Gail Gillis - Resume

Contact Information

Gail Gillis4-44 Second Ave, Russell, Ontario K4R 1E2Home: 613-725-4512 – gillisgail@outlook.comWork: 613-748-2605 – ggillis@cmhc-schl.gc.caSecret ClearancePosition Title: Technology Risk and Disaster Recovery Planning

Introduction

I have been employed with the Crown Corporation Canada Mortgage and Housing (CMHC) in the Information Technology (IT) department since 1999. Prior to 1999 I was employed with Metlife / Clarica Insurance Company from post secondary completion until I joined CMHC.

I am currently working as a Technology Risk Management and Disaster Recovery Planning leader within the Operational Excellence and Information Technology Governance team. I am responsible to assess directly and holistically manage all aspects of risk brought to bear on the enterprise by Information Technology security and legislative / regulatory compliance issues. This is a new role within the Information Technology department of which I received a direct appointment to as a result of my ample years of experience in many technology disciplines.

Previous to this role I was the Specialist for Methodology and Project Management within the Information Technology Strategy team. I was responsible for annual planning, long term planning (roadmaps), strategically alignment of projects, corporate reporting for both departmental performance as well as risk management. Establishing a Portfolio and Application Management framework was also within my responsibility. During my time in this role I was acting manager for the team and played a key role in establishing application, portfolio and project management disciplines within the department. For a time period the IT Security department was also part of this team. I am a proven Project Manager having managed multiple projects delivering business and technology solutions with teams as large as 30 full-time members, budgets in the millions, and involving multiple external vendors.

The following identifies a summary of my qualifications followed by detailed experience within various technology disciplines.

Qualifications

The following is a summary of my qualifications which I have obtained in my 27 years of experience in a number of technology disciplines:

Experience in Annual planning, Strategic planning, Roadmap development, Project and Portfolio Management, Application Portfolio Management, Methodologies, IT Security, Business client relationship, Budgeting, Risk Management, Procurement, Vendor Management, Executive reporting and team management/supervisory.

Project Management Certification from Ottawa University. Executive communication (briefing notes, business cases, budget submissions, presentations,

policy development, project templates etc.). Client representative for research companies Gartner and Forrester. IT Security management including introduction of International Organization for Standardization

(ISO) 27000 as a Corporate security standard. IT Risk Management Framework development and IT Compliance and Audit liaison for

department. IT Management including supervisory, guidance, and mentoring of staff.

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Gail Gillis - Resume

The following outline my career experience in more detail based on the qualification identified

Risk Management (Current Position)

Currently developing an IT Risk Management Framework in alignment with the Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Framework.

Liaison for IT with the Corporate Risk Office and ERM committee. Identified Risk Appetite and Tolerance statements for department as well as the subsequent

measurement reporting and am currently seeking approval from ERM. Identified Key Risk Indicators (KRI) for department and am currently seeking approval from

ERM. Continuously review proposed projects to identify potential risk and impacts. Establish flexible, yet holistic, compliance management. Develop Disaster Recovery Plans (DRP) for the department incorporating the Business

Continuity Plan and the business requirements for restoration of all services identified by the Corporation.

A number of years ago I was the Project Manager for the planning and implementation of the client/server redundancy site which addressed the needs of the CMHC mission critical functions. My role involved coordinating, across the full IT department, the systems, resources, technical implementation, and testing of the redundancy site in Mississauga, Ontario.

Project Management

Managed multiple projects effectively during changing requirements, new priorities and strict deadlines.

Lead project teams, both large and small covering a variety of technology and business solutions. Provided supervision, guidance, mentoring and advice to the project team. Proven ability to work independently, in a stressful environment and deliver results. Proven ability to balance across several significant high priorities strategic files as necessary. Identified project management training requirements for IT staff, obtained external training

services along with developing the training outline with the external training company. Key team member in establishment of the newly formed Project Management Office (PMO). Participating Steering Committee member for various projects and organizational improvements. Developed a system development life cycle (SDLC) methodology to improve project delivery. Project Concept phase – worked closely with the business and IT sectors to identify scope, plans,

deliverables, benefits, milestones, timelines, resource requirements, and budget. Project Execution phase - monitored and controlled the project budget, project scope, project

resourcing (internal and external), project dependencies, risk and issue management as well as vendor relationship management.

Project Closure phase – ensure the proper project close out activities are complete (e.g. documentation, lessons learned, benefits realization, contract closures, system performance monitoring etc.).

Application and Portfolio Management

Developed a Project Portfolio Management strategy followed by mentoring, advising, and working continuously with IT management and business to ensure maturity of the discipline.

Developed an Application Portfolio Risking methodology which included a maturity assessment involved the development and execution of a business application risking model. Instrumental in the completion of the analysis of the information collected and with research of future technology directions a 3 to 5 year application road map was developed identifying the long term technology solutions that would address requirements from a Corporate view.

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Gail Gillis - Resume

Developed a System Development Software Development methodology which incorporated any necessary Procurement activities. In my role as Methodologist at CMHC I was responsible for publishing, deploying, training and mentoring of the IT systems development and infrastructure methodologies. This involved establishing standards/policies and templates that compliment the methodologies.

Strategic Planning

Developed the Information Technology budget submission for the department, along with subsequent briefing notes and business cases to justify investment.

Developed a 5 year Core Infrastructure Roadmap engaging all technology areas, ensuring alignment with industry technology trends as well as confirming the proposed technology roadmap and resulting projects would meet business priorities and objectives for the future direction.

Developed a 5 year Business Application Roadmap and engaged all business sectors in development of their respective roadmaps.

Developed and improved a quarterly status reporting process for the Roadmap projects. Implemented a Project Portfolio Management (PPM) solution (MS Project 2013) which is the

introduction of a PPM framework including gate delivery models, templates, and guidelines aligned with PMBOK best practices.

Developed the annual IT Business Plan in conjunction with business sectors and IT Management including identification of funding and resource requirements.

Produced the quarterly status and progress report showing the results of the annual business plan Managed multiple complex business cases for additional staffing and funding. Project Manager and lead for the planning and execution of an IT Strategic Initiatives review with

an external consulting organization from concept, to SOW, to delivery of the final report. This activity required significant organization skills, planning, organizational knowledge and communication.

Contributed to establishing the Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for IT department and subsequent measurement reporting.

Compliance and Audit Liaison

Main contact with Officer of the Superintendent for Financial Institutions (OSFI) for the IT Review that was a very high priority Corporate oversight initiative.

Coordinated all audits within IT providing the necessary responses to the Audit Management letter and subsequent briefing notes. Established a process to ensure all Audit correspondence was consistently captured, documented and delivered in a timely fashion.

Responsible for reporting to the internal audit department on the progress of the action items resulting from the multiple audits as well as oversee observations tracking, evidence, and internal coordination to address the observation and resulting monitoring.

Created audit committee reports, key initiatives and subsequent reporting, develop Statement Of Work (SOW) for external engagements and briefing notes on multiple topics as well as contribute and review the IT Quarterly Progress Status report.

Coordinated annual external Office of the Auditor General (OAG) financial systems audit. Lead of the Enterprise Architecture (EA) matrix team which resulted in a number of EA standards

being developed, approved and implemented.

Vendor, Procurement and Contract Management

Developed and managed complete Request for Proposals (RFPs) process from SOW development, through vendor submission reviews and selection of leading proponent.

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Gail Gillis - Resume

Executed multiple contract negotiations and demonstrated effective vendor relationships. Addressed vendor service delivery issues through to prompt and successful resolution. Significant involvement in a number of procurement projects such as the Anti-virus / Anti-spam

replacement project, IT assets (printers, copiers etc.) replacement which involved development of various requests such as, RFIs (request for information), RFQs (request for quotes), and RFPs (request for proposal). A number of these projects I led from project conception through to software selection, contract negotiation and system implementation.

Vendor liaison for a number of projects where I was involved in negotiations to ensure that product delivery, as promised in the RFP, met with the CMHC requirements as contractually agreed upon as well as establishing subsequent Service Level Agreements (SLAs).

Information Technology Security

Developed the IT Security Policy Suite Framework submission / business case to obtain executive approval and support for CMHC to adopt ISO27000 standard as a security framework.

Worked with external consultants on the development of the IT Security Policy suite. This activity required significant vendor management, best practices research, ISO awareness and self education, executive writing skills and continuous engagement with multiple departments in the organization (e.g. Legal, Finance, Regions, Human Resources, IT Security, Chief Information Officer, and Vice President of IT).

Managed the project to replace the Anti Virus software solution for company. Managed the project to acquire and implement an ITIL certified IT Service software solution. Worked with technologies and security staff to ensure a transparent rollout to staff of a Single-

Sign-On solution via of automation ensuring effective communication on the impact to employees.

Managed the IT Security team for one year and during the replacement of the Network Security technology perimeter (e.g. firewalls, intrusion protection, web filtering etc.).

Coordinated the change to move the IT Security team to a new area and manager within the sector while ensuring constant communication to the team members and no interruption to the security services provided.

Management Experience

Supervised teams of multiple sizes and responsibilities (e.g. IT Strategy, IT Security, Production support, systems development, external consulting etc.).

Managed a number of staffing activities including job description development, interviewing, and hiring.

Executed development plans and resulting performance evaluations for staff and team members. Daily supervisory experience and acting assignments. Developed succession and pandemic plans for IT staff. Developed strategically aligned measurable performance objectives for the IT staff based on

established Corporate objectives. Participated in 360 reviews as both a recipient of the feedback as well as a contributor to others.

Skills

Ample executive writing experience resulting in obtaining necessary approvals on a timely basis. Ample presentation experience in front of large groups, executive and at conferences. Successful in continuous engagement with multiple departments within the organization as well

as vendors, stakeholders and executives. Effective facilitation, influential and leadership skills on many occasions as decisions were

required from a broad range of IT staff, business staff and upper management.

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Gail Gillis - Resume

Excellent planning and coordination skills ensuring information is accurate and delivered on a timely basis as well as the ability to bring projects through to successful delivery.

Continuously perform analysis and problem resolution supported by vast technology knowledge. Technology security specialist and computer programmer at the beginning of my career.

Education and Training

IT Risk Management - ESI International IT Project Management - Ottawa University Certificate ITIL v3 Certificate Agile Project Methodology Multiple Advanced Project Management courses Multiple Advanced Project Portfolio Management courses Self learning from PM and PPM specific books and research Organizational Capacity, Project Complexity and Risk Management courses Cobit, ISO, Six Sigma courses Motivational speaker course Contract Negotiation course St. Lawrence College - Data Processing /Computer Programming Distinction

Seminars and Memberships

Portfolio Management Gartner Seminars Project Management, IT Security, Technology direction and Technology / Business Alignment

Forrester Forum Multiple Canadian Government Technology Event (GTEC) conferences Multiple Association of Public Sector Information Professionals (DPI) conferences Office of the Auditor General Audit of Aging Technology Session Expo and Conference for Enterprise Content Management (ECM) Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM) Member Project Management Institute (PMI) Local Chapter Member

Software

Microsoft Project Microsoft Project Server 2013 Microsoft Office Suite Change Management System (Pursuit – Marval Suite) IT Asset Management System (Trakit – Marval Suite) Enterprise Content Management (ECM) Document Management suite Open Text Document Management Suite

Volunteer

Board of Director Member for large recreation centre in a multi- cultural community Board of Director and Technology advisor for Ontario Summer Games, chaired by City of Ottawa

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Gail Gillis - Resume

References

Tina Wilkinson – Risk Management Team lead Largest Project I managed at CMHC Manager, Loans Administration & Direct Lending 613-748-2282twikins@cmhc-schl.g.ca Dorene Hartling –CIO that I worked with during the Strategic Planning and Roadmap developmentsChief Technology Officer613-833-1430sdhart2546@rogers.com

Jean-Paul Lalonde - Co-worker on IT Strategy teamSenior Analyst, IT Strategy613-748-2127jplalond@cmhc-schl.gc.ca

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