resume

headshot of mark jourdan

Mark Jourdan

Technology Executive/CIO

Over 15 years of proven technology leadership experience in the insurance brokerage industry

With over 15 years of proven technology leadership in the insurance brokerage industry, I excel in driving digital transformation and operational efficiency. As the Director of Application Development at Arthur J. Gallagher, I lead a talented team to design and implement custom applications, leveraging various platforms such as Salesforce, D365, and Azure. My strategic approach has resulted in significant achievements, including spearheading the implementation of a unified agency management system for specialty programs, designing enterprise-level applications around Applied Systems Epic, and successfully reducing operational costs. I am skilled in building and mentoring high-performing teams, overseeing project execution, and fostering strong relationships with employees, management, stakeholders and executives. Passionate about innovation, I ensure our technology initiatives align with business goals and maximize ROI.

Key Achivements

  • Spearheaded a team to successfully implement a unified agency management system specializing in rate, quote, and bind. The initiative drove 10% business growth, reduced operational costs by 20%, and streamlined the technology footprint by consolidating 8 systems, and resulted in an increase in overall efficiency.
  • Stabilized a key student health transactional website within 6 months of joining Affinity, reducing downtime and maintaining a 99.6% uptime. Enhanced the onboarding process for remaining schools, efficiently handling heavy enrollment periods of 200 students per hour in the waiver process.
  • Identified and partnered with a vendor to upgrade a 13-year-old CRM and accounting system that was no longer supported. Successfully led the entire program from inception to completion, resulting in a 30% increase in system efficiency and bringing the system into support and compliance.
  • Designed, implemented and maintained 10 enterprise-level applications and solutions centered around Applied Systems Epic, including a payable system, client-level budgeting tool, and divisional financial data warehouse accelerating an efficient month end close.
  • Successfully reduced $1M in operational costs and increased capacity by eliminating costly onshore resources and leveraging offshore vendor partners.

Core Competencies

  • IT System Development
  • Risk Analysis & Mitigation
  • Strategic Planning & Execution
  • C-Level Engagement
  • Cloud Integration
  • Agency Management System Expertise
  • Budget Management
  • Quality Assurance
  • Team Building & Leadership
  • Digital Transformation
  • SDLC Management
  • Insurance Brokerage Expertise
  • Project Management
  • Enterprise Architecture
  • Data, Analytics & Reporting
  • Vendor Management
  • Contract Negotiation
  • Data Quality

Experience

Arthur J. Gallagher | Rolling Meadows, IL | 2009 - Present

Director, Application Development, Gallagher Affinity | 2021 - Present

  • Lead and manage a diverse team of 20 direct reports, including managers, developers, and enterprise architect.
  • Oversee the development and maintenance of custom applications for 12 business units, utilizing technologies such as .NET, PHP, and SQL.
  • Drive digital transformation by integrating and optimizing platforms like Salesforce, D365 F&O, and Azure.
  • Serve as the program manager for all new digital transformation projects, ensuring successful implementation and alignment with business objectives.
  • Strategically plan and manage projects to align technology initiatives with business goals, resulting in increased revenue and business growth.
  • Oversee a substantial budget, ensuring effective resource allocation to maximize ROI.
  • Maintain vendor relationships and manage contracts with vendors for staff, including onshore, offshore, and near-shore teams, enhancing capabilities and ensuring high-quality service delivery.
  • Foster a culture of continuous improvement and excellence through innovation and collaboration.

Software Development Manager, Gallagher Global Brokerage | 2015 - 2021

  • Managed a top delivering team, with 5 direct reports developing in .NET, SQL and business intelligence. As well as several consultants.
  • Developed, managed and oversaw the divisional data warehouse FDW, used in several SOX controlled business processes including revenue reporting, JD Edwards journal entry posting, check processing, revenue recognition. As well as used for divisional business intelligence reporting.
  • Architected, develop and manage several effective enterprise level proprietary applications using the latest .NET and SQL development tools. Including RoCK, a broker and carrier payable system. CLB, a client level budgeting system. As well as integration projects with Epic agency management system, and financial reports.
  • Lead compliance efforts making sure our applications follow best business practices, SOX compliance and all internal IT policies.
  • Successfully managed projects following the system development life cycle methodology, keeping projects on budget and delivering on time.
  • Re-architected the Financial Data Warehouse ETL system to pull large data sets from hundreds of servers as well as process data quickly and efficiently from insurance agency systems such as TAM, Epic, AMS360, Sagitta, AFW, Vision, AIM as well as other non-agency systems using the latest Microsoft technologies.
  • Supported large technical environments and initiatives while ensuring the availability of the applications and environments in a 24x7 operation.

Team Lead/Senior Software Developer, Gallagher Global Brokerage | 2012 - 2015

Software Developer, Brokerage Services Division | 2009 - 2012

Thatcher Technology Group, LLC | Naperville, IL | February 2006 - September 2009

Programmer Analyst

  • Develop enterprise level applications using ASP.NET, C#, SQL Server and Oracle in an extreme programming environment using agile development methods while following quality assurance best-practices
  • Lead developer on a unique Order Entry System. As well as a developer on development of a Business Barometer, Web site Management and Compensation Management system for the direct selling sector
  • Analyze, plan, design and document application modifications
  • Deploy web and client side applications on customer servers, web farms and hosted servers
  • Provide support to customers and assist in sales of the software to prospective clients

Office of Marketing and Communication, Dominican University | River Forest, IL | August 2004 - February 2006

Webmaster

  • Maintained the entire Dominican University Web site including over 10,000 pages
  • Established the University virtual photo album, photo library and photographers
  • Provide technical support for Web and office computer hardware and software issues
  • Daily applications used: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Visual Studio.NET, Dreamweaver and WebTrends
  • Collaborate with outside vendors to meet the University photo needs and web freelance projects
  • Provide support to the Office of Marketing and Communication and for other university projects
  • Manage the web student worker and student web projects

Department of Housing Services, DePaul University | Chicago, IL | February 2002 - July 2004

Assistant Coordinator of Marketing, Internship

  • Redesigned DePaul University departmental Web site; created more than 100 ASP pages and launched it in a one month period
  • Updated the department Web site weekly
  • Created a PHP forum for nationwide schools to use
  • Designed and implemented a ASP.NET phone log using C# and SQL Server
  • Daily applications used: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Forte and Dreamweaver
  • Managed campus movie channel including: selecting movies, scheduling programming and controlling the broadcast equipment
  • Regularly presented to large groups of incoming students
  • Collaborated with outside vendors

Delphi Automotive | Downers Grove, IL | December 1999 - June 2001

Programmer

  • Programmed a fully functional data tracking web database in one week
  • Scanned and released over 20,000 documents in a three month period
  • Worked on a UNIX and Windows 2000 machine doing many small programming projects for the company

Technical Expertise

  • .NET
  • SQL & NoSQL
  • Microsoft Office
  • Azure DevOps
  • Active Directory
  • Agile & Waterfall Methodologies
  • Salesforce
  • Azure
  • Source Control
  • IIS & Azure App Service
  • Agency Managemnt Systems (Epic, Sagitta, TAM, AMS360)
  • SEO
  • JavaScript Frameworks
  • Server Administration
  • Domain Driven Design & SOLID principals

Education

M.S. in Management Information Systems

Dominican University | River Forest, IL

B.S. in Computer Science

DePaul University | Chicago, IL


Activities and Honors

Volunteer

Coach, Wheaton Park District & St. Michael Parish School | 2022 - Present

  • Lead weekly training sessions and games for youth girls’ basketball & volleyball teams, focusing on skill development, teamwork, and sportsmanship.

Community Emergency Response Team, Milton Township Citizen Corps Council | 2015 - Present

  • Assist the community in a disaster situation allowing professional responders to focus on more complex tasks.
  • Certified through FEMA in ICS 700a and ICS 100

Floor Warden

Emergency Response Team, Arthur J Gallagher | 2018 - Present

  • Assist employees in an emergency allowing professional responders and staff to focus on more complex tasks.
  • Certified by the American Heart Association for CPR and AED assistance

President

Social Events Committee, Thatcher Technology Group, LLC | 2007 – 2009

  • Coordinate staff events
  • Oversee the committee

Member

Staff Human Resource Council, Dominican University | 2005 – 2006

  • Represented administrative staff
  • Coordinated staff events
  • Maintained organization Web site and electronic communications

President

DePaul University Residence Hall Council | 2003 - 2004

  • Supervised executive board
  • Oversaw planning of campus wide carnivals and activities
  • Responsible for budget of $45,000

Bacchus Gamma

DePaul University | 2003 - 2004

  • Served on a committee to turn a residence hall substance free
  • Organized alcohol alternative campus wide programs

President

Illinois Residence Hall Association | 2002 - 2003

  • Managed 20 schools and 7 board members state-wide including frequent travel and 24/7 availability
  • Increased membership by getting three additional schools to join IRHA in my year long term

Marketing Director

Animal Care and Control | 2002 - 2005

  • Modified City of Chicago Animal Control database to assist in tracking negligent owners
  • Attended to homeless animals while on weekly visits to shelter

Marketing Director

DePaul University Residence Hall Council | 2002 - 2003

  • Created all marketing and advertising materials to promote events and programs on campus

Judicial Board

DePaul University | 2002 - 2004

  • Served as a regular jury member to allocate sanctions for wrongdoings

Conference Chair

Illinois Residence Hall Association | 2001 - 2002

  • Coordinated statewide conference on DePaul’s campus on behalf of organization
  • Supervised committees and committee leaders
  • Responsible for budget of $30,000

Communications Coordinator

DePaul University Residence Hall Council | 2000 - 2002

  • Handled the Association’s vendor relationships including loft and refrigerator rentals for campus
  • Represented DePaul to 17 schools state wide

National Residence Hall Honorary

2000 - 2004

  • Selected for national award for community and academic achievement