KEITH R. BARBER
**** ********** **** • Bentonville, AR 72712
Phone: 479-***-**** • Email: ******.**@*****.***
SENIOR MANAGEMENT EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR / VICE PRESIDENT / COO
Repeatedly produced sustained revenue and earnings growth in dynamic and changing markets
Proven achievements in financial services, retail and sales and marketing industries
Dynamic leader and team builder, consistently driving individuals, teams and organizations to success
Senior executive with verifiable year-after-year success achieving revenue, profit and business growth objectives within start-up, turnaround and Fortune 500 environments. Extensive experience in retail operations, finance and sales and marketing with a deep understanding of business critical drivers in multiple industries and markets. Highly successful in building relationships with upper-level decision makers, seizing control of critical problem areas and delivering on internal and external customer commitments.
Retail Operations Management • Thought Leadership • Strategic Planning • Continuous Process Improvement
Staff Development and Promotion • P&L Management / Budget Planning • Leadership Development • Pricing Strategy
Product and Business Integration • Client and Customer Support • Change Management • Business Intelligence
Strategic Partnering • Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty • Market Positioning • MBA
SELECTED ACHIEVEMENT HIGHLIGHTS
Turned around an underachieving $200M product line, through product development, positioning and awareness campaign. Reversed -2% comp sales trend to achieve +6% trend in mature market
Reversed losses into profits, serving as catalyst for sales and growth for struggling $20M privately held staffing company; quickly restored profitable operating status and achieved annual bottom line targets
Introduced product/service adoption campaign to ignite awareness of financial service product offerings in Fortune 100 retailer that drove 20% growth in $500M business segment
Re-engineered tax preparation services to drive $1.2B incremental cash in customer hands; lowering average customer price 10% while increasing volume and program profitability
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
WAL-MART STORES, INC., FINANCIAL SERVICES, Bentonville, AR (2008 – present)
$708 million dollar division of Walmart Stores US providing financial services at all US and Puerto Rico retail locations, including basic money services, credit, debit and network gift carded products, lottery and tax preparation
Promoted to lead key product team and again to lead Walmart Financial Services store channel, responsible for 95% of customer traffic and sales. Accountable as Sr. Director for delivery and execution nationally of 17 products and services across multiple Walmart formats with P&L responsibility exceeding $670 million. Provide strategic roadmap for 11-person management team of operations, customer experience, real estate, finance, marketing and compliance.
Sr. Director Stores Channel – Walmart Financial Services
Lead Walmart Financial Services store channel team with $708MM P&L responsibility
Hold key executive management role; responsible for delivering divisions in-store execution and deployment strategy
Target key format opportunities for deployment of Walmart Money Centers, a dedicated financial services format within a store. Deployed specialty format in over 25% of chain – driving 48% of divisions revenue
Develop, deliver and manage integrated in-store marketing solutions. Consistently deliver million dollar campaigns yielding positive ROI results
Sell-in WFS plans and initiatives with Walmart US Segment GBU leadership at all levels
Direct and manage partner-led field teams, including GE Capital, MoneyGram International and NEW Corp
Responsible for coordinating and executing a consistent and integrated assisted/self-service customer experience to improve throughput and reduce labor
Oversee Walmart Financial Services program and product/service execution within the stores
Govern/coordinate the in-store customer experience
Sr. Director Cash Services – Walmart Financial Services
Led Walmart Financial Services disbursements and conversions team with $206MM P&L responsibility, monetizing disbursement instruments that resulted in $32B customer cash in hand.
Successfully reinvigorated the check cashing business segment through expanded assortment and subsequent marketing campaign; delivering positive YoY sales comps
Introduced new Matricula ID program to improve Hispanic customer relevance
Developed and delivered integrated tax time program that drove $4.5B of customer cash in hand, provided a free 1040ez in-store offer and reduced customer tax preparation fees by 10%.
Launched new card cashing product to capture migrating check cashing market segment
Director of Operations – Walmart Financial Services
Led Walmart Financial Services operations team. Exceeded plan in every quarter delivering 22% comps in FY10 and projected comps of 16% in FY12.
Accountable for executing all financial service programs across 3,800 store chain. Achieved an execution rate in excess of 90%.
Launched major financial services awareness campaign across chain; re-emphasizing $40B purchasing power generated by product suite.
Introduced a monthly report out process where key store level and competitive opportunities are introduced to product team partners. Successfully launched multiple programs to meet customer and competitive needs.
Spear headed small formats initiative to leverage current and in-development formats to maximize financial service income opportunities in Neighborhood Markets and future small formats.
Reorganized operations team to align with Walmart US organization and leverage new business unit structure to maximize program effectiveness.
Sr. Finance Manager – Walmart Financial Services Formats
Serve as key business partner to the WFS Operations/Formats team providing financial and strategic support for the MoneyCenter, Customer Service Desk and MCX platforms.
Managed financial initiatives to replace 350+ Bank of America ATMs with Walmart MCX machine to maximize ATM income and establish a platform by which additional lower margin financial service products can be offered within the store without additional labor costs. Project drives incremental annual revenues of $7M.
Provided financial and project management for WFS income initiatives launched to improve top line sales by $12M.
Provided capital resource management for division to include capital obtainment for Walmart MoneyCenter unit expansion, service desk enhancements and MoneyCenter Express/ATM projects. Successfully secured $40MM in special projects capital and provided post-audit reporting related to all funded projects. Additionally, the process has been emulated for special project ISD capital.
PRIORITY PERSONNEL, INC., San Marcos, TX (2006 – 2008)
$20 million dollar regional staffing firm specializing in light industrial flex staffing and professional permanent placement
Recruited to provide professional management and lead organizational turnaround to reverse a 12-quarter unprofitable trend; responsible for re-organizing and directing finance and operations units. Returned the company to profitable operating status in 11-months after realigning functional areas to reduce overhead costs and capitalize on top-line margin opportunities.
Vice President – Finance
Managed finance functions and day to day operations for privately held firm with annual revenues of $30 million.
Returned company to bottom-line profitable financial position in 11-months.
Reorganized organization by revenue channel reversing of a three year negative growth trend.
Increased gross profit margins from <18% to >22% through implementation of standardized pricing models.
Introduced new direct hire product line to better meet client needs and improve top line revenues by 21%.
Implemented EVA based incentive compensation system to drive bottom line performance.
Served as principle risk management officer, overseeing insurance, worker’s compensation, and benefit programs. Reduced company health insurance costs 15% through introduction of HSA plans.
Introduced active P/L management reducing annual G&A expenses by 28% through the elimination of non-critical spending, implementation of a purchase order process and staff consolidation.
Served as company's interface with banking and financial partners.
JAVABLOCK, LLC, Austin, TX (2001 – 2006)
$16 million dollar start-up holding company; specializing in sub-prime auto credit and bicycle re-selling
Recruited to lead day-to-day operations of a privately held holding company with three divisions. Launched JavaBikes.com, an industry first bicycle online reseller, growing the company to $4 million in annual revenues with 10 employees. Introduced first automobile lease-to-own program in Central Texas; driving double-digit company growth.
Director of Operations
Oversaw financial and operations management of parent holding company and subsidiary units, JavaBikes.com, Capitol Auto Leasing and MadDash Automotive.com
Developed market delivery model and established market position for each entity. Provided fiscal and operational oversight of subsidiary units and direct report managers.
Successfully grew company from new start-up to an established entity with asset value in excess of $8M and annual sales of $16.5M and a 21% annual growth rate.
Published industry first “Blue Book” evaluation guide for pre-owned bicycles resulting in the development of subscription revenue channel driving 15% of top-line sales.
Introduced bilingual advertising campaign with outreach to Hispanic market. Increased new lease signings in Q1-2005 41% through campaign.
PRIOR EXPERIENCE
Functional leadership positions in finance and operations organizations.
EZCORP / Commemorative Brands / Southwest Airlines
Accomplishments include leading organizations merger and acquisition team and directing budget functions for a $220 million dollar manufacturing company.
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Science (BSBA) – Finance
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI, St. Louis, MO.
Masters of Business Administration (MBA) – Accounting
ST. EDWARD’S UNIVERSITY, Austin, TX
Professional Training & Development
Leadership Excellence (Officer Candidacy Program), Walmart Stores US, Bentonville, AR