Rebecca Sheppard

Skills and Achievements:

10 years of experience reading and analysing financial documents, tax returns, and business documents

8 years experience in corporate pensions, retirements and employee benefits

6 years experience in retail branch banking

Deep knowledge of both DC and DB pension plans at employee and corporate level

Deep knowledge of both retail and business banking operations

5 years of lending experience

Circle of Excellence Banker (top 1%) recognised for exceptional client service and consistently exceeding targets. (U.S Bank)

Experienced mentor and leadership model of best practices with 4 years of direct team management experience and 12 years of leadership and coaching

Grew book of business from 250-650 small business clients in under 2 years (U.S Bank)

Consistently called upon to “turn around” poorly performing teams and individuals through use of modern interdisciplinary leadership techniques

Represented Willis Towers Watson at several speaking engagements, including the “Dive in Festival” as a panel speaker, discussing leading people with Neurodiversity in addition to many public speaking events on all matters relating to business banking and finance (U.S Bank)

Implemented company-wide cultural changes that have reduced attrition on teams by more than 40% over a one-year period

Master of the “natural referral” and growing deep relationships with stakeholders at all levels

Developed several Team Leader Training plans including “How to lead millennials” to assist TL’s with increasing employee engagement on their own teams

Highly coachable with a very strong interest in leadership coaching and personal development

Excellent proficiency in Excel including V-Lookups and Pivot tables, exceptional organisational and time management skills

Professional Work Experience:

Effectuating move back to the U.S.A

January 2023 (Available Feb 2023)

TAS Team Manager/Leader Corporate Pensions and Retirements Administration

Willis Towers Watson, Redhill, Surrey

June 2019 to September 2022

All leadership activities relating to the management of up to 20 direct reports including interviewing, hiring, scheduling, employee development and disciplinary hearings

Managing escalated complaints and high-level approvals

Meeting and exceeding targets such as SLA’s, workflow management and, cost centre spending

Managing the transition of work from our onshore teams to our offshore teams in Manila and Mumbai

Creation and presentation of business plans that identify and seek to improve processes and procedures

Overall relationship management of portfolio of several clients, administering all aspects of their corporate pensions and retirements programs

Intricate problem solving

Authorizing large payments to members and reconciling client accounts

Supporting team with all DB and DC calculations

Providing exceptional customer service to all internal and external clients

Ensuring all operational and regulatory requirements are met including team member compliance and annual training such as AML, KYC and TCF

Creating and managing good relationships with internal stakeholders

Departmental recruitment planning and strategy

Attending client meetings, sales pitches, risk management meetings and road shows

Analysing complex financial, legal and scheme documentation

Managing all large-scale team projects and deliverables

Preparing complex scheme member data for audits and quarterly governance reports

Designing engagement surveys, capturing and analysing employee satisfaction metrics and scoring

Mentoring up-and-coming leadership pool and coaching junior members of staff

Highly involved with the company’s workability program and commitment to inclusive hiring

Consistently working under operating budget, increasing efficiency ratios and 100% staff retention

Representing the company at speaking engagements in relation to leadership and leading those with hidden disabilities including neural diversity

Managing KPI activity, resourcing, contingency and capacity planning

Partnering with the training department to develop and roll out a customer-centricity/customer journey training to all administrative teams on and offshore

Redesigning the department on-boarding process

Partnering with the Operational Excellence team to re-design our daily workflow spreadsheets and capacity planning tools

Improving inter-departmental relationships through the use of buzz sessions, lunch and learns and work shares

Team Manager/Leader, Corporate Pensions and Retirements Administration

Aviva, Dorking, Surrey

October 2017 to June 2018

All normal duties related to the management of a large team of Pensions Administrators including interviewing, hiring, HR and disciplinary procedures

Managed team workflow and KPI’s and assured the successful delivery of agreed client service levels

Managed team holidays, resourcing, sickness and absence reporting

Owned on team client relationships and all activities related to their retention and satisfaction metrics

Oversaw all on-team projects and large-scale client deliverables such as transfer ins and outs

Ensured operational and regulatory requirements were met including annual compliance training

Managed operating and on-team expense budgets

Managed all escalated complaints and case reviews

Worked with and assisted the senior operations managers with client projects, pitches and transformational /process improvement/costing activities

Attended internal and external Client meetings and escalation phone calls as required on a regular basis

Filed and managed REEB risk processing

Prepared and issued quarterly client fee invoices and annual fee reviews

Took my teams through two different software transitions

Provided training, guidance and “up-skilling” of department members as needed

Worked across the business with Operations, Administrators, Portfolio Managers and Client Relationship managers in order to prioritise client work correctly and appropriately

Worked closely with the Technical and Audit teams to determine areas of concern and provide on-team solutions

Lead Portfolio Project Manager, Pensions and Retirements Administration

Friends Life/Aviva, Dorking, Surrey

February 2014 to October 2017

Owned the customer service relationship of a number of top 40 corporate schemes, including Aviva’s largest corporate client ($5.3 Billion in turnover)

End to End project management for a wide range of bespoke processes including statements, fund changes, bulk transfers in, mailings etc.

Ensured the administration of the schemes was running smoothly including developing proactive suggestions for streamlining or improving processes.

Supported the Team Leader management team in the delivery of their targets and the team vision.

Organised, attended and presented at face-to-face client meetings to discuss a wide range of topics including governance reports and administrative ASL’s and processes

Authorized large internal and external payments

Assisted with all DC Pensions calculations including those with DB underpins, RST Etc.

Provided exceptional customer service to all members, clients and internal stakeholders

Lead and supported all internal and external scheme financial audits activities

Performed intricate problem-solving daily alongside manipulating complex member and financial data

Interviewed potential new department employees across a broad range of roles

Providing training, coaching and support to new Portfolio Managers and Junior members of staff

Wrote new admin and process guides for the bespoke processes on schemes

Small Business Banker, U.S Bank National Association

Minneapolis St Paul, Minnesota, USA

November 2008 to November 2012 (Left to prepare for international move to the U.K)

Grew and managed a large portfolio of business clients and serviced all of their business and commercial banking needs. Grew book from 250-650 clients within 2 years

Developed, coached and identified training opportunities for branch staff on sales, customer service, meeting targets

Motivated team members to achieve and exceed all set goals by encouraging and fostering a hardworking and fun and positive working environment

Ensured regulatory, legal and operational procedures were strictly adhered to

Set up deposit accounts, treasury management products, credit cards, loans and lines of credit for clients. Following the process from start to finish

Communicated corporate business plans, strategies and objectives to the team in an effective manner

Reviewed customer service targets, and branch results and implemented new corporate strategies and action plans

Prospected and owned local territory looking for sales and development opportunities. Attended BNI meetings, road shows and developed relationships with businesses in the local area

Conducted sales and retention phone calls to new and existing businesses

Coached junior members of the team and up-and-coming business and personal bankers

Assisted branch manager with interviewing, contingency planning, hiring and resourcing decisions

Reviewed complex business and personal financial documentation daily, balance sheets, cash flow p&L statements, tax returns, loan documentation etc.

Worked relentlessly to solve all customer issues, problems and concerns within set time frames

Always put the customer first and worked with great integrity to provide financial banking solutions

Solved complex financial issues for clients ranging in net worth up to 70 million dollars

Instrumental in the daily running of the branch including opening, closing, audits and operations

Created new relationships with bank partners resulting in branch “Pinnacle” award 4 years running

Worked with business financials, tax returns and loan documents and calculated cash flow on a daily basis

Won several awards and accolades throughout my career for providing passionate and exceptional customer service

Personal Banker, U.S Bank National Association, Minneapolis St Paul, Minnesota, USA

August 2007 to November 2008

Personal Banker, Associated Bank, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, USA

August 2006 to August 2007

BA Honours in American Studies- University of Winchester UK and University of Wisconsin Eau-Claire