José Castañeda
The Power of MS Excel Working for You
José is an Excel expert with proven Analytical, Conceptual & Problem-Solving Abilities to help you to save time and money in any project applied to:
- Data Collection, Cleaning, and Enrichment
- Design Data Visualization Charts and Dashboards
- Revenue, Expenses, and Profit Analysis & Forecasting
- Audit, Validate and Optimize Formulas & Workbook Flow/Efficiency
- Automate Repetitive/Manual Tasks & Reports using Pivot Tables/Macros/VBA Programing.
My Excel solutions come from my hands-on 30+ years of domestic and international experience with real corporate projects that use Excel processes, functions, and techniques. Bring me your Excel challenges and tedious manual or repetitive data work, and I will provide a long-term solution.
Focus on your business, not on your work tools. Let me improve and optimize your Excel tools and processes. Get the benefits and peace of mind for having an expert solving and showing you how to perform Excel data management and analytical work processes efficiently.
I can help in any Excel need: Invoices, Profit & Loss Modeling, Budgets, Calendars, Trackers, Business or Personal projects.
Experience
I take delight in Excel projects regardless of their size or complexity.
José is an expert in transforming customer’s raw ideas and unclean data into creative analytical Excel tools/reports to measure and optimize projects, marketing programs, processes, sales, and profits. Specialized in forecasting “what-if” risk or marketing scenarios and communicating effectively nuances hidden between the numbers impacting outcomes.
Extensive know-how about eliciting and analyzing ideas, data, and processes to understand the influence of ambiguous or “unknown” risk variables in order to achieve expected outcome goals and profits. Expert promoting profitable business growth through the examination of past results, past data, new marketing initiatives, potential outcomes, and business possibilities. Contagious “finding a way, making a way” attitude to get the work done efficiently while influencing the quality & quantity of the teamwork.
Plus a wide experience performing Revenue Modeling, Risk Analysis, Metrics, Reporting, Pricing, Product Development, Budgeting, Training, Mentoring, Team Building, Relationship Building, Forecasting, Spanish, Latin America, Trending Analysis, IRR/ROI/NPV/CBA/DCF Studies, & Experience Analysis. Expert in using Microsoft Excel data and financial functions, add-ins, VBA, & Pivot Tables.
SENIOR data analyst at TALENT / chicago public schools / 2021+
Develops reports, builds metrics, creates, identifies, and automates mechanisms and processes to monitor and improve services and streamline daily and regular operations while ensuring data integrity, coaching, and training staff to use tools and systems.
CONSULTANT at CASTANEDA GROUP, LLC / 2015-PRESENT
Help businesses in data gathering, analytics, financial management, copywriting marketing in Spanish, and translations.
SURVEY STATISTICIAN AT US CENSUS BUREAU / 2020-2020
Daily monitoring to supplement and verify real time-data for census staff operations and performance goals for eight states.
ACTUARIAL Consultant AT QBE NORTH AMERICA / 2017-2018
A 6-month full-time project-based contract for developing and implementing an Excel/SQL/Access user-friendly tool to integrate a set of pricing models
INTERNATIONAL ACTUARY AT AON DIRECT GROUP / 2007-2015
Business Development, Financial and Statistical Analysis, Business Operations, Communications, Business Research, and Strategic Assessments.
INTERNATIONAL ACTUARY AT THE WARRANTY GROUP / 2005-2007
Developed technical guides and manuals to explain claim frequency and severity studies, analytics, and risk measures required for doing business as an insurance company in Brazil.
Recommendations
SEAN WYLIE – SENIOR LEAD at Q-Centrix
I had the good fortune to sit next to José for several years during his time at Aon. José’s knowledge of Excel is profound, exceeded only by his generosity in sharing that knowledge! While we never worked together as part of a team, Jose was instrumental in changing the way I work every day. I considered myself reasonably fluent in Excel until I watched Jose. His tutoring fundamentally changed how I viewed Excel as a tool and dramatically increased my skills. In particular, I have a quarterly data aggregation project that used to take me weeks of frustrating steps four times a year. After one sitting with Jose developed a new strategy for me that I put into practice immediately, that process now takes me three days. In just this one example, his willingness to help a colleague now saves me a month each year. José has all the skills of an Excel expert, works hard, and is generous with his expertise. One of those fantastic employees who is efficient with their work while at the same time making his fellow employees better at their jobs.
Pablo Martin | Analytics, CRM and International Salesforce Leader
It has been a great pleasure to work together with José for over 5 years. Jose is a maverick of financial analysis and Excel. Great at understanding user needs and using his actuarial skills to create easy-to-use Excel applications that can be leveraged by all organization levels, from C-level executives to account managers. He is extremely focused and increases team efficiency by delivering outstanding models in a timely manner.
Bill Hicks | Content Marketing Manager
José used VBA programming to help create some very useful macros that reduced considerably the number of repetitive tasks I was performing while working data in Excel spreadsheets. He has phenomenal Excel, VBA, and macro creation skills. He’s a great partner who was willing to go the extra mile to make the product work the way I needed. He is easy to work with and accommodating with his time while he is also very flexible and willing to research and learn more to get the expected results. He is a great team player and I recommend him highly.
Ying Hong Dai | Business Analyst at Aon Corporation
José is a true Excel Guru that I have known since 2007. I benefited from his exceptional Excel knowledge and skills while we worked at Aon Direct Group. He not only does his work efficiently, but he also brings up the beauty of the numbers through Excel by developing spreadsheet models and tools that are extremely flexible and user-friendly. Jose never refuses to help anyone who needs his Excel skills, even outside of his working hours. Thanks, Jose, for the tricks and logic shared all these years that help solve work challenges in creative and efficient ways!
Awards & Education
Programa Internacional en Ciencias Actuariales
Fasecolda – Bogotá, Colombia – 2018
Direct and Interactive Marketing Certificate
DePaul University – Chicago – 2004
Member
American Academy of Actuaries, USA 2002-2021
Life Insurance & Reinsurance Course
Swiss Insurance Training Center (SITC) – Zurich – 1987
Bachelors in Actuarial Science, with Minor in Statistics
Central University of Venezuela – Caracas – 1985
Rank #1 – Graduating Class
Central University of Venezuela – Caracas – 1985
Get In Touch
Ready to Chat!
Let me know your project, thoughts, and deadlines. I can work with you to suit your individual Excel needs at your budget level. An initial one-hour project evaluation is free of charge. Depending on the complexity and scope a small project may require less than five hours, most medium projects will take about six to 15 hours. I take delight in Excel projects regardless of their size or complexity. I am insightful, thoughtful, and passionate about dealing with data and analytical ideas. I accept payments in Cash, PayPal, Zelle, or Check from Corporations.
Do not hesitate to contact me now! Give me a try, you will happy you did!
Chicago, IL
312.985.6017
jose@us-actuary.com
(If I am not available, please email, text, or leave a message)