Open To Work
THOMAS KENDZIERA
Chicago,IL
Work Preference
Summary
Experienced capital markets operations leader specializing in over-the-counter derivatives and end-to-end trade lifecycle management. Leads large teams and drives initiatives that enhance operational resilience and governance. Expertise includes counterparty credit risk, trade lifecycle controls, and collateral management. Known for delivering scalable models and technology-driven process improvements in regulated markets.
Overview
27
27
years of professional experience
Work History
Director, Global non-Cleared OTC Collateral Operations
BANK OF AMERICA
Chicago, USA
01.2018 - Current
- Lead global collateral operations for non-cleared OTC (ISDA) and fixed income (GMRA) derivatives, overseeing margin call processes across 125 associates in five global locations.
- Accountable for operational risk management, technology and process transformation, regulatory readiness, collateral funding, and optimization of high-value collateral assets.
- Partner with Credit Risk, Front Office, Treasury, and Liquidity teams to monitor, analyze, and report material credit risk exposures across the enterprise.
- Manage global regulatory examinations across OCC, FRB, PRA, NFA, ECB, SEC, and FINRA, consistently delivering satisfactory outcomes.
- Remediated $23M in Reg-W operating risk in custodian accounts, enhancing compliance and reducing potential financial exposure.
- Established end-to-end remediation plan involving eleven front-office business lines spanning fifteen legal entities.
- Identified account closure opportunities which resulted in saving $300K per annum in custodian fees.
- Expanded leadership of a Fixed Income (GMRA/TBA) collateral team following manager departure and 50% attrition.
- Executed 12-month stabilization plan that restored operational control and reduced breaks over 200% above normal levels, improving overall process reliability.
- Implemented CFTC margin regulations, including ISDA SIMM Initial Margin requirements, achieving full compliance and effectively navigating operational complexities across jurisdictions and legal entities.
- Managed multi-year migration of end-to-end collateral workflows from legacy platforms to a proprietary in-house automated solution.
- Delivered iterative automation enhancements resulting in 95% end-to-end straight-through processing of margin call messaging, significantly improving efficiency, control, and operational scalability.
Director, Global OTC Collateral Dispute Resolution and Portfolio Reconciliation
BANK OF AMERICA
Chicago, USA
01.2009 - 01.2018
- Led the design, implementation, and ongoing management of a global portfolio reconciliation and dispute resolution program to mitigate counterparty credit risk and ensure compliance with Dodd-Frank and EMIR regulatory requirements for non-cleared derivatives.
- Managed global team of 55+ associates across onshore and offshore locations to support investment bank traded products, ensuring comprehensive coverage from credit to FX.
- Established and institutionalized global dispute resolution governance routines across credit risk, finance, price verification, front office, market risk, and collateral management, enhancing consistency and cross-functional alignment.
- Implemented operating aspects of CFTC and EMIR regulatory requirements for portfolio reconciliation and dispute resolution, meeting regulatory deadlines and achieving full compliance.
- Acting sole representative in the ISDA dispute resolution industry working groups (2-year commitment).
Regional Product Control Manager
BRITISH PETROLEUM (BP)
Warrenville, USA
07.2007 - 06.2008
- Instituted investment banking 'best practice' standards for profit and loss (P&L) analysis, operational risk mitigation, and business change management across supply-chain trading operations in the United States.
- Led change-control initiatives for technology enhancements in middle office and trading systems, ensuring seamless integration and improved functionality.
- Managed price verification team to validate material cost markers on physical positions, enhancing accuracy in financial reporting.
- Established new front and middle office Delegation of Authority (DOA) guidelines over trading limits.
Senior Vice President, Program Manager / Global Structured Finance
BANK OF AMERICA
Chicago, USA
04.2005 - 02.2007
- Provided strategic and tactical program management leadership for a multi-billion-dollar Total Return Swap (TRS) business within Global Structured Finance.
- Led simultaneous delivery of operational enhancements and control improvements while driving a strategic business process re-engineering initiative and migration to a new trading platform.
- Collaborated with business and technology partners to design and develop a $1.2 million loan trade-capture application, effectively reducing trade-processing touch points by 21%.
- Delivered 83% of total operating efficiencies, resulting in 30.25 FTE hours saved daily.
- Established centralized program management infrastructure supporting seven departments, enhancing cross-departmental collaboration.
- Recruited and trained project team in key functions of TRS business; coordinated activities across multiple strategic and tactical projects on six technology platforms.
Senior Vice President, Lead Transition Manager / Fleet Bank Merger
BANK OF AMERICA
Chicago, USA
01.2004 - 04.2005
- Coordinated Fleet Bank merger transition events for multi-currency interest-rate derivative trading and operations division.
- Met aggressive timelines to guarantee the transfer and uninterrupted resumption of portfolio risk management, trading, sales and support activities.
- Completed portfolio risk-management transfer from Fleet front office to trading sites across the Americas, Canada, Mexico, London, and Tokyo within the three-month 'Legal Day 1' deadline.
- Integrated all back-office processing by 'Legal Day 2' merger deadline, including general ledger, cash settlements, confirmations, credit, collateral, and regulatory reporting.
- Transferred Fleet’s consolidated multi-currency swap and swap option derivative portfolios along with all operations support.
- Led transition of Boston and Chicago offices to integrate support functions into Bank of America’s infrastructure.
Vice President, Middle Office Product Control Manager Derivative
BANK OF AMERICA
Chicago, USA
02.1999 - 01.2004
- Managed a product control team responsible for T+1 P&L and risk reporting on multi-billion-dollar swap and swap option portfolios.
- Published production-ready portfolio risk to trading desk and market risk group prior to market open; managed construction of end-of-day yield curves and option model volatility grids.
- Conducted qualitative and quantitative analytics on plain vanilla swaps, European and American style swaptions, Bermudans, cap/floors, exchange traded interest rate futures and options, and Treasury securities to support informed decision-making.
- Led Rapid Application Development (RAD) team in analysis, valuation testing, and implementation of yield curve, model risk, and pricing enhancements to improve front office efficiency.
- Installed intra-day 'flash' P&L reporting on multiple proprietary trading strategies and product types.
- Developed KPI metrics for monthly management reporting and implemented procedural changes to enhance process and control improvements across the department.
Education
M.Sc. - Financial Markets and Trading
Illinois Institute of Technology
ChicagoB.A. - Political Science
University of Illinois at Chicago
ChicagoSkills
- OTC Collateral Operations
- Regulatory Compliance
- Risk analysis
- Operational Risk Mitigation
- Project Management
- Strategic Planning
- Technology Implementation
- Productivity Improvements
- Team leadership
- Employee Development
- Relation and Consensus Building
- Operating Consolidation
Timeline
Director, Global non-Cleared OTC Collateral Operations
BANK OF AMERICA
01.2018 - Current
Director, Global OTC Collateral Dispute Resolution and Portfolio Reconciliation
BANK OF AMERICA
01.2009 - 01.2018
Regional Product Control Manager
BRITISH PETROLEUM (BP)
07.2007 - 06.2008
Senior Vice President, Program Manager / Global Structured Finance
BANK OF AMERICA
04.2005 - 02.2007
Senior Vice President, Lead Transition Manager / Fleet Bank Merger
BANK OF AMERICA
01.2004 - 04.2005
Vice President, Middle Office Product Control Manager Derivative
BANK OF AMERICA
02.1999 - 01.2004
M.Sc. - Financial Markets and Trading
Illinois Institute of Technology
B.A. - Political Science
University of Illinois at Chicago