Jobs – Standard Chartered Bank

Standard Chartered PLC is a leading international bank, listed on the London, Hong Kong and Mumbai stock exchanges. It has operated for over 150 years in some of the world’s most dynamic markets and earns more than 90 per cent of its income and profits in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. This geographic focus and commitment to developing deep relationships with clients and customers has driven the Bank’s growth in recent years.

With 1,700 offices in 70 markets, Standard Chartered offers exciting and challenging international career opportunities for around 85,000 staff. It is committed to building a sustainable business over the long term and is trusted worldwide for upholding high standards of corporate governance, social responsibility, environmental protection and employee diversity. The Bank’s heritage and values are expressed in its brand promise, Here for good.

Optimization of economic capital to create sustainable value in Standard Chartered Bank business in Uganda by crafting and agreeing risk appetite that helps to achieve a desired risk profile from which we can secure relatively better returns than our competition over the longer term.

Job Title: Country Credit Head, Consumer Banking 

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Strategic People Agenda and Talent Management:

• Attract, develop and retain high calibre staff
• Provide clear and consistent people development for team members in line with agreed strategy.
• Ensure effective succession planning for key positions in the country
• Practice active and engaged performance management – clear definition of goals and objectives and measurement of performance.
• Promote high level of staff engagement
• Contribute to the development of performance management and remuneration processes, in order to encourage the development of an appropriate risk culture and discipline

2. Portfolio Management:

• Formulate risk appetite for the country in joint sponsorship with the business.
• Partnering with the business to deliver strategic aspirations whilst remaining within agreed risk appetite and optimising use of risk capital.
• Understand sensitivities to key risk drivers and potential stress impact on the portfolio.
• Monitor external factors such as state of the economy, regulatory environment and other emerging risk trends.
• Ensure that Portfolio Standards evolve appropriately to proactively manage changes in external environment, strategy and/or risk appetite.
• Monitor, review and control risk profiles (eg. Risk grade migration, risk concentration, Credit Approval Documents triggers) to ensure that portfolio shape is in line with strategy.
• Oversee the monitoring and escalation of potential problem accounts eg. through the early alert process.
• Provide guidance in managing up or out of accounts exhibiting signs of deterioration and assist Collections, Group Special Assets Management, where appropriate, to maximise recoveries.
• Assess potential portfolio / individual impairments and implement appropriate portfolio or account strategies to minimise losses.
• Ensure timely, appropriate and accurate portfolio and individual impairment provision is made accordingly to Group policy
• Ensure timely and accurate loan impairment forecasting taking into consideration of external risk environment, portfolio trend, and Collection / GSAM strategies and actions
• Ensuring specific and general stress tests are being conducted periodically, including understanding the financial impact of credit grade migration and the potential constraints this will place on new business.
• Ensure that effective management response plans are in place to respond to extreme but plausible scenarios
• Uphold the integrity of risk/return decisions, by challenging business and control function heads to demonstrate that risk origination and control decisions are properly informed and consistent with strategy and risk appetite

3. Risk Approval:

• Conduct credit approvals appropriate to personal delegation authority.
• Recommend the delegation and withdrawal of credit authorities for subordinate sanctioners and maintaining records relating thereto.
• Oversight of credit approvals done by subordinate sanctioners and ensure that the quality meets Group standards, particularly with regards to the completeness and depth of risk analysis.
• Coaching and training of subordinate sanctioners.

4. Governance:

• Regularly review audit reports /business risk maps and identify key country trends that would impact the Credit Risk function.
• Review Credit Approval Documents, Under writing standards and program proposals for new and existing products submitted by business units/countries and support for approval, ensuring that all risk dynamics are properly addressed and controlled.
• Actively participate in key Consumer Banking and Risk committees through standing membership
• Maintain an open and co-operative relationship with regulators, and take the lead to understand and shape their expectations.

5. Process Control and Policy Management:

• Drive a consistent interpretation and application of global credit policies in the country.
• Ensure credit processes are consistently implemented in the country, taking into consideration local requirements and constraints.
• Responsibility for management of the credit operations (Credit Approval, Collections, and SME Credit Team) and ensuring proper oversight of their processes and activities.
• Ensuring that all staff have a Job Description, that it conforms with the global standard
• Maintain and develop in country risk capabilities, skills and infrastructure to meet ongoing business needs and plans
• Continuously improve the operational efficiency and effectiveness of risk management processes

6. Stakeholder Management: 

• Actively engage all stakeholders (e.g. Business partners, Finance, Legal and Compliance) to raise their awareness of credit issues and how these are managed by the Credit Risk function.
• Ensure that Credit Risk decisions are transparent and supporting rationales are explained in a professional and courteous manner, especially when turning down proposals.
• Be aware of major decisions by other stakeholders and assess the potential impact on Credit.

7. Cost Budgeting and Capacity Planning: 

• Determine cost budget requirements and oversee the tracking and reporting of variances.
• Accountable for capacity optimisation of teams.
• Owns the capacity plans for all Credit Risk functions in CB Uganda and is responsible for understanding the “best practice” target operating model for each function and ensuring compliance.
• Additionally responsible for ensuring any exceptions to the approved Role Family models are explicitly approved.

8. Credit Policy and Procedures: 

• To Regularly review application of Consumer Banking’s Credit Policy and Procedures in Uganda, making recommendations, as appropriate, to the CB Credit Risk Officer for appropriate alignment with local market conditions
• To review Product Programs and Pre-approval Programs for new and existing products submitted by business units and support for approval, ensuring that all risk dynamics are properly addressed and controlled

Key Performance Areas:

• Performance development and management of country credit risk, credit operations (Credit Initiation and Collections) and credit control (Operational Risk and Fraud Control) teams, including management of costs and capacity plans.
• Proactive management of the portfolio credit risk profile within agreed risk appetite.
• Reducing P&L volatility by running a largely “surprise free” and well managed book.
• Ensuring consistent application and enforcement of credit risk policies, processes and controls.
• Management of all stakeholders, including developing relationships with business partners, and balancing the role with stakeholder expectations.
• Providing strong support for the effective management of risk appetite and portfolio standards in partnership with business.
• Provide thought leadership from a governance perspective, including management of credit risk committees and ensuring quick transparent escalation of important issues
• Exercise Risk Control Ownership for Operational Risks within the Credit Risk function

Qualifications, Skills & Experience:

• The applicant should possess a minimum of ten (10) years of functional risk experience in the areas of Retail Credit Risk & working knowledge in Operational & Fraud Risk matters; expertise in other areas of risk management is a plus;
• Possess significant academic training and/or experience in finance, business or accounting; Bachelor’s university degree is a must and a post-graduate degree (MBA) is desired;
• Good knowledge and grasp of banking practice, financial markets, Basel II and all retail lending products at a higher level and awareness of the country regulatory framework;
• Strong analytical and dispute resolution skills.
• Ability to make independent decisions with a strong sense of empowerment, while at the same time remaining cognisant of the need to consult, and leadership skills to command the respect of a cross functional set of professionals at senior level (internal and external) working in open ended situations;
• Proven management & leadership skills; ability to motivate and lead a whole country  team into delivering on performance expectations and escalating changing & challenging situations;
• Provide strategic direction to the Credit Risk function and lead in defining & shaping business strategies for Consumer Banking;
• Excellent communication skills – written and oral

How to apply for the job  Click Here