Mark Thomas
929 Weatherbee Ave, Downers Grove,IL
Summary
Assistant Vice President with expertise in strategic direction and team leadership. Developed a collaborative team environment that fosters motivation and enhances performance. Identified and executed growth opportunities, leading to significant improvements in team capabilities.
Overview
20
20
years of professional experience
Work History
Assistant Vice President
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
Chicago, IL
03.2022 - 03.2026
- Directed enterprise cloud modernization initiative for a Federal Reserve System program, accelerating digital transformation and strengthening operational resilience across critical functions
- Developed and executed a multi-year strategic roadmap, aligning initiatives, resources, and milestones to organizational priorities and enabling disciplined delivery of transformation objectives
- Guided organization-wide restructuring, redefining roles, realigning talent to strategic priorities, and ensuring seamless business continuity during transition
- Provided executive coaching to people leaders, strengthening leadership capability, driving performance improvement, and supporting adoption of major organizational changes
- Mentored high-potential employees through formal leadership program, supporting career advancement and cross-organizational collaboration
- Directed Bank's United Way campaign and volunteer council, mobilizing employee participation, increasing community impact, and reinforcing organizational culture of service, and raised $60,000 annually
- Championed process optimization and control automation initiatives, reducing manual intervention, improving efficiency, and enhancing reliability of core operational workflows, resulting in a reduction of 25 hours per month on operational processes
- Strengthened enterprise risk posture by conducting ongoing threat and control assessments aligned to the COSO framework, safeguarding operational stability
- Selected for cross-functional culture task force to understand organizational effectiveness and evaluate and enhance employee engagement
Business Systems Manager
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
Chicago, IL
11.2015 - 02.2022
- Provided strategic direction to senior leadership during implementation of Workday application, including the implementation of the Finance Planning Council to enhance stakeholder input in new application
- Established new skill sets and responsibilities for team members through strategic planning sessions
- Awarded Chicago Federal Reserve's Presidential Award of Excellence for outstanding performance in driving the adoption of the Workday application for the Federal Reserve System
- Created multi-year deep-dive calls with stakeholders to shape strategic roadmaps, leading to the transformation of the Federal Reserve System's budgetary process
- Responsible for an in-person stakeholder conference in advance of new application go-live that allowed Federal Reserve stakeholders to learn the new and collaborate with other Reserve Banks on best practices
- Initiated a stakeholder exchange program, where stakeholders worked with centralized team to write requirements, test enhancements, allowing for a different perspective and more robust testing
- Expanded team's offerings of data-centered tools, enhancing stakeholder engagement with data
- Promoted staff growth through formal rotations, seeking additional education, seminars and certifications and finding opportunities for the staff to apply new learnings
- Focused on self-growth by being a full-year mentee twice while also attending seminars on career growth
- Improved Finance culture by planning numerous team-building exercises and recognition activities, which was a precursor to the now-established Chicago Federal Reserve's Finance Cultural Advancement Council
Business Systems Team Lead
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
Chicago, IL
06.2015 - 10.2015
- Implemented monthly strategic calls with reserve banks to highlight upcoming activities and stakeholder impact
- Established defined team roles to enhance SME-level knowledge and create backups for critical skills
- Formed a work intake prioritization group to incorporate stakeholder feedback into development initiatives
- Oversaw creation of SharePoint site for reserve banks, centralizing processing documentation and best practices
Business Systems Analyst
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
05.2010 - 05.2015
- Oversaw the support and maintenance related to processing and controls for all Federal Reserve Banks
- Led project to create a help desk-like application called IQ which improved issue tracking within the team and communication with stakeholders
- Wrote requirements, test scripts, performed testing and transferred knowledge to stakeholders related to new applications and enhancements
- Developed SQL database knowledge to assist with data analysis and investigation
Sales Analyst
Empire Today
Northlake, Illinois
08.2006 - 04.2010
- Collaborated with leadership on sales performance and recommendations for improvement
- Devised new metrics to gauge sales rep and office branch sales performance
- Performed population density analysis to make recommendations for future branch locations
Education
Bachelor of Arts - Finance
University of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, ILMBA - Entrepreneurship and Strategic Innovation
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, ILCareer Accomplishments
- Multi-year experience leading a team of both business analysts and technical developers that consistently rated among the top support teams in the Federal Reserve System
- Established a repeatable cadence of formal and informal communication with stakeholders to build relationships and drive direction
- Developed and communicated numerous strategic roadmaps, which set expectations and accountability
- Implemented both custom developed and ERP applications resulting in extensive process improvements throughout all Federal Reserve Banks
- Presidential Award of Excellence recipient in 2021, awarded to Chicago Federal Reserve employees demonstrating a consistent high level of work and results
- We Serve award recipient in 2018, awarded to Chicago Federal Reserve employees demonstrating the Bank's core values: integrity, respect and responsibility
Timeline
Assistant Vice President
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
03.2022 - 03.2026
Business Systems Manager
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
11.2015 - 02.2022
Business Systems Team Lead
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
06.2015 - 10.2015
Business Systems Analyst
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
05.2010 - 05.2015
Sales Analyst
Empire Today
08.2006 - 04.2010
Bachelor of Arts - Finance
University of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign
MBA - Entrepreneurship and Strategic Innovation
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign