Ira Watkins, MBA, MA, PMP in

Ira Watkins, MBA, MA, PMP

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SVP, Director of Project Management at Sunwest Bank
📍 Irvine, California, United States

Ira Watkins is a strategic PMO and portfolio leader with over 15 years of experience in financial services and the U.S. Army. As SVP at Sunwest Bank, he specializes in turning complex strategy into execution and building enterprise delivery functions from the ground up. He holds a PMP certification and an Executive MBA.

Ira is a U.S. Army veteran who has served in Afghanistan with the XVIII Airborne Corps. A recipient of the Robert F. DeMeter Chapter Service Award for his leadership and dedication, he is a passionate advocate for hiring and supporting fellow military veterans and their spouses.

Unique fact: While President of the Cape Fear Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America, he earned a 5-star Level of Excellence Award.

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Experience
17 Years
Current Role
SVP, Director of Project Management
Job Level
Leadership
Location
Irvine, California, United States
Personality Overview

How Ira shows up

Communication Style
Decision Approach
Work Preference

Behavioral traits and communication patterns that shape how this person evaluates opportunities, builds trust, and makes decisions in professional settings.

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Priorities

Topics Ira cares about

PMO Development
He has a proven track record of building and scaling enterprise Project Management Offices from the ground up in regulated banking environments.
Veteran Support
As a U.S. Army veteran, he actively promotes hiring veterans and military spouses and has held leadership roles in military officer associations.
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Career

Work history

3-2025
SVP, Director of Project Management
Sunwest Bank
3-2024 - 2-2025
VP, Director of Project Management
Sunwest Bank
1-2022 - 2-2024
VP, Project Manager
Sunwest Bank
1-2020 - 12-2021
VP, Relationship Manager, Commercial Banking
Citi
6-2018 - 12-2019
Associate Relationship Manager, Commercial Banking
Citi
In the press

Media appearances

Sunwest Bank Leadership - Sunwest Bank. Featured in Sunwest Bank (official website)
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Education
Executive MBA
University of California, Irvine - The Paul Merage School of Business
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Webster University
Social presence
in
Behavioral profile

DISC profile (public)

DISC behavioral profile

Dominance, influence, steadiness, and calculativeness scores with guidance on how this person prefers to communicate and decide.

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