BARBARA MICHELS

Oak Hill, VA 20171

703.581.4256
bmichels1@cox.net
Energetic & determined Information
Technology Leader with strong
Change Agent skills. I help
companies develop an incremental
achievable plan to align with strategy and vision.

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT OFFICE EXECUTIVE

Accomplished technology executive with proven success in envisioning, executing and directing Information Technology Initiatives. Successfully managed program portfolio for a
$500MM business encompassing six programs and 15 teams. Previous background in
program/project leadership, management consulting and IT executive management.

Achieved the development and subsequent registration of 350,000 federal loan originators by leveraging strong leadership, negotiation and interpersonal skills.
Ability to build and strengthen relationships across diverse departments and influence
others to collaborate towards a common mission
Ability to transform creative ideas into immediate action with significant experience in
start-up and turnaround situations. Recognized for ability to quickly grasp business vision and translate to incremental execution plan.
Manage escalation, and engage appropriate experts and leaders across the organization
to make decisions and resolve issues.
Record of success in initiation and strategic alignment of program and project portfolios
for both small and large scale solutions focused on business value delivery.
Effectively uses change agent skills to help an organization transform itself by focusing on
such matters as organizational effectiveness, improvement, and development.
Expertise in several software delivery methodologies with strong focus on Agile Portfolio,
Program and Development methodologies and scaling with Agile.
Unique ability to challenge individuals to deliver peak performance. More than a decade
of experience as a manager with responsibility for hiring, training and supervising staff.
* Vendor Negotiation * Scaled Agile * Agile Development * Project Management Office * Scrum * Business
Process Optimization * Portfolio Management * Leadership * Budgeting * Strategy * Change Management * eCommerce * New Business Launch * Deep PMI/PMP knowledge

CARFAX; CENTREVILLE, VA
DIRECTOR OF PROGRAM & PROJECT SERVICES

2012-PRESENT

Created and executed the company-wide technology portfolio by aligning technical resources, programs and investments with enterprise business strategy.

Managed a team of 15+ Program/Project Managers, Product Owners and Business Analysts
in the development and delivery of products to market and enterprise project delivery using Agile practices and principles. Re-defined team by bringing advanced agile education,
role clarity, alignment and governance to enable the continuous value delivery of projects
and products.
Key participant of the ideation and formation of new line of business for Carfax implemented in three months resulting in over 25% increase in annualized revenue.
Evolved the Agile Project Management Office to introduce an effective system of lightweight project governance resulting in increasing throughput, coordinating multiple release trains, and prioritization of the highest business value initiatives.
Introduced a Portfolio Advisory Board to establish metrics, bring transparency, remove
impediments and focus on guiding the company towards continuos improvement.
Introduced the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) as a guide to help Carfax clarify delivery
team roles and scale their agile delivery in response to exponential growth over the last
several years.
Reduced average project cycle time to less than 60 days through establishing best practices, templates & portfolio guidance enabling quick product delivery to market.
Introduced new portfolio processes which decreased the cost of delay and reduced interrupts to the product flow by 20%.
Collaborated with delivery teams and leadership to normalize on estimating and reporting
standards to establish credible and actionable metrics.
Baselined Project Services team with a series of workshops focused on defining mission,
building a team and clarifying the roles and responsibilities of the entire delivery team.
Functioned as the escalation point for all IT project issues. Managed IT project portfolio,
including centralized project status reporting, prioritization and key resource tracking.
Built business case and lead the establishment of first formal testing standards and architectural leadership in the organization.

CONFERENCE OF STATE BANK SUPERVISORS; WASHINGTON, DC

VP & CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER

2007-2012

Managed all activities related to the full system development build of the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System (NMLS)
(http://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/about/Pages/default.aspx). Included contract negotiation, project governance and management, requirements, development, testing, deployment, production support, data security, vendor management and auditing.

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Negotiated the multi-million dollar contract for the build and support of NMLS with
outsourced Vendor.

Catalyst for a cultural shift from a professional association to an owner/operator of a

nationwide software platform.

Created methodologies and structure to manage the prioritization of system

development to meet federal legislation requirements and the needs of 58 state
regulatory and six federal agencies.

Managed an ongoing ten million dollar development budget.

Planned and implemented an operational infrastructure to support the ongoing operations of NMLS.

Contract negotiator and program/ project manager for the deployment of federal
registry which registered thirteen thousand institutions and over 350 thousand
mortgage loan originators.

Self taught leader of the Certification and Accreditation (FISMA) process dictated by
the federal government to ensure NMLS was certified prior to the opening of the
federal registry.

Managed an internal staff as well as 80+ staff employed by our partner responsible
for the project management, business analysis, coding, testing and hosting.

CC PACE
SENIOR DIRECTOR

1997 - 2007

Responsible for all aspects of the Mortgage Implementation and Development consulting
practice for the financial services division of CC Pace. Included business planning and
development, client and staff management, client delivery, staff development, knowledge
management and overall P&L responsibility. Served as Account Manager for several top
mortgage clients and as an advisor providing subject matter expertise and program management.

Successfully created a new line of business within practice resulting in a three million annual revenue.

Implemented business development methodology.

Created suite of courses (MortgageU) to train and develop internal consulting resources.

Created and instituted knowledge management within mortgage line of business.

Contributed to the company mission by successfully implementing project management methodology.

Negotiated multiple consulting and vendor contracts and SLAs.

Highlighted Engagements:
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Advised multiple clients on negotiating contracts with vendors and service providers.

Led the 2005 Mortgage Banking Association cost study to determine cost savings
associated with implementing industry standards.

Led a technical due diligence effort on behalf of a major mortgage insurer to acquire
a systems vendor offering products to the commercial mortgage market.

Led efforts in building an eCommerce strategy for both the correspondent and broker divisions of a major lender which resulted in the development of a successful
eCommerce business model delivered 20% ahead of plan.

Led multiple system selection efforts including secondary marketing, servicing, loan
origination and enterprise product and pricing engines.

Worked as an industry advisor with the Loan Prospector Customer Installation Team
and for Freddie Macs BETA version broker/wholesale LP eCommerce initiative.

Performed multiple process design efforts to implement industry best practices and
determine gaps in the current application requiring customization.

Contributed to essential management decisions by providing strategic direction on

the development of an application that delivered daily status of production issues,
improving executive response time in addressing production issues.

ADDITIONAL RELEVANT EXPERIENCE

OLD KENT MORTGAGE COMPANY, GRAND RAPIDS, MI
VP OF TECHNOLOGY
AMERUS MORTGAGE, DES MOINES, IA
AVP, DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

1995-1997

1989-1995

CERTIFICATIONS
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), 2014
Leading Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), 2015
PMI-ACP Certification in process
PUBLICATIONS
Technology Handbook for Mortgage Executives, contributing writer
Mortgage Banking Magazine: The Future of eMortgage & ASO vs. Managed Services: Is Either Right for You
EDUCATION
University of Northern Iowa, BA, Computer Information Systems

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