Curriculum Vitae

Stuff doing & stuff done.

Profile (also on LinkedIn)

As a seasoned strategist working where the worlds of financial services, real property, risk, technology and data intersect, I have spent over 20 years connecting information and building products to enable organizations to succeed. With exceptional knowledge of financial and land information, consumer and commercial registries, regulatory affairs, banking, title insurance, real estate markets, and related legal profession processes, I consistently deliver value by discovering insights and opportunities.

A strategic and tactical partner leveraging solid performance:
- 20+ years of complex business process design, product development, management and execution
- Broad understanding of progressive technology stacks, data frameworks, and machine learning; expert level understanding of protocols, services and development
- Demonstrated strong analytic skills with experience leading teams to deliver large technology implementations on time and on budget
- Proven experience leading technology strategy within growing, international organizations in the financial services sector where technology and information systems are central to the success of the organization
- Superior writer, presenter, communicator and organizer

RPS Real Property Solutions

As SVP Technology & Data Solutions at RPS Real Property Solutions Inc. I am responsible for creating and executing the technology and solution delivery vision, architecture, and platforms to support internal and client operations. In parallel I lead the RPS Data Solutions group and am responsible for product management and innovation to unlock new features and market opportunities for the suite of property market solutions including the RPS AVM, HPI, Estimators, and Neighbourhood Insiights.

FinTech Data Solutions Inc.

As Principal Consultant at FinTech Data Solutions, I enabled insights by unlocking client's financial and property market data, advised on mergers and acquisitions, providing strategic solutions through analytics, ML and business process engineering.

Real Matters Inc.

As Vice President, New Product Strategy, I defined and led comprehensive product and data management strategies across the Real Matters title and closing and valuations network management verticals, with a focus on leveraging data assets to drive business insights, product strategy and development, and overall growth.

Key contributions:

  • US valuation services Program & Product lead - enabling operations, client services, technology and investor relations to deliver corporate 1- and 3-year outcomes through continuous program and product lifecycle management
  • Business process engineering leading to the design & build of title insurance and real estate valuation application management decision frameworks delivering clean UI coupled with professional UX workflows for lawyer, notary, abstractor, appraiser and realtor networks.
  • Lead design, development and rollout of national US notary network synchronized to business processes to support title insurance services, including notary iOS app designed to maximize adherence to network program design - project completed on time and under budget
  • Monetizing data assets aligned to corporate growth objectives to deliver new B2B and B2C channel revenue from start-up initiatives
  • Building and executing product roadmaps for new value-added services - most accurate home valuation system, HELOC workflow products to reduce application attrition, consumer-facing apps enabling better ownership of the consumer relationship, lead generation data products for lenders and home services vendors to provide targeted and qualified marketing opportunities, mortgage portfolio management tools, BPO value update products
  • Reviewing corporate acquisition targets’ data assets and systems to provide counsel to executive team related to data value and strategic fit
  • Providing guidance, strategy and governance oversight for data-related programs
  • Implementing complete operations analytics for all agent and network management processes
  • Influencing stakeholders and business executives ensuring data governance principles are included in the definition of strategic targets, and that the design and build of strategic business solutions comport to global information and data policies, and are aligned with Real Matters data architecture strategy

ESC Corporate Services Ltd.

As CTO my responsibities included enhancing product & service delivery, internal processes, application functionality and infrastructure to enable ESC to continuously grow its market share. Key contributor to the successful aquisition of ESC by Information Services Corporation (ISC) in October 2015. Core job functions include:

  • Develop and implement operational improvements of infrastructure, applications, systems, and processes designed to align to the rapid growth of ESC
  • Leverage understanding of financial institution KYC/AML policies to design & deliver new product / service offerings for client onboarding and management of commercial clients
  • Oversee operational risk management including implementation of business continuity and disaster recovery strategies
  • Ensure ongoing compliance with CSAE for Reporting on Controls at a Service Organization per CICA (Assurance) in accordance with CobiT
  • Lead service integration design and implementations with vendors and clients
  • Spearhead the design, communication and implementation of effective growth strategies and processes
  • Proactively deliver improvements to enterprise and solutions architectures; lead the incorporation of new acquisitions into the ESC environment
  • Enhance information security and risk management frameworks
  • Manage IT teams in Toronto and Montreal, as well as oversee outsourced development activities

Consultant

Provided strategic and tactical counsel to clients related to:

  • Automated process workflow management systems, operations, infrastructure & DR
  • Led project to develop and implement policy & procedural controls to complete CICA 5025 (CSAE 3416) audit
  • Strategic consultation in the mortgage lending sector

Nationwide Recovery Services LP

As President & CEO, reporting to the Board of Directors, led the conceptualization, development and launch of start-up NRS that provides asynchronous intelligent workflow processes to recover real property secured debt using business rules specific to individual lending organizations. Industry-leading process management software and systems were developed to ensure mortgage lenders achieve the most effective use of resources to convert defaulted mortgages into revenue generating assets. Key contributions included:

  • Requirements gathering - interfacing with SME’s across lending, legal, property management, mortgage insurance, mortgage investor and real estate industries
  • Development & build oversight - hardware and software analysis, code requirements, quality assurance, third party integrations
  • Execution and evaluation - continuous improvement through ongoing phased releases; on-boarding new clients, primary point of contact for partners, vendors and clients

Nationwide Appraisal Services Inc.

As CIO I was responsible for leading strategic IT development and improvement to achieve corporate growth milestones by bringing business expertise to bear on existing and new technologies. Act as translator between clients, IT and the business by leading, developing and implementing tactical business requirements across all mortgage lending valuation products. Key areas of focus included:

  • Technology Operations - QA, infrastructure, development, business analytics
  • Technology Services - service management, vendor management, governance
  • Enterprise Architecture - business, application, system
  • Product Development – decision rules engines, mortgage portfolio market stress-testing

Teranet Inc.

Program Manager - Risk Management Services for Financial Markets responsible for delivering all operational, business development and financial management of the National Risk Management Line of Business including:

  • P/L & Operations Management - developed and implemented a business growth strategy aligned to balanced scorecard measures for all financial products resulting in multi-million dollar high-margin revenue and improved national market share for the vertical
  • Thought Leadership - identified as, and served at trial as, key expert witness for the Plaintiff in $400MM class action lawsuit delivering over $500k of profit to Teranet
  • Partnering/Co-Ventures - led the development and successful launch of the Teranet-National Bank House Price Index™ that is widely considered to be the most accurate representation of Canada’s residential property markets and used by financial institutions, news media and government
  • Product Development - directed rollot of Mortgage Registration Validation Service
  • Non-standard Client Contracting - negotiated all long term contracts and licensing agreements with partners, value-added resellers and data suppliers including agreements with BC Assessment, City of Edmonton and CMHC
  • Marketing and Brand Management - ensured all products and services aligned with corporate strategies, managed communications and advertising and led standards and long term vision
  • Project Management - optimized performance across the Financial vertical’s value chain by continuously and systemically assessing performance metrics, and through efficient infrastructure management and allocation of IS resources

Also at Teranet, developed and brought to market the Real Estate Data Exchange (REDX) service, a well known cooperative exchange of public and private information to reduce incidents of fraud and the only Canadian service of its kind. As well, directed the successful post-acquisition implementation of reavs®, Canada’s first commercial automated property valuation (AVM) service.

David B. Searles Land Surveying Ltd.

Land Survey Crew Chief, GIS Mapping Technician - managed land survey crews performing cadastral, topographic, GIS control, engineering construction, and hydrographic field surveys; built POLARIS mapping files based on survey records and field measurements; drafted survey plans both manually and using AutoCAD.

Education

  • Queen's University, Kingston, ON
  • Appleby College, Oakville, ON

Associations / Other Experience

  • Sponsor Board Member, Credit Scoring and Risk Strategy Association
  • Product Development and Management Association
  • Risk Management Association
  • President, 1641474 Ontario Ltd. dba Yarrow Lane Cottagers
  • Build Volunteer - Habitat For Humanity
  • Canadian Credit and Collections Group
  • Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals
  • Member, Provincial Advisory Group Task Force related to Clandestine Drug Labs
  • Member, MGS Advisory Group – Real Estate Fraud Committee
  • Teranet President’s Club Award 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
  • Teranet Leadership Development Program 1999 – 2000