Joe Strathman
Transamerica Life & Protection
- Location
- Cedar Rapids, Iowa Area
- Industry
- Financial Services
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Joe Strathman's Overview
- Current
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- Strategic Business Group at Transamerica Life & Protection
- Past
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- Director, New Business Operations at AEGON USA / Transamerica Life & Protection
- Graduate, Leadership Development Program at AEGON USA
- Information Technology Manager / Top Technical Specialist at AEGON USA
- Web Development Manager at Internet Navigator, Inc.
- Web Developer at Inlet, a McLeodUSA Company
- Graphic Artist and Website Designer at Linn Photo, Ltd.
- Photojournalist at The Daily Iowan
- Customer Service Associate at Linn Photo, Ltd.
- Education
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- University of Iowa - Henry B. Tippie School of Management
- University of Iowa - Henry B. Tippie College of Business
- Connections
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350 connections
- Websites
Joe Strathman's Summary
Dynamic multi-discipline leader with 18-year portfolio of success driving IT and business operations, programs, strategies, and innovations across multiple industries including insurance and financial services. Instrumental in boosting operational efficiency, slashing overhead costs, and reducing employee attrition. Skilled in leading geographically diverse cross-functional teams in delivering vital projects on time and within budget. Solid leader, tapped to participate in elite rotational leadership program with AEGON. Dedicated to building high-performance teams. Adept at communicating with all levels of an organization.
Joe Strathman's Experience
Strategic Business Group
Transamerica Life & Protection
Public Company; Insurance industry
March 2011 – Present (1 year 3 months) Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Selected to join newly formed group responsible for developing and leading strategic operations initiatives designed to consolidate business processes and systems. Interact directly with operations and technology leaders to develop business strategies, implement solutions, identify continuous improvement opportunities, and reporting metrics.
Director, New Business Operations
AEGON USA / Transamerica Life & Protection
Public Company; Insurance industry
February 2010 – July 2011 (1 year 6 months) Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Led in-bound life insurance processing operations for 4 statutory companies and 19 sales distribution groups. Supervised and mentored 6 direct reports and 88-member staff. Prepared and administered $5M operating budget including monthly expense reports. Represented NBO department to potential new distribution channels. Presented at conferences for internal VPs and external distribution group owners on processing philosophy, technologies, and data metrics. Oversaw processing of 140K life insurance applications annually from initial application to policy delivery. Interacted extensively with external customers and sales agents.
■ Reduced annual attrition rate for department from 30% to 15% by initiating creation of the Bench Team, a systematic training program for new hires that thoroughly prepares them for processing team placement.
■ Developed monthly KPI report for executive management, operations leadership, and marketing managers that is utilized for goal-setting, sales projections, sales cycles, resource planning, performance evaluations, and employee compensation.
■ Increased one processing group’s work volume 94% and reduced cycle time 17% in 3 months by re-allocating staff and eliminating unnecessary processing steps.
■ Reduced customer handoffs and decreased cycle time 16% by realigning processing teams so that each customer would only have to interface with one operations team throughout the process.
Graduate, Leadership Development Program
AEGON USA
June 2008 – June 2010 (2 years 1 month) Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Tapped to participate in elite 2-year rotational leadership program with emphasis on exploring new, unfamiliar strategic projects, functions, or areas of company. Chose 6-month rotation with AEGON USA Investment Management: Client Service, Third-Party Asset Management, and 12-month rotation with AEGON Corporate Division: Enterprise Document Management and eDelivery.
■ Partnered with leaders from across the company to define strategy for new Third-Party Asset Management Client Service team including services, service levels, processes, and systems. Evaluated and selected client reporting and client management systems.
■ Led enterprise-wide initiative across 7 divisions to reduce expenses by leveraging technological scale. Managed multi-disciplined program team including technical architects, financial analysts, and business analysts. Defined technical solution strategy, vendor management, and financial analysis.
Information Technology Manager / Top Technical Specialist
AEGON USA
Public Company; Insurance industry
June 2001 – June 2008 (7 years 1 month) Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Managed web application development team charged with AEGON life insurance division’s J2EE development, IVR configuration/development, and data mapping functions. Supervised cross-functional staff comprising 18 developers, business analysts, data mappers, and testers located across US. Administered $2M operating budget and $5M software/hardware budget. Evaluated vendor software solutions and prepared buy versus build analysis for technology implementations.
■ Reduced insurance application processing time from 11 to 4 minutes by leading development of company’s 1st web-based application, which replaced outdated mainframe user interfaces and 1st J2EE set of web services that bridged legacy mainframe systems with web applications.
■ Piloted team that developed 1st set of web services that communicated client secure prescription information between 2 companies’ secure networks.
■ Reduced developer attrition rate from 15% to 5% by introducing rotational development program to expose developers to new technologies, systems, and customers.
■ Championed company-wide standardization of XML data mapping to enable significant re-use of web services across multiple divisions.
■ Developed resource planning tool to forecast required resources for projects and support functions.
■ Served vital technical lead role in move of application development, support and systems for environment in Kansas City, MO to Cedar Rapids, IA as part of larger initiative to shut down Kansas City site.
Web Development Manager
Internet Navigator, Inc.
April 1999 – March 2001 (2 years) North Liberty, Iowa
■ Originated the firm’s web development group and service offerings.
■ Conceptualized and implemented internet solutions for sports, retail, and real estate firms.
■ Designed and implemented initial web presence for the Cedar Rapids Roughriders.
■ Created methods to deliver audio broadcasts from multiple venues to internet listeners.
Graphic Artist and Website Designer
Linn Photo, Ltd.
May 1996 – December 1997 (1 year 8 months) Cedar Rapids, Iowa
■ Pioneered the firm’s first internet storefront.
■ Developed websites for residential and commerical real estate brokers.
■ Designed and created tradeshow posters and marketing materials.
■ Digitally restored old and damaged photographs.
Photojournalist
The Daily Iowan
August 1995 – May 1996 (10 months) Iowa City, Iowa
■ Photographed Slovakia President Michal Kovač, Czech Republic President Václav Havel, and U.S. President Bill Clinton at the opening of the National Czech and Slovak Museum.
■ Photographed 1996 Iowa Republican caucus including significant coverage of Bob Dole's campaign.
■ Photographed University of Iowa football, men's basketball, women's basketball, and women's field hockey games.
■ Photographed general news and entertainment events.
Joe Strathman's Skills & Expertise
- Business Strategy
- Business Operations
- IT Infrastructure/Design
- IT Strategy
- Process/Workflow Design
- Process/Performance Improvements
- Internal/External Consulting
- Cost Reductions
- Project/Program Management
- Budget Administration
- Team Leadership/Motivation
- Web/Client Application Development/Testing
- Resource Allocation
- Quality Management
- Metrics Reporting
- Public Speaking
- Development Of Employees
- Client Relations
- Vendor Management
Joe Strathman's Volunteer Experience & Causes
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Volunteer Experience
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President, Board of Directors
Cedar Valley Habitat for Humanity
- Poverty Alleviation
■ Executive Committee, October 2011 – present
■ President, Board of Directors, June 2011 – present
■ Chair, Volunteer Committee, May 2009 – present
■ Board of Directors, May 2009 – present -
Assistant Coach
North Liberty Youth Baseball & Softball
- Children
April 2012 – June 2012 (3 months) -
Computer Information Systems Advisory Committee
Kirkwood Community College
- Education
February 2009 – present (3 years 4 months)
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Joe Strathman's Education
University of Iowa - Henry B. Tippie School of Management
MBA, with distinction
2007
University of Iowa - Henry B. Tippie College of Business
BBA, Business Administration
1998
Joe Strathman's Additional Information
- Websites:
- Groups and Associations:
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- Honors and Awards:
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AEGON Leadership Academy, 2007
AEGON Leadership Development Program, 2008-2010
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