Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Certification
Timeline
Generic

Karen Dowen

Elm City,NC

Summary

Strategic financial operations leader with over 15 years of experience driving efficiency, compliance, and automation in commercial loan servicing. Experienced with leading cross-functional teams to deliver on strategic initiatives. Utilizes strong organizational and problem-solving skills to enhance productivity and streamline operations. Track record of fostering collaborative and results-driven work environment.

Overview

24
24
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification

Work History

Wholesale Servicing Core Group Manager, Vice President

Truist Financial
09.2015 - Current
  • Managing the Servicing, Maintenance, Document Control and Post-Booking Quality Audit reviews for the Wholesale Core Portfolio. Mitigating the risk with daily processes and controls for maintenance requests, paid out processing, document imaging with vault file storage and quality audits for data integrity on Core AFS System.
  • Spearheaded automation initiatives that reduced manual processing time by 30% and improved SLA compliance to 98%.
  • Directed a team of 75+ across domestic and offshore locations, enhancing productivity and collaboration through targeted training and performance metrics.
  • Led successful implementation of new policy frameworks, resulting in a 40% reduction in audit findings and improved regulatory alignment.
  • Reconcilement of Wholesale General Ledger accounts for timely review and clearing to maintain no outages being greater than 10 days.
  • Championed continuous improvement culture by launching feedback loops and process improvements that assist with risk mitigation and cost savings to the bank.
  • Assisted with discussions to create and develop a new back-office team for Centralized Documentation Exception clearing.
  • Led the implementation of numerous paid out process changes for more efficiency gains including the transition of multiple processes to our offshore vendor for collaboration on work volumes.
  • Continue work efforts to identify and complete cross-functional efficiencies and processes across all teams.
  • Assisted with the redesign of Quality Audit remediation tracking to streamline system change workflows and enhance documentation tracking, resulting in improved audit readiness and operational efficiency.
  • Collaborated with teammates to redesign current quality audit application for more streamline reviews and reporting needs for regulatory reporting.
  • Led discussions around processes for a custom in-house 1502 report.
  • Designed and executed a training program that achieved 98% cross-training coverage across Wholesale Servicing teammates.
  • Applied statistical analytics to identify process improvement opportunities and mitigate risk.
  • Demonstrated perfect client experience for internal and external clients, as well as maintain effective partnership with our internal lines of business.

Director of Operations

First Carolina Bank
10.2006 - 07.2015
  • Designed, managed and trained operations area of fledging bank with complete infrastructure addressing regulatory and risk gaps, including portfolio and services that include deposit, loan, ACH/Wire, Bankcard, Branch and Online banking.
  • Built operational infrastructure for a newly chartered bank, covering deposit, loan, ACH/Wire, card, branch, and treasury services.
  • Authored and implemented 30+ policies and procedures, resolving all regulatory actions within two years.
  • Supported ALCO, Treasury Management, and Loan Committee with custom reporting and analytics.
  • Led loan imaging implementation for 700+ files, including project planning and training.
  • Managed reconciliation processes for Federal Reserve, Correspondent Banking, and FHLB accounts.
  • Partnered with Chief Compliance Officer on Dodd-Frank Act implementation and NCBA seminars.
  • Directed credit and rate mark tracking/reporting for acquired bank assets representing 80% of revenue.

Lending Service Officer

RBC Bank
01.2002 - 09.2006
  • Oversaw financial monitoring for $50MM commercial loan portfolio, including EBITDA calculations and covenant tracking.
  • Managed commercial line adjustments based on receivables and monitored documentation compliance.
  • Maintained detailed records of all service interactions, ensuring accurate client information was available for follow-up actions.

Education

High School Diploma -

Garnett Christian Academy
Wilson, NC
06.2000

Skills

  • Loan Servicing & Portfolio Management
  • Regulatory Compliance & Risk Mitigation
  • Process Design & Operational Efficiency
  • Leadership & Team Development
  • Audit Readiness & Documentation
  • Strategic Planning & Analytics
  • Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Collaboration
  • Policy & Procedure Development
  • Customer relations
  • Client Experience Optimization
  • Productivity Tools: Microsoft Office Suite, MS Teams, SharePoint, PowerPoint
  • Loan Systems: AFS Vision, nCino
  • Workflow Tools: SBA Workflow, Wire Workflow
  • Document Management: IBM Content Navigator

Certification

  • Truist Leadership Development Courses (2022–2025)
  • Attendee, Risk Management Association and AFS Vision Annual Conference
  • Certified in Commercial Lending Compliance

Timeline

Wholesale Servicing Core Group Manager, Vice President

Truist Financial
09.2015 - Current

Director of Operations

First Carolina Bank
10.2006 - 07.2015

Lending Service Officer

RBC Bank
01.2002 - 09.2006

High School Diploma -

Garnett Christian Academy

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