Mehran Faalzadeh

I am a  Vice President currently working in  Optimization and Transformation. I am  responsible for Business Process Optimization and Process Excellence at Barclays.

I am a seasoned professional with over 35 years of experience in corporate America and the United States government. I am well known for rehabilitating slow performing businesses, driving process transformation through employment of diagnostic business analysis, maximizing process excellence and delivering product and process performance. I am well versed in management of technology and incorporating agile methodology into static business functions. In my previous roles, I held leadership positions in Controls and Analytics, Anti-Money Laundering and Fraud, Business Expansion, Territory Management and Small Business Card Operations. My passion is to leave things in a much more enhanced form than I first found Them. I am strict on standards and empathetic with people. I also embrace diversity, equity and inclusion wholeheartedly  

I am also a decorated former Commissioned Officer in the US Air Force and a combat veteran of Operations Desert Shield/Storm, the Bosnia War and the Afghanistan War. I  hold a BA degree in English Literature and speaks fluent Farsi. I additionally hold ESL diplomas from University of Cambridge, CAMS (Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist), Toyota Production Systems (TPS), Scrum Master and Six Sigma certifications. I live in Richmond, Virginia with my wife Anita, my daughter Noelia and our dog Gypsy.  

BARCLAYS

11/2022 to Present

VP,  Process Optimization and Transformation 

• Head of Process Optimization and Transformation Program
  • Program aims to revive low performing sectors of business units 
  • The program follows an internal consultancy model that works directly with business units, offering assessments of the current state, produces future state recommendations and a path to execution and implementation
  • The ideal output may include improved customer experience, enhanced performance metrics, heightened quality scores, cycle-time reduction, scaling readiness and business continuity and sustainability
• Created a process of rapid tech deployment to complement the Process Optimization future state assessment
• Designed a Process Excellence Guild to promote process excellence in a decentralized fashion to induce quality at the source and metrics management at the business unit level
   

BARCLAYS

11/2021 to 11/2022

VP, Fraud Disputes and KYC Operations (Vendor Management)

• Heads the performance management of all vendors inclusive of identification, compliance and assessment of Fraud, Disputes and Loss Mitigation against Bank policies and standards and applicable and relevant regulatory requirements
• Strategy liaison to affect process changes and quality measures to ensure vendor loss reduction using six sigma methodology, strategy rules, technology intervention and site visits
• Leads the regulatory adherence and ITPP (Identity Theft Protection Program) Program across all of Fraud Operations; this effort is reported to the Board of Directors on an annual basis
• VP for process engineering and Risk Management working directly with business controls and testing/evaluations via RCSA/FMEA/Design and Applicability testing
• Provide expertise in the build and implementation of Controls and their impact on business operations

WELLS FARGO                                                            

01/2021 - 10/2021

SVP, Control Sr. Officer - Operations Transformation

• Business Control Leader for the Enterprise BPM Function - EBPM is the Operational Management System at Wells Fargo
• Business Control Leader for Transformation - consulting on Risk and Controls, Defect Management and emerging risk abatement
• Transformation and human design expert; emphasizing quality at the source and human interaction with Technology
• Primary POC to the Business Unit Heads for consistent implementation and execution of Risk and Control Self Assessment (RCSA) and (Enterprise Risk Identification Analysis (ERIA) in COO (Operations)
• Provide expertise in the build and implementation of Controls and their impact on business operations
• Demonstrated communication-delivery of highly complex proposals to executive-level leaders encompassing discourse on strategy and regulatory matters
• Member of the Optimization Council - tasked with merging Strategy and Transformation from the Risk and Control lens leading to operational enhancements
• Consult with the Financial Crimes Division on AML, CTR, regulatory matters and provide guidance to Executive leaders on the aforementioned topics

CAPITAL ONE 

Small Business Card (SBC) Process Excellence 

 06/2019 - 11/2021 

Hand selected to join the SBC organization to promote an enterprise level process excellence across SBC

• Designed the architecture for the SBC Process Hierarchy with L2 and L3 specific delineations
• Established a review and documentation of (81 specific products/processes) with full view of Audit and Examination requirements - Focus is on creating a matrixed environment
• Spearheaded a comprehensive review of every regulatory control in SBC for Design and Operating Effectiveness as well as mapping to ensure viable risk mitigation across the entire line of business
• Proposed and stood up the pilot Independent Controls Testing Team to manage risk mitigation via controls testing and reporting at the L3 level within the line of business
• Developed a Consultancy Model where any product team or line of business could request Six Sigma, Lean or Controls support. This horizon view of the next future state offered a rare review of tech plus data plus process design to merge as a single decision module - the impact was a overlaid plan that allowed leaders to make rapid and well informed decisions
• Proposed and built a team of Process Engineers and Controls Testers to manage the Process Excellence requirements and build a sustainable independent testing team to ensure viability of regulatory commitments and delivery - SBC was the only LOB at Capital One to have 100% documented processes
• Liaised with Compliance and the Risk Teams as part of process design effort focusing on upcoming investments and strategic horizons
   

AML/KYC Card Operations                                                                             

 06/2018 - 06/2019

Asked to join the Card AML/KYC Team to “operationalize” the team and deliver the last vital delivery for the Consent Order

• Documented a comprehensive Data Flow Architecture for the KYC processes in US Card
• Created movement controls for every hop across the numerous repositories across the KYC request cycle directly mitigating data loss and improving Detection-to-Resolution cycle time
• Redesigned the placement of filters at the onboarding step, thus reducing the downstream impact on AML investigations and SARs
• Revamped the Cash Transaction Reporting process for AML - This action helped lift the OCC Consent Order
• Delivered the line of business wide metrics deck and the reporting mechanism for KYC Refresh, CTR reporting and Cash Limits

AML Operations and Transaction  

06/2015 - 06/2018

Invited to join AML Transaction Monitoring Team to operationalize the team and clear the backlog of pending investigations

• Led the Transaction Monitoring Team (Alert to SAR) and Controls Monitoring effort for the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) within Enterprise AML - Team included 35 AML Investigators and 6 Controls Testers
• Designed the Controls Analytical effort with focus on “data to decision” and full documentation transparency via a Controls Testing Team
• Created a comprehensive map of the aging backlog, inbound alerts, pending cases and SAR filings
• Developed and implemented a matrixed environment for AML Transaction Monitoring Operations;  aging investigations fell well below established SLAs within 12 months
• Established a One System, One Voice methodology across Operations locations resulting in a homogenous approach to defect management, Quality and Compliance (Management System)
• Consulted on List Screening Operations and management of Sanctions focusing on enhancement of Wires process and capability analytics
• Instituted Process and Controls Health Assessments with an eye on the E2E process, but focus along the value streams
• Introduced AI/ML into risk assessments and Controls monitoring with direct impact on business effectiveness and investments

Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA)              

06/2013 - 06/2015

• Stood up the Quality and Analytics Team for the Enterprise SCRA Team
• Taught Six Sigma and TPS (Toyota Production Systems -  Real Lean) across the enterprise
• Introduced innovative ways (8-Box, A3, PDCA) to identify process anomalies and feed the next future-state
• Ushered in “Quality” and “Compliance” at-the-Source – at design steps and beyond
• Team was awarded the DoD Freedom Award for quality management of the SCRA program

Process Engineer, Card Operations 

06/2012 - 06/2013

• Performed Six Sigma and Lean support to product managers and the risk team
• Created a Vendor Management Control (VMC - 3rd Party Management) methodology for harmonizing vendor operations with Capital One requirements around compliance, reporting, controls and risk abatement
• Responded to OCC and DOJ Consent Order requests for high visibility and complex processes
• Authored Standards, Policies and Procedures as part of the process redesign or process/product builds
• Created a total of 100 controls to buttress the existing inventory of controls covering the Cross Sell portion of the US Card business, thus complying with the OCC requests

GENERAL ELECTRIC CORPORATION

Operations Manager, Fleet Purchasing                                                                                              2006-2009

Managed 35 Negotiators in the US and in India in back office and active purchasing roles

UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION - OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY                                 

2003-2006

Maintenance Manager

1 of 22 candidates recruited out of the USAF as part of a pilot Field Management Development Program.  There were over 250 applicants considered for the program

UNITED STATES ARMY AND UNITED STATES AIR FORCE                                                              

1988-2002

• USA Infantry Non-Commissioned Officer - Combat action during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
• USAF Commissioned Officer - Airborne Intelligence Officer - Combat action in Afghanistan
  • Area expertise in the Middle East, North Africa, Sub-saharan Africa, Europe and Central Asia

Weber State University

Bachelor of Arts - English Literature

Certifications

Lean Systems, Toyota Production System Certificate

Business Process Management Certified (BPM)

Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS)

Scrum Master Certified

Six Sigma practitioner