Leigh Oehler Smith

About Leigh Oehler Smith

I am a senior leader with extensive, wide-ranging experience - I built my career on my passion for people and customers.Throughout my career, I’ve applied this mindset across a wide range of functions, including business and channel development; customer acquisition, experience, and journey; mortgage processing, underwriting, closing, post-closing, quality control, and servicing; operational automation and process improvement efforts; and business platforms, risk management, and vendor relationships.I excel at leading through interesting and difficult business challenges. For instance, when HSBC decided to in-source its retail mortgage origination process, I led our change and implementation efforts. This in-sourcing initiative produced an intuitive, customer-focused loan origination process, which increased customer satisfaction by 20.3%, while decreasing average production cost per loan by 54.6%.I aim to build relationships, pinpoint unmet needs, resolve stumbling blocks, create efficiency, enhance productivity, and increase bottom-line value. I thrive on building and directing collaborative, proactive, high-performing, and solution-oriented teams. Additionally, I am a passionate advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion; I co-chair HSBC’s US employee resource group for gender diversity. I was one of just 200 employees selected for HSBC’s 20••••21 Accelerating Female Leadership Program and have been recognized in the Top 200 Powerful Women by Buffalo Business First in 2021 and 2022.

Experience

1. Senior Vice President, Head of Us Mortgage

   HSBC

   Jun 2021 — Present · Buffalo, NY, US

   Selected to serve as Head of US Mortgage. Oversee business and channel development; customer acquisition, experience, and journey; mortgage processing, underwriting, closing, post-closing, and quality control; and business platforms, risk management, vendor relationships, and servicing for HSBC Bank USA’s entire US mortgage operation.• From FY2016 to FY2020, helped grow the retail mortgage business by 140%. • Appointed to serve as the National Executive Co-Chair for US Balance, HSBC’s global 50K-member employee resource group for gender. Previously served as Balance\'s New York Upstate Executive Sponsor and Co-Chair.• Selected as one of just 200 employees out of a 235K global workforce for HSBC’s 20••••21 Accelerating Female Leadership Program, which develops HSBC’s highest-performing female staff members.• Chosen for HSBC & the London Business School\'s Leading Businesses and Functions Program. • Named as a 2019 Buffalo Business First \"Woman of Influence.\"

Education

• University at Buffalo

  Master of Arts - MA, Economics

• University at Buffalo

  Bachelor of Arts - BA, Economics

Skills

• Credit
• Financial Analysis
• Financial Services
• Wealth Management
• Retail Banking
• Finance
• Relationship Management
• Commercial Banking
• Banking
• Risk Management
• Management