In
Darren Anderson
Profile
When Darren Anderson was in high school and thinking about a major, his father helped him decide what he would be doing. “He told me if I went into engineering, he would pay for my degree, but if I pursued a business degree, I would be on my own, “ Darren laughs. He close Industrial Engineering because it gave him a mix of both engineering and business.
College courses weren’t a struggle for Darren, but being an RA and an engineering student was tough. When Darren was a senior, he had two major opportunities: Accenture and IBM. Darren joined IBM in a financial analyst position.
On Darren’s first job, he was the second in charge of a major financial unit. The leader of this unit unexpectedly left IBM and Darren was put in charge. This gave him exposure to a lot of the executives.
One of the moments of truth for Darren was when he was asked to move from North Carolina to corporate headquarters in New York. Darren made the move. This was a grueling assignment consisting of 100 hour weeks. One of his colleagues was Virginia Rometty, the current CEO of IBM. The team he worked with won the Chairman’s Award for its efforts.
Darren returned to North Carolina. Seven years into his career he was given P/L responsibility. It was during this time that Darren obtained an MBA from Duke University. Darren commented that his IE degree fully prepared him for his MBA degree.
Darren was offered a second opportunity to return to corporate headquarters, but turned it down this time. His career path changed as a result. Darren moved to more of a sales focus. In this position, Darren was given the responsibility for one of the largest IBM accounts ($1.2 billion). He later extended this account with a $1.4 billion renewal of the contract.
When Darren looks back on his time at WVU, he especially values the unique bond that our program has. That sense of community is something that Darren tries to recreate with his own part of IBM.
Bio
Darren Anderson is IBM’s Vice President of Financial Services and Fannie Mae Relationship Executive, reporting to the General Manager of Financial Services for IBM Global Process Services. He is responsible for the IBM Mortgage Servicing business and the Fannie Mae relationship focused on the successful achievement of client goals, including improved homeowner experience, reduction of credit losses, availability of high touch servicing capacity, and increased client control over high risk assets. Mr. Anderson has spent 20 years in project executive and financial management positions in the Global Process Services and Global Technology Services businesses in IBM.
Prior to his current assignment, he was Director of Client Relations and Project Executive for the Fannie Mae relationship focused on customer experience, learning lab, and finance. Before joining the Fannie Mae account in 2009, Mr. Anderson was the Director and Project Executive for the IBM Mortgage Origination services business where he managed client relationships for multiple lenders. Mr. Anderson was previously the division CFO for IBM Global Process Services in the Americas and IBM Global Technology Services Communications Sector.
Mr. Anderson has a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from West Virginia University and a Master’s of Business Administration from Duke University.
Personal:
Married to Leslie Anderson
Three daughters
