Project Manager / Relationship Manager with Language Skills

Lee McMillan

E-Mail: ******@*****.***

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PREVIOUS EMPLOYMENT

Jan 11 – Present Royal Bank of Scotland Group (Edinburgh, UK)

Senior Business Analyst

Working on one of the UK’s largest divestment programmes on a fixed-term contract

• Working as part of the Transitional Business Processes workstream to manage the smooth transfer of the divested business to the target bank

• Responsible for Project Management activities, including Requirements Gathering, Process Mapping, Testing, Solution Design and Implementation

Feb 10 – Dec 10 Telefonica O2 UK Ltd (Edinburgh, UK)

Business Manager

Responsible for development of sales strategy in Scotland

• Rolled-out the Joined-Up Communications projects within the team when the product range was diversified to include fixed-line services alongside mobile phones and broadband

• Market analysis and external product research

• Third party supplier management

• Sales of communications products to businesses throughout Scotland

Apr 07 – Jan 10 Barclays Bank Plc (Edinburgh, UK)

Local Business Manager

Responsible for business development and establishing brand in the Scottish marketplace

• Seeking out and developing relationships with Key Business Introducers throughout Scotland through networking at events organised by BNI, BNS, Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce and so on

• Selling and presenting to various levels; from small business owners to executives

• Working with a very small but growing team in a collaborative manner to ensure that our sales results are achieved

• Managing both cold calls and warm leads to various brokers and potential introducers to promote the bank and increase business opportunities

• Working closely with a portfolio of SMEs with an annual turnover of up to £1.5 million, who have previously conducted their business banking with other banks, explaining the benefits of the Barclays proposition, completing thorough and in-depth fact-finds and following through to complete switchover to the bank, ensuring that all cross sales opportunities are also maximised

• Having been accredited to manage commercial lending cases – Commercial Mortgages, Business Loans, Property Investment/Development Loans, and I have been involved in deals in the range of £30,000 to £750,000 to date

• Developing strong and trusting relationships with both customers and brokers alike with a keen focus on customer service, which led to the achievement of a national rating of number one in this target area in my year-end review

• Effectively utilising various in-house systems to manage the end-to-end process of opening accounts, managing KYC conformance through various credit checks, preparing lending cases through thorough analysis of company financials/business plans to ensure feasibility of requests, liaising with underwriters and risk administration teams to facilitate timely drawdown of funds for clients

• Deputising the duties of the Area Manager by regularly managing colleagues and liaising with senior managers to present team sales figures, assisting with the interviewing of candidates for roles within the team, working closely to provide input and support for team events and meetings

• Regularly involved in presentations at both internal and external events

• Using my language skills occasionally to assist colleagues from different departments communicate with international clients

Mar 06 – Mar 07 ASA International Ltd (Edinburgh, UK)

Financial Services Consultant

Responsible for business development and recruitment within the Financial Services sector

• New business development through effective telephone sales manner and client visits

• Servicing and developing the relationships of key clients

• Interviewing candidates and matching their details to appropriate positions

• Liaising with both clients and candidates to ensure timely responses and efficient communications

• Ensuring that sales activity targets are met

• Using in-house computer database to ensure that all details are kept up-to-date and relevant

Jan 06 – Mar 06 Career Break

Moved from London to Edinburgh to seek employment

Oct 05 – Jan 06 Inabata UK Ltd (London, UK)

Sales Executive

Proactive sales for a Japanese trading company based in London

• Business development both with existing clients and new prospects throughout Europe

• Liaison with suppliers in Japan to deliver on sales objectives in a timely manner (completely in Japanese)

• Product range involves sales of mask blanks (used in the semiconductor industry), chemicals used in paper production and various adhesives/films

• Travel to meet customers throughout Europe to strengthen relationships and generate new business potential

• Credit control and management of the office administrator

Mar 03 – Oct 05 Barclays Private Clients International Ltd (London, UK)

Relationship Manager

Portfolio management and proactive sales of offshore financial services to international clients

• Management of a portfolio of approximately 300 high net worth private clients, including senior executives, investment bankers/traders, actors and sports personalities

• Development of business from Japanese clients using niche language skills and understanding of Japanese culture – which formed a sizeable section of overall portfolio

• Cross-selling of Barclays’ financial services in a competitive target-based arena, whilst delivering world-class service

• Professionally selling a plethora of products from general banking services to mortgages to managed investment portfolios to global custody and execution services

• Understanding the varying needs and financial objectives of each individual client by maintaining regular contact and efficiently utilising key sales techniques; thus realising various sales opportunities

• Gaining referrals and leads from clients in order to develop and enhance the overall value of my portfolio

• Using language skills to assist and support colleagues from across the entire business to help achieve otherwise impossible sales objectives

• Effective individual workload and time management, while also collaborating with team to ensure results

• Meeting clients in the branch and also in their own environment, building relationships and ensuring quality service

• Deputising the Team Leader to assist with the management of departmental staff

• Assisting with business development by promoting Barclays’ services at various events, such as meetings of the ‘London Chamber of Commerce’

• At the time of my departure from the company, I had achieved 132% of my sales targets, which made me one of the top three performing Relationship Managers within International Banking

• In order to achieve my sales targets, I had to grow the overall value of the assets under management within my portfolio and to gain a high level of investment commission

Nov 02 – Mar 03 Bilingual People Ltd (London, UK)

Business Development Manager / Temporary Division Consultant

Generating new business and placing candidates in permanent and temporary positions within a multilingual recruitment agency

• B2B sales by telephone, through client visits and by targeted mailing

• Carrying out various administrative tasks including database input, filing, website maintenance, invoicing, mailing clients, credit control and general office duties

• Successfully finding suitable candidates for varying roles by matching criteria to job descriptions, arranging interviews and client liaison

• Interviewing candidates and questioning them about various aspects of their CVs

Jul 02 – Nov 02 Career Break

Returned from Japan to Scotland

Relocated to London shortly afterwards to seek employment

Jul 00 – Jul 02 The Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme, (Kagawa, Japan)

Assistant Language Teacher

Working in Japan on a highly-competitive teaching and cultural exchange scheme sponsored by the Japanese government

• Developed a confident and mature attitude by adapting to new work environment and culture

• Interpersonal skills on all levels from students to teachers to local governors

• Creative ability enhanced by producing a range of effective and interesting teaching plans while meeting the objectives of the course curriculum

• Presentations to groups of people in both English and Japanese

• Team work with groups of teachers and also individual research

• Active input into staff meetings to stimulate new ideas about how to improve classroom harmony, increased learning and time management

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EDUCATION & QUALIFICATIONS

October 2003 The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII)

Financial Planning Certificate

Part one achieved.

Jan 99 – Jul 99 Kansai Gaidai University, Osaka, Japan

Asian Studies Programme

A semester of the degree programme was spent in Japan. Courses taken were: International Marketing (A), Quality Systems (A) and Japanese Language (B).

1995 – 2000 University of Stirling

BA (Hons) 2.1 in German and Japanese Studies with Distinction in Spoken German

Developed linguistic skills, presentation skills, interaction skills with people from a wide and varied range of backgrounds, and worked individually and in groups to meet demanding deadlines. The Spoken-German distinction was awarded to only four people on the entire course.

1989 – 1995 Beeslack Community High School, Edinburgh Road, Penicuik

CSYS: German

Higher Grades: Six (A, A, B, B, C, C)

Standard Grades: Seven in total

Young Enterprise Company Award: Distinction Pass

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ADDITIONAL SKILLS

• Computer Literate: All main Microsoft programmes, Internet and Basic HTML

• Typing Speed: Approximately 60 words per minute

• Language Skills: English (native), Japanese (fluent), German (fluent)

• Driving Licence: Full and clean

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REFERENCES

Available on request

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