Gaylena M. Mays
McKinney
Summary
Seasoned IT professional with over 15 years of experience in financial services and enterprise technology, specializing in banking, payments, lending, and regulatory compliance. Pega Certified Senior System Architect, Lead Business Architect, and Infosys Certified Scrum Master with nearly 7 years of dedicated expertise in Pega PRPC.
Proven ability to gather, analyze, and translate complex business requirements into actionable product features, user stories, and workflows that drive customer-centric solutions. Extensive background in Agile/Scrum methodologies, backlog grooming, sprint planning, and roadmap development, with strong stakeholder management skills bridging business, technology, and compliance teams. Deep expertise in Pega Strategic Applications (PMF, CLG, Decision Management), Direct Capture of Objectives (DCO), and full Pega implementation cycles including business process modeling, tool installation, development, testing, and deployment.
Recognized for analytical problem-solving, process optimization, and collaborative leadership style, consistently delivering innovative financial products and services that meet compliance standards (AML, KYC, Basel III, SOX) while enhancing user experience. Excellent communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills with a track record of fostering cross-functional teamwork and managing client expectations in dynamic, regulated environments.
Overview
13
13
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Product Owner/Business Analyst
Bank of America
08.2020 - 09.2025
- Directed two cross-functional onshore-offshore teams to design, enhance, and maintain the Anti-Money Laundering Defect Reporting tool.
- Translated wireframes, BRDs, and client interviews into actionable user stories, maintaining a prioritized backlog in JIRA and refining requirements with Product Owners in the 'Given-When-Then' format.
- Facilitated Agile ceremonies (daily stand-ups, sprint planning, reviews, retrospectives) and backlog grooming sessions to ensure team alignment, delivery cadence, and business value focus.
- Validated compliance readiness by ensuring accurate data in stories and defects for Release Manager approval and reviewed completed work as 'Ready to Release' for SIT deployment.
- Organized and maintained PI Planning boards, delivering clear stakeholder reporting during quarterly planning events, while training teams in Agile best practices for story writing, grooming, and pointing.
Senior System Architect (Pega)
Bank of America
09.2017 - 08.2020
- Developed reporting solutions within the EPIC platform, including Rewards Points and Debit Cards, to enhance customer tracking, transaction monitoring, and analytics.
- Designed and implemented workflow automation features such as 'Get Next Work' and claim movement agents, improving efficiency and reducing manual intervention.
- Addressed production issues, performed maintenance, and ensured system stability across multiple applications.
- Supported Global Banking and Markets initiatives, contributing to the Document Refresh application and Customer Life Cycle Management (AWARE).
Lead Business Analyst/Senior System Architect (Pega)
Manheim Auctions/COX Automotive
09.2015 - 12.2016
- Partnered with business and technical leadership to gather requirements, author user stories, and facilitate DCO sessions, aligning solutions with organizational objectives.
- Designed wireframes, customized UI components, and collaborated with QA teams to develop test scripts, ensuring clarity and quality in application design.
- Facilitated Agile ceremonies and developer meetings to drive iterative delivery, refine functionality, and maintain alignment across teams.
- Conducted field testing and demonstrations of applications on TC70/TC75 mobile devices at auction sites, gathering direct user feedback to improve usability and performance.
- Delivered stakeholder demos, performed troubleshooting, code reviews, and packaged products for deployment across multiple environments, implementing updates and enhancements based on feedback.
Senior System Architect (Pega)
Wells Fargo
03.2013 - 09.2015
- Designed and customized portals, workbaskets, navigation panels, and UI components across multiple regions (Canada, Singapore) to meet evolving business requirements.
- Implemented advanced case search functionality, dynamic lookups, routing logic, and XML parsing rules (SWIFT/GSMOS), including MQ Listeners to capture and route messages.
- Built and maintained data tables, HTML rules, Connect SQL rules, and correspondence templates to support case research, reporting, and workflow automation.
- Enhanced compliance reporting (Dodd-Frank Loss Reporting) by modifying XML generation activities and updating database structures.
- Collaborated with business analysts and technical teams to develop BRDs/FSDs, align requirements for Wells Fargo Wires Investigations, and ensure quality through SIT/UAT testing and defect resolution.
- Managed RuleSets, deployments, and production support activities to ensure timely delivery and system stability across environments.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Management Information Systems
University of Missouri
St. Louis, MissouriSkills
- PegaRules Process Commander
- Windows 11
- UNIX
- VBA
- VB NET
- SQL
- HTML
- C
- C
- Java
- Java Script
- MS Access
- Project Management
- Microsoft Project
- Microsoft Visio
- JIRA
- Release Manager
- Octane
- MS Office
- Critical thinking
- Effective communication
- Problem solving
- Stakeholder engagement
- Team facilitation
- Time management
- Adaptability
- Feature prioritization
- Scrum expertise
- Stakeholder relationship management
- Roadmap development
- Product planning
- Requirements elicitation
- User acceptance testing
- Agile frameworks
- Technical acumen
- Business analysis
- Wireframing and prototyping
- Scrum methodology
- Product lifecycle management
- Story planning
- Technical expertise
- Software development fundamentals
- User story creation
- Verbal and written communication
- Interpersonal communication
- Organizational skills
- Team leadership
- Reliability
- User story development
- Agile methodology
- Product backlog management
- Requirement analysis
- Cross-functional collaboration
- System stability maintenance
- Workflow automation
- Problem resolutions
- Problem identification
- Release planning
Certification
- Pega Certified Senior System Architect (CSSA)
- Pega Certified System Architect (CSA)
- Pega Certified Business Architect (CBA)
- Pega Certified DCO Architect
Timeline
Product Owner/Business Analyst
Bank of America
08.2020 - 09.2025
Senior System Architect (Pega)
Bank of America
09.2017 - 08.2020
Lead Business Analyst/Senior System Architect (Pega)
Manheim Auctions/COX Automotive
09.2015 - 12.2016
Senior System Architect (Pega)
Wells Fargo
03.2013 - 09.2015
Bachelor of Science - Management Information Systems
University of Missouri