Jul 17, 2007
Daniel E. McKnight
operations/project Manager
Results-proven operations and project management executive with more than 20 years of progressive leadership in both front-office and back-office annuity, pension and life insurance operations, delivering mission-critical corporate and administrative services to both internal and external customers. Motivate and lead staff across multiple geographical locations, improving key performance indicators such as customer satisfaction, sales, and regulatory compliance. Creative, analytical problem solver; strong focus on maximizing service excellence, productivity, and efficiency.
Core competencies include:
|
§ Change Management / Reorganization
§ Outsourcing Management / Vendor Selection
§ Imaging & Workflow Management
§ Project Planning & Management |
§ Process Redesign & Efficiency Improvements
§ Customer Service & Service Quality Increases
§ Technology Strategies & Systems Implementation
§ Budgeting & Expense Oversight |
Professional Highlights
Independent Consultant (2006-Current) – Provide expertise and thought leadership to financial services and business process outsourcing organizations.
TIAA-CREF, New York, NY
Advanced through series of progressive leadership positions with a Fortune 100 firm with over $300 billion assets and providing services to more than 15,000 organizations and 3.2 million participants. Member of Executive Council comprised of TIAA-CREF’s top 120 managers.
Director, Administrative Services (2006)
Selected to assume leadership of newly formed Administrative Services division, providing central management for corporate services. Controlled $24 million operating budget and led 6 direct reports overseeing 150+ employees in New York, Charlotte, and Denver. Managed vendor relationships and contracts and oversaw purchasing/leasing of equipment. Provided executive oversight for Mail and Imaging Services, Document Indexing and Workflow Support, Copy Services, Mail Automation Processing and Records Management. Selected contributions:
} Developed new organizational structure including management teams, budgets, and operating plans, bringing consistency to multiple sites previously managed independently and tying roles to productivity measures.
} Rejuvenated underperforming Document Workflow and Mail and Imaging business units, implementing improvement initiatives such as space consolidation (15% reduction in rent/occupancy expenses), new training programs, and realignment of work shifts (15% productivity increase).
} Managed project to conduct thorough analysis of outsourcing options, leading efforts to benchmark services, analyze potential costs/benefits, and select vendors.
} Led through a challenging period of corporate change and reorganization, applying integrity, leadership skill, and diplomacy to improve morale and maintain or improve all services throughout transition.
Second Vice President, Corporate Services / Finance and Facilities (2003 – 2006)
Following major corporate restructuring, played key leadership role in implementing initiatives focused on driving cost savings, efficiency increases, and regulatory compliance improvements in an environment of elevated regulatory scrutiny. At height, controlled a $16 million operating budget and managed 4 direct reports and 180 employees. Oversaw New York mail, copy, and imaging services, as well as corporate-wide mail automation processing, corporate records, corporate fulfillment, and printing services. Selected contributions:
} Initiated projects to fortify then-inadequate e-mail management and corporate records programs.
- Recognized need, brought problems to attention of division president and attorneys, formed team of IT, legal, and compliance experts, and developed recommendations for improvement.
- Prevented possible fines and reduced regulatory and reputation risk by leading acquisition and implementation of new $2 million e-mail archival and surveillance system.
- Formed and chaired cross-functional Corporate Record Committee that implemented best practices that strengthened company-wide awareness, conducted training, developed complete inventory, and published records management website on the corporate intranet.
} Cut external printing costs 40% ($2.3 million savings) while improving quality of services through leadership of project that rationalized suppliers, reducing more than 100 vendors to a single fulfillment vendor and 8 printers.
} Saved $2.2 million and ensured completion of a 5+ year project in just 9 months by analyzing options and ultimately outsourcing conversion of 600,000 microfiche records (20 million images) to digital images.
} Reduced staff 20%, making tough but fair choices and maintaining communications with remaining staff to ensure the corporate-wide downsizing initiative was executed with minimal problems.
Second Vice President, Shared Services (2001 – 2003)
Assumed responsibility for Shared Services division involving oversight of 4 managers and 175 employees in copy services, printing services, corporate fulfillment services, corporate data maintenance, corporate records, mail automation processing, mail services, and imaging services. Selected contributions:
} Took charge of ineffective Corporate Fulfillment services unit:
- Implemented best practices, internal controls, and process improvements throughout operations, creating a smoothly run and efficient operation delivering enhanced services at a lower cost.
- Contributed to revenue growth through delivering over 1.3 million enrollment kits to prospective individual and institutional clients annually.
} Spearheaded implementation of new shared services concept throughout business units, leading team in defining internal services and establishing pricing and billing processes. Project managed implementation, meeting all project milestones and deadlines on time.
} Generated $500,000 in annual savings and increased accuracy of customer address records from 95% to 99% through implementation of procedural improvements and selective outsourcing.
Second Vice President, Corporate Services (1998 – 2001)
Assumed leadership of corporate-wide data maintenance and records, as well as mail automation processing, mail services, and imaging services in New York and Denver offices. Controlled $16 million operations budget. Managed extensive change initiatives, overhauling and reorganizing operations to maximize efficiencies, save money, and improve overall productivity and quality. Selected contributions:
} Created culture of motivation and business partnership focused on continuously improving quality and productivity; instilled awareness among employees of their individual importance in overall corporate goals.
} Raised both productivity and quality 10% within Imaging Services; reduced labor requirements 15% by recommending and implementing use of OCR/ICR technology to automate document indexing process.
} Conceived innovative location-independent document indexing solution that remains in place today -as a primary keystone to business recovery plans; enabled move of indexing operations to new facility in Charlotte while mail and imaging services continued in New York.
} Identified and corrected inefficiencies and bottlenecks, reorganizing operations and building new management team that brought in fresh ideas and perspective while realigning existing management to optimize talents.
Second Vice President, Benefit Payment Services (1986 – 1998)
Responsibility for 3 direct reports and 100 employees in processing benefits payments for plan participants and beneficiaries. Established new regional structure, identified best-qualified candidates, and coordinated implementation of Western division. Managed Eastern and Western divisions. Promoted from Assistant VP in 1992. Contributions:
} Doubled staff productivity division-wide while simultaneously increasing service quality through leadership in implementing process improvements and higher service standards.
} Turned around a failing business unit by replacing ineffective management, rooting out inefficiencies, and streamlining processes. Decreased forms-processing turnaround from 6 weeks to 1 week and payment-processing turnaround from 4 weeks to 1 week.
} Strengthened external customer services through creation and implementation of toll-free call center.
} Provided project management expertise, leading cross-functional team in series of Transferability and Special Transfer Services projects that were critical to ensuring full corporate compliance with SEC regulations.
} Improved efficiency 60%, decreasing turnaround on cash withdrawal payment processing from 40+ to 16 days, as project manager of effort that benchmarked best practices and identified/implemented process improvements.
} Accepted 5-month, high-profile assignment as Special Assistant to the CEO in 1991, a developmental post reserved for high-potential young managers. Prior to 1986: earned distinction as most junior member of team promoted quickly into supervisory role then promoted again to serve as policy services officer and assistant secretary.
Education & Credentials
B.B.A., Marketing Management
Baruch College of the City University of New York
Training
Young Executive Seminar, Aspen Institute
Leadership Development, Aspen Institute
Project Management, AMA
Management of Managers, AMA
Impact Leadership, TIAA-CREF
Formerly held NASD Series 6 and 26 registrations
Professional Associations
American Management Association (AMA)
Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM)
American Records Management Association (ARMA)
Life Office Management Association (LOMA)