Austin Gates Email and Phone Number

♦ Leadership & Project Management – Established the first IT audit department at a multi-billion dollar global health insurance organization. Successfully led migration to first-time audit management tool, which incorporated key regulatory frameworks, including, ISO, HIPAA, PCI, and SSAE18, etc. Met all departmental goals under tight regulatory deadlines. Demonstrated “ideal team player” work ethic by taking on additional leadership roles to champion at-risk audit projects. Recognized by CAE as having best team performance in company history.♦ Team Development & Liaison – As team supervisor, facilitated cross-divisional training to a team of fourteen auditors. Developed and integrated both financial and technical teams under consolidated ERM framework model. Served as team lead, reporting and escalations manager in reducing high profile audit inquiries. Facilitated all planning and global communication efforts. Received praise from senior management for effective audit management, program implementation and being a value add to the organization. Outperformed all predecessors in IT audit consulting role and exceeded stretch goals.♦ Assurance & Consulting Services – Provided quality consulting and assurance services to satisfy the annual audit plan. Facilitated independent audit examinations and root-cause-analysis workshops to identify organizational opportunities to reduce risk. Worked closely and collaborated with senior management across the organization to provide quality audit recommendations and strengthen enterprise governance.♦ Quality Assurance & Improvement Program – Certified in global standard, Institute of Internal Audit’s (IIA) International Professional Practices Framework (IPPF), the Standards, for periodic internal quality self-assessments to ensure compliance with mandatory guidance. Established first QAIP program and reviewed all team work products for quality conformance.

♦ Audit Management - Responsible for audit planning, execution and management of third-party vendor performance, conducted both independent audits and risk assessments and the design and success of a continuous monitoring program over opportunity areas to the Credit Union. Successful execution of 2018 audit campaign that passed state/federal examination.♦ Metrics & Reporting - Installed metrics, dashboards and migrated data to audit findings tool - Nfindings Database. Provided regular updates to the Audit Committee on internal affairs at the Credit Union, including third-party audits, independent audits, risk assessments, budgeting, planning, resources, continuous monitoring and ad-hoc investigations. Served on the Enterprise Risk Management Steering Committee in an oversight role in examining effectiveness of internal controls.♦ Team Building - Helped establish the Internal Audit function at the Credit Union. Worked closely with state/federal examiners, compliance and external audit in reviewing the safety and soundness of bank operations. Won a winning-team award for exceptional team performance. Recognition from CFO/EVP that audit quality was equivalent to 20+ years in banking experience and performance exceeded all predecessors in the Chief Audit Executive role.♦ Quality Control – Provided additional leadership responsibility at the Credit Union in partnering with internal management to conduct quality control testing, including the areas of IT, Lending and Enterprise Risk Management on an ad-hoc basis. Served as a collaborative change agent in maturing business operations and championing operational efficiencies.♦ Quality Assurance & Improvement Program – Certified in global standard, Institute of Internal Audit (IIA) International Professional Practices Framework (IPPF) the Standards for periodic internal quality self-assessments to ensure compliance with mandatory guidance.

♦ Internal Audit – Authored internal audit reports on sensitive business investigations regarding financial integrity, compliance, operating efficiency and corporate governance best practices. Provided reasonable assurance that the organization was operating in a safe and sound manner and recommended viable solutions to reduce enterprise risk across the organization. Collaborated closely with all levels of management across departments.♦ SOX & Compliance – Constructed detailed work papers and flowcharts to provide objective review and mapping of key internal processes. Was given additional responsibility by audit management to review SOX work papers performed by contractors to ensure reporting quality. Demonstrated a “strong team work ethic” by taking on additional workload from peers so the team would complete tight regulatory audit deadlines.♦ Standardization & Process Improvement – Designed the first departmental reporting templates (e.g. best practices SOX work papers, flowcharting and risk control matrices) to standardize SOX and Internal Audit reporting to boost team efficiency. Implemented a monthly reporting process to create a more collaborative work environment and optimize sharing of team knowledge.♦ Data Analytics & Fraud Detection SME– Developed complex excel formulas, pivot tables and analytical procedures to identify fraudulent payments and support trending analysis. Developed the audit team by increasing their understanding and ability to identify fraudulent activity within the electronic payment industry. Strengthened the internal control structure of the organization by looking for gaps, breakdowns or ways for internal/external users to circumvent established control structures.

♦ Incident Management - Responsible for managing all domestic and international investigative assignments within the Blackhawk Network, including, internal investigations, cyber security intrusions, identifying fraud rings, card blocking, SARs, OFAC, distribution partner requests, subpoenas, search warrants, garnishments, seizure requests, and all other types of fraud incidents. Developed fraud monitoring procedures and led domestic and international training. Responsible for global reporting into executive management.♦ Digital Fraud Analytics – Brought in by management to assist another team in procedure creation, documentation, process improvement and fraud trending. Subject matter expert acting as the point of contact for the highest-level fraud escalations. Provided international training to ensure fraud mitigation best practices were utilized in global fraud prevention strategy.

♦ Fraud Monitoring & Loss Mitigation – Responsible for reviewing transaction, third party and customer account databases for major Financial Service organizations (e.g. Wells Fargo; E*TRADE; Bank of America; HSBC) to identify and prevent fraud attacks. Over a 12-month period, consistently exceeded set fraud prevention goals by identifying and stopping $26 million in fraud losses.♦ Critical Thinking & Process Improvements – Proven problem-solving skills and ability to incorporate other viewpoints into viable solutions. Developed a new fraud verification process that was adopted by management and resulted in a team productivity increase of 15% without impacting accuracy of fraud detection.

♦ Investigative Reporting – Operated undercover, conducted mobile surveillance, testified investigative findings in court, served court orders and drafted forensic reports for trial; reviewed by attorneys, judges and other legal staff for criminal and civil prosecution