Gary Pointer

Gary Pointer

Business Change Management

Professional Profile

Competent, decisive and experienced senior finance professional with a strong managerial background within investment and retail banking. A particular affinity for turnaround management scenarios, regarded for the ability to drive processes and motivate teams. Self-driven and self reliant with outstanding interpersonal communication, a collaborative approach and natural leadership skills. Able to synthesise and present management information, contributing valuable input to the executive decision-making process and always ready to roll sleeves up and contribute at the granular level. Able to oversee all project stages, from inception to implementation. Strong budget, risk and resource management skills. Proficient at vendor negotiations and management, reducing costs and strategic planning. Outstanding presentation and senior stakeholder management skills. Focussed with a track record of successfully delivering full lifecycle implementations to tight time scales and within budget.

Work Experience

2010 - 2011

Technical Programme Manager

Wealth & International, Lloyds Banking Group


I lead a consultancy delivery team onsite at Lloyds, directing business analysis and implementation teams for a strategic payments engine replacement and a SWIFT gateway consolidation within the Wealth & International division. I joined the programme during a period of flux, with emerging requirements and new stakeholders being engaged. My first tasks were to provide structure to the technical teams, to define, socialize and agree the IT terms of reference and to establish the work breakdown structure. Stakeholder management was key to complete the delivery, as was a willingness to take on additional responsibilities.


My key responsibilities included:

  • Structure the CIO team to deliver effectively to the programme
  • Define and agree a clear work breakdown structure and assign accountability
  • Enable planning, budgeting and prioritization decisions
  • Identify and manage all programme stakeholders
  • Agree and deliver clearly defined deliverables on time and to budget
  • Own the vendor relationship and define the engagement model
  • Present intention, approach and progress to senior executives regularly

2010

Business Change Manager

Capital Markets Front Office, Lloyds Banking Group


I was brought in to deliver an up-scaled bond origination capability, supported by secondary credit and gilts trading. This was a major cross-functional business build-out with sponsorship at the highest level. I worked with the front office sales and trading desks and liaised directly with risk, product control, legal, compliance, operations and IT functions to structure and implement a phased augmentation of the gilts trading capability, creating functionality for price making and distribution, risk management and trade reporting in line with the target operating model.


My key responsibilities included:

  • Deliver a clear statement of current state capability end to end
  • Enable planning, budgeting and prioritization decisions
  • Identify staffing, product support processes and IT stack capability gaps
  • Articulate impact of in-flight business enablement initiatives, challenging these and recommending changes where necessary
  • Gaining commitment from stakeholders for the recommended programme to deliver their vision of the LBG bonds business for 2010 and 2011
  • Initiating the bonds business enablement projects to support the business in the short/medium term

2009

Business Programme Manager

Business Financial Control, Lloyds Banking Group


I was the delivery manager on a particularly high profile programme in Lloyds securing the long-term future of the Group via participation in the Government Asset Protection Scheme. Reporting to the Programme Director, I coordinated the LBG Retail, Wholesale and Wealth & International Business Divisions, Group IT, Legal and HM Treasury to ensure compliance with scheme rules.


My key responsibilities included:

  • Direct Central GAPS team members, Business Divisions and Group IT
  • Liaise with key stakeholders and HM Treasury to agree and schedule deliverables
  • Publish progress and impact of deliverables and be responsible for their delivery
  • Own and drive governance of the programme and plan activities via the Central Project Management Office
  • Implement effective communication channels both internally and externally
  • Manage project scope using change management methodology
  • Define and agree escalation channels and escalate issues in a timely manner
  • Manage the project resource plan
  • Present intention, approach and progress to senior executives regularly

2008 - 2009

Vendor Manager

Central Payments, Lloyds Banking Group


I joined the technical change management team on a troubled programme to represent Lloyds in dealings with their Tel Aviv based payments engine supplier. I resolved the severe communications issues in place and subsequently managed 15 software releases, defined and implemented a shared defect management process on behalf of the QA Manager, restructured the invoice payment process, proposed and established collaborative requirements gathering and presentation methods with the BA team, imposed a single, logical QA team between the two institutions, hosted workshops, trebled the communications channels and implemented source and documentation version control.


My key responsibilities included:

  • Own the vendor relationship and define the engagement model
  • Establish and coordinate the release management for vendor deliverables
  • Solicit vendor delivery and best practice requirements and build these into plans
  • Set up effective communication channels at all levels of the programme
  • Establish repositories for information and documents for audit trails
  • Define escalation channels and escalate issues in a timely manner
  • Conduct ongoing quality assurance of vendor processes and deliverables
  • Facilitate negotiations with vendor for requirements, schedule and personnel
  • Work with Procurement to resolve queries and monitor contract compliance

1999 - 2008

Technical Programme Manager

Cash Equities Transaction Management, UBS Investment Bank


I managed the technical development and testing teams and a small pool of PMs who shared these resources to deliver regulatory and transaction management services for Cash Equities Middle and Back Offices. My team comprised 25+ people at any one time; a mixture of permanent, contract and outsource/offshore based in London, Singapore and India. I owned the relationships with 3 major vendors in India and various suppliers in the UK. In 2007 I delivered MiFID changes for TAS, representing the department on both the Cash Equities MiFID Steering Committee and the Transaction Reporting Programme Working Group.


My key responsibilities included:

  • Agree budgets, timescales and clear deliverables and deliver against them
  • Conduct stakeholder, vendor and risk management
  • Manage staff to ensure all milestones are achieved within agreed timeframes
  • Ensure effective quality control processes are in place to monitor deliverables
  • Present intention, approach and progress to senior executives regularly
  • Achieve and maintain SOX compliance and Operational Risk Certification
  • Assist technical team in their design and development tasks

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