Gökhan ÜRKMEZ

 

 

 

QUALIFICATIONS SUMMARY : Experienced bank officer with background in commercial and consumer banking, financial analysis and computer science.

Twenty three years of sales experience, nineteen years of experience in retail and commercial banking, proficient understanding of business financial statements and credit analysis. Extensive training in retail banking sales and commercial lending. Thorough knowledge of small business market in Southern California.

WORK EXPERIENCE :

2007 – September 2008

Wescom Credit Union

Banking Center Manager III

Cluster Leader – Santa Barbara Region

Managed the operations of a full-service De-Novo branch in a complex environment with a combination of a challenging market area, a high loan and share deposit volume. Ensured quality member service and directed branch activities to achieve credit union goals in a branch that is open for business seven days a week. Maintained high level of member service with a rating of 4.8 out of 5.0 by continually focusing on the service  climate in the branch. Managed branch staff and directed management activities of the Assistant Branch Manager and Operations Supervisors. Established performance goals, allocated resources, and assessed performance of staff.

Was responsible for selecting, coaching, evaluating, and developing of all branch staff; focused on career pathing of direct reports; oversaw the training of staff in the areas of member service, products and services, operations, and interpersonal skills. Ensured training objectives were met, including regulatory training.

Developed annual goals for service, growth, and other key areas for assigned branches. Attracted new members and managed member and account retention. Administered the branch budget and ensured expense control in all areas.

Directed branch marketing efforts and provided remote marketing support for credit union products. Coordinated and/or conducted  member seminars. Actively participated in Chamber of Commerce meetings and activities as well as CCUL Chapter events.

2005 – 2007

Bank of America NT & SA – Retail Banking Group

Vice President – Community Manager

Cluster Leader – Assistant Regional Manager – Santa Clarita Valley

Managed a level III (Valencia) and a De Novo (Castaic) banking centers of Bank of America concurrently with a monthly aggregate transaction volume of 45,000+ and a total staff of 49 including a sales staff 9 Senior Personal Bankers. Designed and implemented a strategic plan to improve the ranking of these branches within 3 months of job assignment. Consistently met and surpassed all sales and service goals set by the Senior Management. Assisted the Consumer Market Executive and the Consumer Market Managers with the attainment of sales and service goals of the seven banking centers assigned to Santa Clarita Valley cluster. Acted as a liaison between the banking center managers, in the cluster, and the senior management. Received  Annual Award of Excellence in addition to Quarterly Award of Excellence recognitions.

2002 – 2005

Union Bank Of California – Community Banking Group

Vice President – Branch Manager II

Was responsible for total management of the Porter Ranch DeNovo and Northridge branches. Managed the staff in the attainment of the bank’s strategic objectives, and ensured adherence to bank policies and procedures. Created branch sales plans for both offices, developed staff and sales activities to achieve and surpass branch sales goals while managing both offices as profit centers. Extended credit to individuals and small businesses through consumer and commercial credit facilities. Participated in local community affairs and supported charitable endeavors.

2000 – 2002

Union Bank of California – Beverly Hills Business Banking Group

Assistant Vice President – Business Banking Officer

Initiated, negotiated, packaged, approved and serviced small business loans. Managed business depository relationships and cross-sold business products and services both to existing customers and the prospects of the bank. Identified and solicited new business relationships by offering an array of personal and business products and services. Assisted the Regional Manager to achieve branch small business banking goals. Coordinated training and development of assigned branch staff for small business referrals and servicing. Successfully arranged meetings between new prospects and the bank’s cash management and commercial finance servicing groups to analyze and meet the personal and business needs of those individuals and their businesses.

1999 – 2000

Union Bank Of California – Beverly Hills Private Banking Group

Assistant Vice President – Private Banking Officer

Managed the bank’s top 10% high value clients in Beverly Hills. Responsibilities included analyzing, structuring and underwriting credit requests over $250M up to $3MM. Primarily focused on developing and servicing comprehensive personal financial relationships within affluent target markets through a professional sales effort. Achieved revenue growth, client satisfaction and retention of the Beverly Hills Private Bank’s high net worth clients.

1997 – 1999

Bank Of America NT & SA

Business Banking Group – Los Angeles Regional Office – Pasadena

Assistant Vice President – Regional Relationship Business Officer

Provided a full line of commercial banking services to the small business market – including lines, loans, equipment leases, commercial real estate loans, SBA 7A and 504 programs. Target market included small and mid size businesses with annual revenues of $1MM to $20MM. By utilization of effective telemarketing and in person marketing activities, was able to consistently produce quality business for the bank. Continued to build centers of influence with CPAs, Real Estate Attorneys and Commercial Real Estate Brokers. Consistent comments on reviews indicated the ability to promote cooperation among peers and effectively interface with multi-levels of management.

1995 – 1997

Bank Of America NT & SA

West Valley District Office – Granada Hills

District Business Development Officer

Generated new business sales primarily from self-sourced leads. Mainly focused on business loans and lines up to $250M, developed new business relationships and generated sales in business checking accounts, business credit cards, business connect on line services, payroll services, letters of credit and other various business banking products and services.

1994 – 1995

Bank of America NT & SA

West Valley District – Granada Hills Branch

Senior Operations Specialist – Assistant Customer Service Manager

Managed tellers in the absence of the Customer Service Manager, resolved customer service related issues and complaints within the branch, provided excellent customer service under constant pressure.

1992 – 1994

Bank Of America NT & SA

West Valley District – Bouquet Canyon Branch

Branch Operations Specialist

Performed back up functions for both the operations and the financial services departments in the branch, trained tellers and assisted the Operations Manager with miscellaneous daily tasks.

1990 – 1992

Bank Of America NT & SA

West Valley District – Canoga Park Branch

Customer Service and Financial Services Representative

Worked as line, vault, merchant vault, VIP and express teller, performed back up duties for the financial services department, gained extensive knowledge of bank services and products.

1986 – 1990

Builders Discount, Inc.

Assistant Store Manager

Chatsworth Store – 91311

Worked with the Store Manager to develop strategies and objectives to improve the 240,000 square-foot store’s sales and profitability. Provided leadership to associates to ensure flawless execution of the strategies and objectives. Analyzed trends, solved problems, and developed strategic business plans to meet and surpass all assigned performance goals. Managed a total staff of 165 employees over two daily shifts at a store that was open for business 16 hours a day, and seven days a week.  Acted as the store’s financial expert / consultant to senior management team.

Major tasks and responsibilities included delivery of excellent customer service, supervision of all store employees including 11 department managers, planning and development of store performance goals as well as training of store associates to achieve those standards.

Knowledge, skills and abilities included acting as a role model for store associates by always adhering to company standards of conduct and by acting with integrity at all times. Also included in this category are the product knowledge in all areas and departments, excellence in customer service, 100% safety record, and a successful attainment and delivery of all assigned performance goals to senior management. Those performance strategies included creation of sense of urgency among  sales and service associates, successful delegation of tasks and implementation, the motivation of associates and the store teams to achieve the aforementioned performance expectations.

 

EDUCATION :

September 2010

Master of Science in Software Engineering

National University, Los Angeles – CA.

May 2007

Masters in Business Administration

Dual Specialization in Financial Management and Accounting

National University, Los Angeles – CA.

March 2004

Bachelor of Business Administration

Major in Banking and Marketing with concentration in Finance

National University, Los Angeles – CA.

June 1986

Maltepe Military High School,  Izmir –  Turkey

 

LANGUAGES : Bilingual in English and Turkish

TRAINING : Have received extensive training in analysis of business financial statements by  RMA “ The Association of lending & credit risk professionals”, sales training by INSEON “customized high performance

sales training in retail banking”, Cohen Brown Management Group “extraordinary new business development techniques” and Altman Weill, Inc. “successful selling to lawyers and law firms”, and graduated with Honors from the Business School of Banking.

COMPUTER SKILLS : Trained in computer programming in the Binary code, Assembly language, Pascal, Cobol, Basic, Ada, Fortran, C, C++, J++, Visual Basic and Java, operating systems namely: Dos series up to version 7.0, Windows  series up to version Windows Vista, Unix series, hardware types:  Macintosh, IBM and IBM compatibles and Vax systems, and the specialty software programs namely: MS office applications including MS Word 7.0 and MS Excel 7.0,  FAST credit analysis and underwriting program, FAMAS – Encore and Tax Analysis – Plus credit analysis and underwriting applications, Lotus notes, Rhumba mainframe and 4700 system applications, ACT 4.0 and Lotus v.R5 database management programs, and Symitar in addition to various other business and banking software  applications.

ACHIEVEMENTS

• Increased the branch loan portfolio by 285% in one fiscal year
• Increased the branch deposit portfolio by 68% in one fiscal year
• Opened a De-Novo office and surpassed the pro-forma sales and

profit goals by a blended factor of 320% in one fiscal year

• Community managed two retail branches – with a combined staff of 49, including 17 bank officers, and 9 Senior Personal Bankers – and managed simultaneously 7 Banking Centers of the Tri-Valley Region as an Assistant Regional Manager.
• Managed a $140 MM and $90MM in bank portfolios in Beverly Hills and the Porter Ranch locations respectively.
• Received numerous sales production awards, Diamond Club Awards, and Annual Award of Excellence as a Branch Manager.
• Improved the ranking of the second largest branch in the Region from 38^th to 3^rd place within three months of job assignment.