
John J. Norman is a Senior Banking Principal for HCL, America for Financial Services North America. Prior to joining HCL, he was a Senior Management Consultant at IBM Global Business Services North America Banking Practice providing high level strategic technology guidance to financial institutions. Mr. Norman has broad domestic and international experience in the Information Technology industry, with particular emphasis on the planning, design, sales and management of strategic business applications and technology solutions in the Financial Services sector globally. He has built, rehabilitated and modernized major financial institutions including private and commercial banks, State owned banks, government ministries and Central Banks around the world.
Mr. Norman has exercised leadership roles in substantive engagements at every stage of the systems life cycle, including software development and sales, design of hardware/software solutions, Systems Integration, systems implementation and outsourcing, as well as management consulting and sales and marketing of Financial Services solutions (Core banking systems, Retail FS applications, BPO, etc.).
Mr. Norman began his career as a systems analyst in London, England for the Phoenix of London Assurance Co. Ltd. in 1974. He returned to the United States in 1976 to assume a similar position with the Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. before leaving to enter banking in 1978. He remained in California for several years with both Crocker Bank and Bank of America primarily in the role of Technical Planner for both retail and global commercial banking.
In 1987, Mr. Norman entered management consulting working with firms such as Ernst & Young, CSC and KPMG. The majority of these engagements were global and brought him to a wide range of cultures and challenges, amongst them New Zealand, Columbia, Mexico, Germany, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. He was also CIO of Banco Capital in Mexico, Resident Senior Advisor to USAID in Bosnia and before joining EDS, Vice President at JP Morgan Chase Bank in Houston. He also served as Vice President of Retail Banking Consulting at Cognizant Technology Solutions.
In 1989 to 1990, Mr. Norman was Project Director for the rehabilitation and modernization of the Rasheed Bank in Baghdad, Iraq, under the overall direction of the Minister of Finance and the Central Bank of Iraq. He led a combined team of subject matter experts from both Ernst and Young and Citibank to improve overall quality of service levels to the public, implement a state of the art electronic banking system throughout the country and upgrade the competitive image of the bank as a member of the international financial community. On August 2nd of 1990, he was taken hostage by the regime of Saddam Hussien and led a successful escape five days later, bringing along several of his colleagues to freedom.
While employed by EDS Ltd. in London (2006), Mr. Norman served as an advisor to the Prince of Wales Trust Fund, overseeing the charitable donation of 60,000 used desktop computers to schools and hospitals in several African nations and depressed areas of Northern England (Tools for Schools).
Prior to joining Accenture Software Group in 2010 where he supported business development of the Alnova banking system, Mr. Norman was an Independent Consultant to the International Finance Company, a division of the World Bank. He provided Information Technology expertise to IFC clients globally to develop and improve their SME banking operations, ensure consistent delivery of SME banking knowledge and advisory services in emerging markets, He established strong knowledge management and dissemination functions to formalize and share IFC’s experience and best practices. His client list also includes Development Alternatives International, USAID and Mercy Corp. to name but a few.
Mr. Norman is a member of the Board of Directors of the ZOR Foundation, a Washington, D.C. non- profit organization that has raised monies to foster peace, international conflict resolution and financial support for victims of human rights abuses in the Middle East. The Zor Foundation played a strategic role in obtaining financial awards from the United States government to benefit U.S. servicemen and their families afflicted with Gulf War Syndrome as a result of the on-going war with Iraq.