JACK STEWART 5839 Birdwood Road • Houston, Texas 77074-7524 Contact : (713) 410-8017 E-mail: welcome@jack-stewart.com URL: jack-stewart.com/select.html OBJECTIVE: Seeking a challenging opportunity that requires the skills and experience of a proven Business Operations Manager who can deliver leadership and operational effectiveness in diverse environments. PROFILE: A seasoned business leader and innovative manager with over 20 years of comprehensive operations management and consulting experience. Bringing proven analytical and organizational skills coupled with an extensive business process re-engineering history of achieving successful, permanent results. Creative and often ingenious, develops solutions when others are unable. That creativity is well balanced by a conservative approach to expense control and risk mitigation. Possesses a global perspective and is quick to identify subtle interdependencies and predict far-reaching implications. HIGHLIGHTS OF QUALIFICATIONS * Project Management Aptitude * Culture Change Experience * Strategic Management Transition * Change Management * Meaningful Metric Creation * Consensus Building * Customer Service * Training Design and Execution * Process Analysis & Improvement * Excellent I.T. Literacy SELECT ACCOMPLISHMENTS Managed the operations of the largest Trade Finance Department outside of the major money centers in the U.S. Designed and Developed a comprehensive customer education seminar in Trade Finance products which was directed specifically to the exporting community in Texas. Appointed by senior management as the point of communication and clarification for regulatory audits by a wide range of external regulators such as Departments of Commerce, Justice and many financial regulators. All such examinations received “satisfactory” to “excellent” ratings. Created and Executed a due-diligence and investigation process to deliver EximBank financing for the reconstruction of post-liberation Kuwait. Trained over 1,500 employees to use a Funds Transfer system in less than two months, thereby ensuring success of the project after a previous software selection was found to be inadequate. As Leader, managed a team of due-diligence specialists to assess the quality of the Letter of Credit portfolio of an acquisition target. Accepted a Leadership role and coached the employees of a Bahamas Trust Company to a successful audit, changes in local banking regulation and a merger with another major Trust Company. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Network Compounds, Inc. Business Operations Consultant Provided leadership services to a specialty chemical manufacturer in its final moments that provided experience in documenting the effects of a fictional business plan prior to being returned to the Bankruptcy Trustee. Delivered CFO/COO services to the client and Trustee. UnBound Technologies, Inc. Business Operations Manager Assumed operational control of start-up technology development company and built an expense-conscious, disciplined operation exceeding $3.5 million in revenue in year one. At request of investors assumed CEO duties. TCB / Chase Bank of Texas Managing Partner Applied analytical, project and line management, team-building, negotiation, diversity and advocacy skills during a period of rapid change. Successfully lead and managed a broad range of global initiatives and projects. Texas Commerce Bank Vice President Managed diverse internal businesses building both technical knowledge and operational experience of all aspects of International Banking. CORE COMPETENCIES & SELECTED ACHIEVEMENTS * Achieved Number Three Ranking in the Houston Business Journal Fast-Tech 50 for revenue growth. * Transferred from London to Houston as a Foreign Exchange Trader and was requested to remain and assume the development role of a world class International Banking Operation. * Engaged to manage the change process in a Global Trust Operations Transformation project. * As the Texas Project Manager for Chase’s Euro Conversion Team, designed and implemented accounting and system changes for all of Chase Bank of Texas’ foreign currency operations with a variance of only three cents on a portfolio that exceeded one billion dollars. * Engaged to rescue a bank project to replace non-compliant Y2K software and earned the “Faster than a Speeding Bullet” Award. * Trained over 1.500 Non-Funds Transfer personnel across the State of Texas to use a mainframe system designed for New York Funds Transfer Specialists by creating a collaborative environment and effective team-building skills. * Engaged to provide post-implementation leadership to a start-up, full service call center that delivered specialized banking services to the small business community in Texas. * Managed the consolidation of statewide operations consolidation and two bank acquisitions from due-diligence to flawless execution. * Initiated a Customer Support program to assist local exporters navigate the payment process. * Developed excellent analytical and organizational skills which built an extensive business process re-engineering history of achieving successful and permanent results. * Possesses a passion for “Leading Teams of People through Times of Change!”. Consulting and Process Improvement Experience – Detail Addendum _________________________________________________________________________________ Managing Partner – Internal Consulting Group Consultant and Program Manager - FX Trading & Sales Managed the selection and purchase of a Foreign Exchange Trading and Settlement system. Defined the business needs and rules and initiated the search process. Designed and implemented the gap-analysis process to produce the specifications for modification of the final selection. Negotiated the Purchase and Service Agreements. Sourced and hired the programming resources necessary to effect the modifications. Reduced the projected cost by using internal resources to create the interfaces and additional features required to satisfy the special business needs of the organization. In addition to the cost-saving of about $850,000, I created an environment of continuing in-house technical support that resulted in continued improvement in the years following the successful implementation in the fall of 1998. Built an environment where testing, training and rehearsal of conversion could be combined which delegated the ownership of success to the team members and reduced the time-line for implementation. Created an environment of inclusion which cut across functional and hierarchical barriers to create complete but simple project communication. Negotiated consensus on priority setting and temporary work-arounds. As the direct result of the successful implementation, I facilitated a radical reorganization of the Foreign Exchange Operations. * Reduced the operations staff headcount from 28+ FTE to 11 FTE. * Designed and implemented a complete rebuild of the supervisory hierarchy.. * Coached the team to attain a high level of operational risk management. * Instituted a culture change from Supervisor mandate to Individual responsibility * Increased employee morale by creating an operating environment, in which, for the first time in over 15 years, the workday ended at 5:00 pm. * Expense reduction was dramatic, permanent and consequently cumulative. * Encouraged employee ingenuity to the point that the team members researched, designed and received approval to export many customer service functions to be done remotely at home. This further reduced occupancy costs and increased their sense of product ownership. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Banking Operations Consultant. Offshore Trust Operations Operations Manager - Offshore Trust Company Designed, developed and presented change awareness program based on the book “Who Moved My Cheese?” © by Spencer Johnson. Designed, developed and presented a business process reengineering initiative “WorkSmart” which was loosely based on TQM (Total Quality Management) principles in both the Channel Islands (Jersey) and the Bahamas (Nassau). Created a friendly feeling of rivalry with regard to results and recommendations between the two offshore financial centers. After completing the discovery and recommendation phase, delegated the implementation and completion to the operations managers in each country. Following the announcement of a merger between the parent bank and their closest rival, four senior managers resigned in the Bahamas and I was immediately recalled to assume the role of caretaker manager until the merger was complete. This gave me an excellent opportunity to assume an embedded leadership role and, for a period of eight months, led the 40 employees through a difficult audit and pre-merger transition. This pleasant and highly successful assignment reinforced people management and diversity skills. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Project Manager Euro Conversion (Texas) Representing the Texas operation served on Chase’s Global Team as Project Manager. I designed and implemented accounting and system changes for all of Chase Bank of Texas’ foreign currency operations. The conversion and transition was accomplished in less than six hours on January 1, 1999 with a variance of only three cents on a portfolio in excess of one billion dollars. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Consultant and Project Manager – Escrow Distribution Created and executed a payment process for 18,000 banana plantation employees to receive their settlement in a class action suit. The recipients were not bank account holders and were located in remote (jungle) regions worldwide. This provided me with an opportunity to provide a successful solution to an interesting distribution challenge. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Project Manager (Texas) – Funds Transfer Integration Invited to serve as an advocate for those operations in Texas Commerce Bank that relied on Funds Transfer to complete their transactions. Amongst others, the most interesting accomplishment was the training of over 1,500 Non Funds Transfer personnel across the State of Texas to use a mainframe system designed for New York Funds Transfer Specialists. This was accomplished in ten weeks by creating a remote Tele-training program, use of the corporate Intranet, and building an environment of enthusiastic and effective teamwork. * Analyzed the proposal and functionality of software recommended in the original plan and quickly determined its inadequacy to satisfy the needs of the majority of the internal businesses impacted by the proposed integration with New York. * Researched immediately available alternatives and designed a novel use of the mainframe based internal software used by New York’s Funds Transfer operators. * Negotiated the creation of a standalone CICS region to support Texas’s needs. * Presented my alternative solution to the managers of the project and the user community. * Built consensus between all concerned and secured approval to proceed * Designed the operating environment and secured the approval of Internal Audit * Recruited an implementation team from representatives of all interested parties * Designed and authored an intensive training program that could be delivered directly to the target trainees in small groups by teleconference sessions coached by training specialists. * Designed and delivered a barrage of reinforcing communications using the corporate intranet and regular email broadcasts. * Designed and managed full scale rehearsals using real data from each area’s work of the previous week. * Shared lessons learned with all participants and made fine adjustments to the training program * Provided a call in teleconference center (war room) on go-live day to support the user community. * Collected and published daily results by 6:30 pm for the first two weeks of live operation to reinforce success. * Closed out project by a whirlwind state-wide tour to deal with any unforeseen issues and recognizing the contributions of the participants. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Post Implementation Consulting – Call Center Engaged to provide post implementation consulting to a start-up full service call center that delivered special banking services to the small business community in Texas. An interesting assignment since Tropical Storm Allison provided an opportunity to validate both the concept and the extraordinary team of professionals. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Project Manager – International Collections Development & Implementation. Engaged to rescue a project to replace the Y2K non-compliant software then in use at Chase Bank of Texas. Over a period of eight weeks, defined business rules, ramrodded the software developer, tested, trained employees and implemented. Having met the June 30, 1999 deadline, I was awarded the “Faster than a speeding bullet!” award by those in charge of the collection product. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Consultant - Best Practices – Lien Perfection Conducted and published a "best practices" study of Lien Perfection and UCC filings with an investigation of the use of EDI to file with the various state agencies. Consulting Practice Management The cooperative spirit of the practice also provided many opportunities to assume a supporting and cooperative role in colleagues’ endeavors including * Facilitator in discovery processes * Coaching and mentoring junior members * Brainstorming solutions * Participating in community support such as March of Dimes and United Way campaigns * Assistance in design * Networking and negotiation of engagements * Identifying and recruiting new talent EDUCATION Master of Arts in Sociology and Psychology; University of Glasgow, United Kingdom ?? ?? ?? ??