlighting financial impact of projects performance verse plan.
• Improved operational effectiveness over invoice processing. Created monthly metric reporting highlighting work loads, invoices validated, open items, disputes initiated, and savings recognized in the P/L .
• Created detailed reporting and ad hoc analysis work on Consumer Card products and services analyzing monthly financial statement results, targeting control reviews & risk assessment, identifying trends, budgeting & forecasting volumes/expenses and highlighting issues and opportunities to the Management Team to reduce expenses and promote growth.

NATIONAL WESTMINSTER BANCORP (1982-1993)
Assistant Vice President, Finance Strategy and Standards Management – Internal Audit Team

• Improved profitability by reducing overall operating expenses by 1% in the Bank Profit Centers and Corresponding Banking Areas through detailed operational audits and internal control reviews.
• Enhanced operational efficiency by creating best practices across First Jersey and Nat West operations, standardizing policies and procedures, improving risk assessment techniques and developing effective quality assurance reviews to ensure compliance with all regulatory requirements.
• Conducted Retail and Commercial audits of bank operations, prepared audit report highlighting risks and opportunities to the Management Team.

Confidential (1980-1982)
Senior Auditor – Internal Audit Department

• Performed detailed financial audits of Corporate Trust, Financial Futures and Interest Rate Swap operations ensuring compliance with bank policy, state and federal regulations.

Education

Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE)

Master of Business Administration (MBA)
Bachelor of Arts Saint Peter’s College – Jersey City, NJ (1980)

Computer Skills: MS Office Suite, Lotus Notes, Visio, Risk Navigator Operational Risk Database, Essbase, Flowcharting III