Forrest Smith
IT Financial Technology
Santa Rosa,CA
Summary
Accomplished professional in strategic business planning and digital solutions, leveraging expertise in cloud technology and cross-functional collaboration, to achieve process streamlining and product innovation. A proven track record in waterfall and Agile scrum development, project management and UAT program expertise, delivering enhanced operational efficiency and superior results. Extensive technical background at all levels.
Overview
33
33
years of professional experience
Work History
Sabbatical/Leave
Freelance/Independent Contractor
11.2023 - Current
- Participate in two confidential case studies involving USPS mail tracking, and U.S. Census Bureau statistical analysis of the financial impact of economic conditions on senior citizen expenditures
- Regulatory and compliance rules/regulations and their impact on the Real Estate sales industry
- Systems/tools used by real estate agents to monitor available properties, obtain sales leads, identify geographic opportunities, develop solicitation methodologies, identify consumer loan products, and track transactions of interest
- Legal entity/association governance and impact on housing market
- Economic forecasting, contract and funding proposals
- Analysis of operating efficiencies in various business models
- Business/system audits best practices
- AI evolution and impact/integration with automated solutions and potential for reducing resources in various industries
UAT Coordinator/Project Manager
Texas Education Agency
06.2023 - 09.2023
- Key contributor responsible for eliminating a UAT backlog of development work awaiting final testing and approval for implementation
- Validate results against requirements to ensure vendor's student education management information platform met federal mandates, state and local agency customizations, and industry standards
- Increase UAT productivity and assist other support analysts in completing assigned UAT work efforts
- Confirmed version release upgrades and state specific customizations tracked in ADO met specified requirements at both the local and state agency level for the platform used to manage public education student data
- Identified data validation errors, severity levels, improving system functionality and reliability
- Validated data mapping in agency uploads for improved accuracy and efficiency
- Verified data consistency with requirements in both ADO and JIRA, ensuring strict adherence to standards
- Validated final data submission, enhancing information quality
- Managed testing requirements and results in JIRA for tracking, follow-up, and reporting
- Reduced UAT backlog significantly while contributing to improved release content rollout
Director, Product Owner/Project Manager/Systems Analyst
Homepoint Financial
01.2021 - 11.2022
- Formulate design solutions and system upgrades, provide day-to-day support, and administration of the Retail POS system and associated processing, including resolution of any system or business issues/concerns
- Define new functional requirements and create user stories, manage product enhancements and priorities including backlog prioritization, refinement, and creation of acceptance criteria
- Define the data vision, roadmaps, and growth opportunities; build relationships across the enterprise and secure buy-in and adaptation of change efforts
- Maintain a thorough understanding of business process issues and challenges, help identify opportunities for leveraging data/analytics, ensure performance of the solution aligns with organizational expectations and regulatory requirements, and coordinate to successfully implement those requirements
- Manage the transition process from the existing POS product to a new solution - decommissioning effort and data retention requirements, including closure of the existing pipeline, plus pilot and full rollout during production overlap
- Encompass technical liaison for development team
- Lead Encompass system issues resolution
- Research and resolution of design issues, implementation of new release features, BAU tasks, and user/system issues resolution
- Research and resolution of Salesforce-related issues involving ICE/Encompass LOS and Conversational Cloud platforms
- Ensured minimal disruptions in old/new POS and Encompass LOS products
- Manage Product Backlog, including prioritizing and refining User Stories, formulating acceptance criteria, and agreeing on the 'definition of done'
- Maintain a comprehensive, in-depth understanding of complex business process challenges, identifying viable opportunities for leveraging data/analytics
- Facilitate successful ICE/Encompass LOS integration from POS products - troubleshooting, mapping issues resolution, testing, and end user support
Business Consultant/Systems Analyst/Project Manager
Wells Fargo
08.2016 - 06.2020
- Various contract roles include Business and Systems Analyst/Project Manager, UAT Coordinator, Regulatory Business Analyst, and Strategy Consultant
- Analysis and capturing business requirements for Wealth Management, Investment and Fiduciary Services
- Project Management during transition from an external vendor to an in-house solution
- BRDs
- Test planning and test scenarios, detailed test cases and test scripts
- Review and recommend process improvements
- Provided adaptable digital wealth management platform upgrades and innovative solutions
- Assist Compliance with planning and conducting regulatory stress tests to meet federal mandate
- Responsible for coordination of all UAT related activity for Wealth Management, Investments and Compliance work streams during a system upgrade and acquisition
- Coordination of work efforts related to user acceptance testing, status reporting, defect tracking, maintaining test scripts, maintaining traceability matrices, resource scheduling
- Business unit and management reporting
- Test planning
- Documenting test results and statistical reporting
- UAT Program Lead for the Wholesale Transformation team supporting a Wholesale Onboarding Case Management Tool
- Responsibilities include transition from a vendor to in-house resources while leading the UAT efforts across multiple workstreams, analyzing business requirements, identifying, and mitigating potential risks, status reporting, ensuring deliverables meet audit criteria, and ensuring project objectives are met, supporting a monthly release deployment cycle
Project Manager/Systems Analyst
Exchange Bank
06.2018 - 05.2019
- Business Systems Analyst/Administrator supporting enhancements of an Oracle based Sales Management System and various Deposit Systems
- Conducted business and systems analysis efforts conforming to industry standards as well as bank specific needs
- Documented business requirements, SOWs, design documents, and technical specifications using Visio to convey workflow
- Develop test cases, test scripts, and prepare implementation plans
- Prepare and maintain project plans
- Coordinate system upgrades
- Ongoing support of assigned applications
Project Manager/Business Architect Consultant - Contract
Sindeo
02.2017 - 06.2017
- Strategized and designed an external rules-based decision engine for automating underwriting conditions in a digital mortgage lending application using an API solution approach with Encompass
- KensieMae team liaison responsible for designing technical solutions using available interface tools with Encompass.
Project Manager/Senior Business/Systems Analysis
CoreLogic
08.2014 - 10.2015
- Analysis of business requirements for retail lending products and articulation of those requirements into system specifications defining core system or other related systems functionality
- Communication with product management, sales, customers, project managers and compliance directors to identify and prioritize system requirements
- Preparation of system specifications using prescribed templates (epics, user stories, Visio workflow diagrams, process flows, etc.) and articulating business requirements identified by the product management team or customer
- Preparation of test scripts necessary to support business requirements
- Coordination with team members and customers to evaluate various lenders business requirements to the reference application functionality, existing and pending
- Business/technical interface with develop teams onshore and offshore
Business/Systems Analyst Manager
Luther Burbank Savings
12.2013 - 07.2014
- Review, analyze, and evaluate business systems and user needs
- Define and develop business requirements and functional specifications for new systems and modifications to existing systems
- Ensure Encompass design solutions met both Retail and Wholesale requirements
- Technical interface with Encompass
- Monitor daily production processes to ensure accuracy and completeness
- Troubleshoot and resolve productions issues as needed
- Align resources to appropriate projects and monitor progress through implementation
- Maintain policies and procedures related to production systems and update as necessary
- Develop a team structure to address backup coverage where needed
Senior Business Systems Analyst - Contract
CoreLogic Dorado
04.2011 - 11.2013
- Analysis of business requirements for retail and third party (wholesale/correspondent) lending loan origination system and articulation of those requirements into system specifications defining core system or other related systems functionality using JIRA
- Preparation of test scripts necessary to test business functionality described in systems specifications
- Essential duties include communication with product management, sales, customers, project managers and compliance directors to identify and prioritize system requirements
- Preparation of system specifications using prescribed templates (epics, user stories, Visio workflow diagrams, process flows, etc.) and articulating business requirements identified by the product management team or customer
- Preparation of test scripts necessary to support business requirements
- Coordination with team members and customers to evaluate various lenders business requirements to the reference application functionality, existing and pending
- Technical interface with both onshore and offshore teams to resolve any design or technical issues
- Business and technical liaison for UAT teams
- Ensure technical solutions met business requirements prior to hand-off to UAT
Senior Technology Manager
Bank of America
03.2004 - 12.2010
- Strategic alignment of managers, business analysts, systems analysts, and engineers responsible for the technical design, development, construction, implementation, and support phases of a core mission-critical mortgage loan processing and fulfillment system, supporting applications, and all incoming/outgoing interfaces to other systems
- Developed and implemented a capacity planning model to track projects, estimate work efforts, set priorities, allocate/align technical resources, and monitor burn rates/deliverables against both business and technical budgetary guidelines using a combination of MS Project and Excel, Nexus, and Clarity
- Introduced a change management function to support concurrent development of multiple releases supporting more than thirty projects per release
- Architect for multiple environments and infrastructure to support the concurrent design, development, testing and implementation of up to four concurrent releases in various stages following a Six Sigma approach
- Introduced a release management model following a bi-monthly schedule
- Reduced implementation errors to zero for three consecutive years
- Streamlined the onshore/offshore function to address base maintenance and support requirements in an efficient and effective manner
Business Technology Liaison
North American Mortgage Company
11.1992 - 12.2003
- Business/technology liaison to national and regional operations staff to ensure system solutions meet business needs
- Prioritization of technology work efforts and release delivery content
- Responsible for business and technology strategic roadmaps both short and long term
- POC for escalating critical system issues, setting operational priorities and initial review/feasibility of system solutions
- Research business and technology solutions for retail, wholesale, correspondent, and telemarketing divisions
- Primary architect for system changes to integrate ABA processing for builder partnerships
- Identify and design system changes to support the NAMC acquisition by Dime Savings and the proposed Hudson United merger
- Design and implement major systems initiatives for second lien mortgages, piggybacks, and sub-prime lending
- Manage the analysis and testing activities for moving Dime Savings retail and wholesale loans from the EDS Lakewood system to the NAMC mortgage origination system, including an interface for moving correspondent loans from Lakewood to MLCS
- Manage the development of an Intranet site for posting production statistics to field operations staff and management
- Used MS Project as the product of choice for managing project schedules and resources
- Deployed an SDM approach emphasizing Agile software development
- Design technology solutions to provide processing efficiencies for branch production, streamlining process flows, eliminating redundant processing, and reduced online response times
- Delivered a product and pricing engine utilized by the origination application, reducing pricing errors more than tenfold
- Organized and staffed the first business analysis and application help desk team responsible for evaluating business requirements, identifying process improvements, developing functional specifications, and resolving operational issues/problems
Education
Computer Science and Engineering -
Parks School of Business
Denver, COSkills
Financial services technology
Digital solutions
Cloud technology
Operations expertise
Data capture
External third-party services
Internal and external system interfaces
Legal and compliance regulations
Products and pricing strategies
Strategic business planning
Product roadmaps
Risk and compliance
Vendor services
RFPs
Application decommissioning
Product rollout
Problem research and resolution
Application troubleshooting
End user support liaison
Product management
Product ownership
Statistical reporting
Status reporting
Strategy consultant
Business consultant
Business and systems analysis
Application management
Waterfall project management
Agile project management
Scrum framework
UAT program expertise
System support
Project management
Linkedin Profile
https://www.linkedin.com/in/forrest-randall-smith
Timeline
Sabbatical/Leave
Freelance/Independent Contractor
11.2023 - Current
UAT Coordinator/Project Manager
Texas Education Agency
06.2023 - 09.2023
Director, Product Owner/Project Manager/Systems Analyst
Homepoint Financial
01.2021 - 11.2022
Project Manager/Systems Analyst
Exchange Bank
06.2018 - 05.2019
Project Manager/Business Architect Consultant - Contract
Sindeo
02.2017 - 06.2017
Business Consultant/Systems Analyst/Project Manager
Wells Fargo
08.2016 - 06.2020
Project Manager/Senior Business/Systems Analysis
CoreLogic
08.2014 - 10.2015
Business/Systems Analyst Manager
Luther Burbank Savings
12.2013 - 07.2014
Senior Business Systems Analyst - Contract
CoreLogic Dorado
04.2011 - 11.2013
Senior Technology Manager
Bank of America
03.2004 - 12.2010
Business Technology Liaison
North American Mortgage Company
11.1992 - 12.2003
Computer Science and Engineering -
Parks School of Business