A result driven Senior Management Executive with *4+ years of achievement in leveraging technology to drive organizational performance, growth and profitability

Successful as a transformation leader, capable of developing flexible, scalable solutions for consumer and organizational problems

Diverse experience in high-growth, startup, and turnaround environments with extensive knowledge of the Banking and Financial industry

MBA (System & Finance) and BE (Computer Science) from premier institutes of India.

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

United Company for Financial Services (Tasheel Finance) Dec 2018 to Present

United Company for Financial Services (UCFS) is a fully owned subsidiary of United Electronics Company, Saudi Arabia. UCFS is one of the initial Fintech organizations in Saudi Arabia that is licensed and regulated by SAMA.

Role: IT Director

Founder member of one of the initial Fintech organizations in Saudi Arabia which is licensed and regulated by SAMA in consumer finance sector

Member of Executive Management team responsible for defining and executing the digital strategy

Additionally, Executive committee member of Procco Financial Services, a CBB regulated entity providing technical and ancillary services to Tasheel Finance based in Bahrain.

Reporting to the CEO

Key Achievements

Created IT department in this start up organization offering full range of IT services

Managing full range of IT services across 53 locations in Saudi Arabia

Brought on board key technology partners for critical services (within first 60 days)

Designed and Built a Sharia Compliant Fully Digital Loan Origination, Underwriting and Management System integrated with various government entities like SIMAH, GOSI, SADAD (within 4 months using in house resources)

Maintained a 99.9% up time of all systems since commencement of Operations

Assumed additional charge of Procco Financial Services (a CBB regulated entity based in Bahrain) and transformed the same into a fully functional technology delivery partner for Tasheel. Currently presiding as Executive Committee member for Procco

Job Dimensions

Strategy

Advise the senior management team on emerging technologies and digital trends that are most relevant to company's goals and evolving needs

Determine capital investment parameters, priorities and risks for enterprise-wide IT initiatives to maximize the return on investment

Leadership

Develop an IT vision and roadmap, and lead the team towards effective execution

Ensure, on an ongoing basis, that current and planned technical architecture, investments and solutions are aligned with business objectives.

Build strong relationships with business groups and their leaders across the enterprise, and develop a detailed understanding of their issues, challenges and opportunities

Ensure sharp project management and systems analysis skills to execute business-critical projects

People

Implement the most appropriate and effective IT organizational design to support and engage with the business.

Hire, develop, evaluate, reward, and retain a highly-qualified team of IT professionals.

Foster a culture of innovation, transparency, ‘Business-First’ and accountability in IT.

Develop and nurture talent pipeline to ensure succession and continuity in business critical IT positions

Identify and induct Technology partners to broaden the technical capability base, optimize costs and achieve overlapping delivery targets

Operations

Direct the design, planning, implementation, and maintenance of the computing infrastructure.

Performance and Result metrics for managing IT effectiveness and measuring the impact on the business.

Establish service levels and processes to ensure that KPIs are met.

Dynamic dashboard for all IT projects w.r.t. deliverables, resource deployment and scheduled timelines.

Establish a comprehensive enterprise information security program to ensure the integrity, confidentiality and availability of relevant data.

Lead the design and implementation of an enterprise-wide disaster recovery and business continuity plan.

Establish and enforce IT policies, processes, portfolio management, development standards and methodologies.

Monitor the industry for developments in IT operations; evaluate and implement relevant new tools and service management frameworks.

Review, recommend, and oversee all vendors and managed service agreements for computing, telecommunications, IT services, and equipment.

Collaborate with Sharia Board to obtain mandatory certification of Product and Processes

Commercial Bank International PSC, Dubai July 2015 to Dec 2018

Role: Heading the Al Islami Operations. Responsible for

Manage IT and Operations for the Islamic Window

Policy and Process definition for the Islamic Window

Monitor and manage the Financing Accounts through the life cycle

Management Reporting

Key Achievements

Commencement of Islamic Window Operations

Founder-Member of the Islamic Window Operations in the bank

System customization; Preparation of Collaterals;

Operations commenced in a relatively short span of 4 months

Commenced Liability operations in 4 months and first asset was booked in 5 months

Developing Islamic Banking System

Managed the development of a System to enable the processing of Islamic Financing products with full operational automation commencing from the request till the end of the process, with collection tracking and follow-up. Modules within the system allow for an efficient recording, tracking and managing of all financing transactions for Corporate financing operations.

Facility and limits management including credit lines’ full management and collateral management

Processing of multiple Islamic financing products (Murabaha, Ijara, Mudaraba, Reverse Murabaha, Istisnaa, Salam, Project Financing); Murabaha LC financing and other products

Work procedures needed to conduct:

Commodity Purchase and Sale Activities, Financing, Repayments, Amendments, Rescheduling and restructuring

Processing, including all Sharia related rules and regulations and different steps in a transaction processing and issuance of standard contracts

Full collection management from the first late payment and default up to legal cases.

Mudaraba Profit Distribution Module – To define PDM parameters, execute the profit distribution cycle and generate relevant profit entries for the Mudaraba account holders

Integrating seamlessly with existing Silverlake Core banking system.

Automated End of Period Operations

Silverlake Core Banking System Upgrade

Successfully led the requirements management, testing and rollout of the Islamic Modules of the Silverlake Core Banking System

Defined parameters for all the Islamic Products in the system

Successfully migrated the Islamic Banking System data to the upgraded version of Silverlake Core Banking System

Test & Rollout Islamic Module of OPICS Treasury Solution

Preparation of test scripts for Islamic Treasury products

Review of test results and rollout of the Islamic Module

Set up framework for Management Reporting – Islamic Window

Islamic Branch Operations

Defined the policies and procedures for the Al Islami Branch Operations

Managed Corporate Account Opening – CASA, Mudaraba and Wakala Deposits

Managed the Branch Operations and customer service processes pertaining to Islamic Division

Managed the processes efficiently resulting in Zero High/Medium observations during Internal Audits and Sharia Audits

Tamweel PJSC (Subsidiary of Dubai Islamic Bank, Dubai) Apr 2007 to July 2015

AVP, Core Banking & Systems Development

Role: Leading the Core Banking and other key systems development in the bank and managing the systems division of Tamweel PJSC, a subsidiary of DIB.

Define & Implement IT Systems Strategy:

IT Systems for Home Finance Division of the bank

Quality Assurance: Manage the SIT & UAT of the core banking, branch automation, origination, collections and other key systems in the bank.

Change & Configuration Management

Management Reporting to Head of IT & IT steering committee

Production Support

Team management: Recruitment, training and talent management

Systems Handled

Flexcube Core Banking System, FlexBranch Branch Automation System, FinnOne Loan Origination System, Intellect Collections System, SAP Business Objects, Document Management System, WPS, ICCS, All systems in Home Finance division (Tamweel PJSC)

Key Achievements

Lead the design, development and implementation of an Origination System that automates the mortgage underwriting process from lead management to fulfilment stage.

Lead the migration of the mortgage portfolio from Dubai Islamic Bank to Tamweel

Streamlined the change management process in the core banking and FinnOne LOS platform

Streamlined the implementation and support process the implementation of the paperless branch initiative

System Implementation: Workflow Automation System, Business Intelligence System, Document Management System, Collections System, changes in the Core Banking System, Support Desk System; Data warehouse

Process Engineering: Successfully implemented the 48 Hour Mortgage; Mortgage Approval Process, revamped CRM process, implemented Collections Process; Implemented the Change Management, Release Control Process and Configuration Management Processes across all the systems.

Production Support: Stabilized production environment, automated the end of period processes and brought the downtime close to Nil.

Documentation: Streamlined and updated the system documentation for all systems in the organization

Disaster Recovery Set up: DR setup for all the systems of the organization and successfully lead the switch over to delivery of regular banking operations within 30 hours of a major fire incident in the primary site.

Raqmiyat LLC, Dubai Jan 1999 - Mar 2007

Software Services Manager, IS Division

Role: Lead the Information Services Banking Division

Project Management: Responsible for the delivery of all software projects undertaken by the organization

System design: Responsible for the design of major systems developed and delivered by the organization including the Image Based Cheque Clearing System, Remittance System, Retail Delivery System

Team Management: Manage Project Managers, Project Leaders and Technical Resources. Recruitment of resources, performance management of all team members

Consulting: Provide consultation in the areas of Retail Delivery Solutions, Cheque Clearing Solutions, Origination Systems, CRM Systems & Business Process Improvement.

Budgeting: Prepare, deploy and control the division’s capital and operational budget.

Partner Management: Identify partners for technology solutions, evaluate solutions and enter into partnership for implementing solutions in UAE

Key Achievements

At UAE Central Bank & multiple member banks across UAE - designed, built and implemented the Image Based Clearing System (ICCS-Connect).

At National Bank of Dubai successfully led implementation of the following projects:

-Retail Delivery (Branch Automation System) interface to CAPBANC

-Core Replacement Project – From CAPBANC to BANCS

-Private Banking System from Odyssey Asset Management Systems

At Emirates Bank Group successfully managed the Retail Lending System covering origination of all loans, credit cards.

Successfully implemented and managed Cheque Clearing Solutions at multiple banks and CRM Solutions at multiple sites.

Spearheaded the design & development of a .Net Development Framework that enables Rapid Application Development. This framework was used to build Exchange House Automation and Trade Finance Systems.

Certified ISO 9001:2000 Internal Auditor.

Member of Employee & Customer Feedback Review Committee

DSP Merrill Lynch, India Dec 1997 – Dec 1998

Senior Manager – Information Technology

Project Management, Systems Support, Vendor Management. Successfully managed implementation of Stock Trading Back Office Automation System

Reliance Industries Ltd., India Jun 1995 – Nov 1997

Junior Manager – IT

Developed, implemented and supported systems. Successfully developed and implemented Sales Order Processing Systems across all the manufacturing units, branches and consignment agents.

EDUCATION

MBA 1995 Indian Institute of Management (IIMC), Calcutta, India

BE, Computer Science 1993 College of Engineering, Anna University, Chennai, India

PERSONAL

Date of Birth: Aug 25, 1972 Citizenship: Indian Resident: Bahrain

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