Matthew Spears matthewpspears@gmail.com
847.910.4175  910 S. Seminary Ave  Park Ridge, IL 60068
http://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewpspears
Senior business integration leader with extensive consulting and leadership experience in business transformation,
organizational change management, technology systems integration, and large-scale program/project-management delivery.
An innovative business process improvement executive with experience in corporate merger and acquisition s, business
process reengineering and outsourcing both in the US and internationally. Wide-ranging industry experience includes
pharmaceuticals, financial services, utilities, telecommunications, and health care. Key areas of strength include:
Strategic Planning &
Integration:
Experienced in working with senior management to develop, evolve and execute critical
programs and projects to create mission critical capabilities. Successfulbusiness development
coordination across industries/business organizations in areas such as mergers & acquisition,
licensing, joint ventures and partnerships.
Transformational
Leadership:
Practiced in driving corporate transformation by partnering with senior executives to achieve
desired operational change and corporate culture. Proficiency in assisting teams lead change
initiatives across a multitude of organizational designs.Leadership experience in mergers and
acquisition, privatizations, startups, and internal restructuring initiatives.
Global Experience: Global business experience in growth, improvement, and operational transformations across
Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Responsible for delivering mission critical transformation
projects internationally.
Operational and Process
Excellence:
Successful at utilizing a variety of principles, technology solutions and tools to achieve
sustainable improvement of key performance metrics. Experience in utilizing Six Sigma
techniques and Accenture’s business process reengineering methodologies to yield a wide
range of business improvements.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
HORIZON PHARMA PLC, Lake Forest, IL 2014 – 2017
Horizon Pharma plc (NASDAQ: HZNP) is a biopharmaceutical company ($1B+ in sales) focused on improving patients'
lives by identifying,developing,acquiring and commercializing differentiated and accessible medicines that address unmet
medical needs. The company markets medicines through its orphan, rheumatology and primary care business units.
Executive Director, Enterprise Solutions
Reported to the Chief Operating Officer and responsible for the creation of a three-year corporate capability roadmap
(strategic enterprise architecture and required strategic capabilities). Led multi-disciplinary efforts surrounding Horizon’s
Hyperion acquisition/integration. Selected accomplishments include:
 Commanded a multimillion dollar company-wide strategic initiative to identify current capabilities, assess the
maturity of those capabilities and align them with the executive teams’ targeted growth blueprint. This initiative
created a multi-year enterprise operating model/roadmap maturity model in terms of distinctive capabilities,
structure and priority of initiatives, including the resolution of urgent financial systemrequirements and decision to
implement SAP S/4 HANA.
 Directed multiple facets of Horizon Pharma’s merger and acquisition of Hyperion Therapeutics, Inc., including
operational integration, initial integration of information technology platforms and renegotiation of contracts saving
over 25%.
 Drove platform assessment of executive compensation and employee stock purchase program capabilities and
vendor negotiation on systems to meet rapid growth in personnel and targeted multinational participation.
DISCOVER FINANCIAL S ERVICES, Riverwoods, IL 2012 – 2014
Discover Financial Services is a Direct Banking and Payments company ($8.7B in revenue) offering credit cards, banking
products, loans and payment services.
Head of Discover Banking and Lending PMO
Reported to Chief of Staff, Banking & Lending; supervised staff of 10. Led the Program Management Office for Discover’s
banking portfolio; business areas included Personal Loans, Student Loans, Home Loans, Home Equity, and Deposits/Online

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Banking. Introduced process maturity and tracking for the range of projects across divisions and provided project leadership
for critical new-product initiatives. Selected accomplishments include:
 Led portfolio prioritization for projects, including critical compliance-required projects of over 1M annual hours of
technology development and multiple outsourcing partners.
 Key projects delivered included launches of online checking and home equity as well as tax reporting for new core
banking platform replacement.
HSBC BANK, PLC, Mettawa, IL 2010 – 2011
HSBC Bank USA, National Association,an American subsidiary of UK-based HSBC. HSBC PLC is a British multinational
banking and financial services holding company headquartered in London, UK. It is the world's sixth largest bank by total
assets and the largest in Europe with total assets of US $2.374 trillion.
Vice President, Senior Business Change Consultant
Reported to Sr. Director of North America Change Management for directing change and integration projects from 10 – 60
individuals. Trusted advisor to senior management for multiple regional lines of business. Managed complex consulting
engagements providing thought leadership to support well-reasoned decisions in strategic, organizational, operational,
technology investment, and company alignment. Selected accomplishments include:
 Defined and managed the compliance remediation of a bank regulatory finding regarding vendor risk management,
avoiding a $350M federal fine.
 Conducted a strategic evaluation of US Mortgage Corporation operations, business process efficiency and
competitive positioning; identified business process improvements and potential for external partnerships,saving a
$45M annual spend.
 Using Lean/Six Sigma methodologies, identified initiatives to improve and consolidate disperse bank
correspondence systems and standards, achieving over $30M in annual savings.
INDEPENDENT CONSULTANT, Park Ridge, IL 2002 – 2010
Executive Program Manager& Consultant
Provided program management, strategic analysis, and financial planning for businesses to address critical needs and
technology development. Selected accomplishments include:
 Achieved $1M annual savings delivering Allstate’s Marketing Support Systems feasibility analysis, including
detailed user requirements, IT architecture/software modifications, and project plan. Integrated Customer
Relationship Management, SAP Warehouse System, and a Business Process Rules engine to improve mapping of
marketing collateral while reducing costs.
 Provided subject matter expertise in the establishment of Allstate Marketing Division’s ($115M budget)unified IT
Program Management Office (PMO), including the creation of detailed program management standards.
 Conducted Allstate Motor Club strategic review that delivered an action plan, including a competitive
benchmarking, IT architecture/outsourcing gap analysis, and high-level framework for user interface standards.
ACCENTURE PLC, Chicago, IL 1984 – 2002
Accenture PLC is a $32.9B global management consulting and professional services company that provides strategy,
consulting, digital, technology and operations services.
Associate Partner – North America, 1998 – 2002
Reported to lead Partner. Responsible for technology innovation for the telecommunications and high-tech industries.
Directed client development and delivered engagement services in the $450M Communications and High Technology Market
Unit. Defined specialized market offering, which developed next-generation architectures and integrated
business/operational support applications for communication providers. Developed key strategic alliances; recruited,
mentored and trained staff; and managed intellectual capital. Provided program management and technical expertise to
internal and external clients including GlaxoSmithKline, USWest, BellSouth, Cable & Wireless, Sprint, SBC, Sony, Bell
Canada, Telenisus and City of Chicago. Project delivery included systemdesign,application development, co-sourcing,and
systemintegration. Selected accomplishments include:
 Drove growth of market unit offering into a $95M revenue stream.
 Developed a wide-reaching plan to extract a 20% ROI for Bell Canada’s Strategic Operational initiatives, driving
efficiencies and increasing operational revenues through key projects in process improvement, workforce
enablement, partner channel linkages, dynamic product catalogue support, forecasting, and capacity planning.
 Developed IT strategy involving people, process, and technology for USWest to address rapidly changing
marketplace, including lean short-term and phased major initiatives.

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 Focused on extracting 25% savings, delivered initial business case and subsequent projects for BellSouth’s field
technician workforce transformation program. Introduced new technology, processes, and human performance
capabilities in addressing worker efficiency.
 Using Capability Maturity Model (CMM) and Agile methodologies, determined requirements and cost/benefit
model used to justify establishing an off-shore applications development group in Southeast Asia.
Technology Services Manager (ANDERSEN CONSULTING), 1994 – 1998
Technology Services Manager, (ANDERSEN CONSULTING EUROPE), 1988 – 1994
Consultant/Project Manager, 1984 – 1988
Reported to Managing Partner of European technology client service delivery and the UK Managing partner. Managed teams
of up to 160 people, delivering major business-transformation projects to multiple clients, including UK National Power,
North West Water, GlaxoSmithKline, NatWest,and Department of Health & Social Services. Accountable for driving client
transformation efforts through the use of technology, improved processes and organizational change.
After returning from Europe, directed client development and delivered engagement services in the $450M Communications
and High Technology Market Unit. Defined specialized market offering, which developed next-generation architectures and
integrated business/operational support applications for communication providers. Developed key strategic alliances;
recruited, mentored and trained staff; and managed intellectual capital. Provided program management and technical
expertise to internal and external clients, including USWest, BellSouth, Cable & Wireless, Sprint, SBC, Sony, Bell Canada,
Telenisus and City of Chicago. Project delivery included systemdesign,application development, co -sourcing, and system
integration. Selected accomplishments include:
 Implemented a change-management initiative for Mallinckrodt Medical, Inc. (Tyco International). This 10-month,
80-person, $35M effort transformed major IT systems including Enterprise Requirements Planning (ERP), data
warehouse design, medical lab informatics, office support,IT infrastructure, and operational support organizations.
 Developed the business case, project management office, and technical architecture for a new USWest Customer
Relationship Center designed to proactively combat competition, lower operationalcosts,and deliver new behavior-
based recruiting and multimedia training.
EDUCATION
Master of Science, Industrial Engineering (Operations Research), University of Illinois, Urbana, IL
Bachelor of Science, General Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & CERTIFICATIONS
Six Sigma Green Belt trained
ASQ Black Belt trained
Total Quality Management trained