Job Summary

• The Vice President, Group Country Risk is an individual contributor role within Risk, responsible for the independent assessment, monitoring and governance of Country Risk across the Group.  The role plays a critical part in supporting the Group’s risk appetite framework by:

• Assessing sovereign ratings based on macroeconomic, political and sovereign risk analysis.
• Supporting the setting and monitoring of country risk limits.
• Contributing to early‑warning triggers, stress testing and the annual review process.
• Providing clear, forward‑looking risk insights to senior management, committees, and regulators.
• The VP is expected to exercise strong professional judgement, operate with a high degree of independence, and act as a credible risk challenge partner to cluster risk teams, businesses, and senior stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

Sovereign Risk Analysis

• Lead independent sovereign risk assessments across an assigned portfolio of countries, covering economic, fiscal, external, political and institutional risks.
• Form and articulate forward‑looking risk views, including downside scenarios and transmission channels to the Group.
• Contribute to the assignment and review of internal sovereign risk ratings, including rationale, sensitivity and peer benchmarking.
• Monitor geopolitical and macro‑financial developments with potential cross‑country or systemic implications.

Country Risk Limits & Risk Appetite

• Support the setting, review and ongoing governance of country risk limits in line with the Group’s Risk Appetite Statement.
• Assess country risk limit applications, renewals and material changes, providing clear recommendations and risk trade‑offs.
• Monitor utilisation, concentrations and emerging pressures, escalating concerns where warranted.
• Contribute to stress testing, scenario analysis and sensitivity work linked to country risk exposures.

Strategy

• Support the Group’s risk appetite framework through forward-looking country risk assessment, sovereign rating analysis, early-warning triggers, stress testing, and clear risk insights to senior management, committees, and regulators.

Business

• The role partners with cluster/country risk teams, business and product partners, assurance, compliance, internal audit, and regulators.

Processes

• Independent sovereign risk assessments; setting, reviewing, and governing country risk limits; monitoring utilisation and concentrations; early-warning and escalation frameworks; stress testing and scenario analysis; committee reporting; and maintaining country risk policies, standards, and methodologies.

People & Talent

• Act as a role model for strong risk culture, professional judgement, and disciplined escalation. Contribute to knowledge‑sharing, thematic workstreams and cross‑team initiatives within Group Country Risk.

Risk Management

• Independent assessment, monitoring and governance of country risk across the Group, including sovereign risk analysis, internal risk ratings, country risk limits, early-warning indicators, stress testing, escalation of material risks, and oversight within the Group’s risk appetite framework.

Governance

• Support preparation of materials for senior risk committees (e.g. Group Chief Risk Officer reports and board‑level reporting) as required.
• Act as a subject‑matter expert for Country Risk in interactions with:
• • Cluster and country risk teams,
  • Business and product partners,
  • Group Assurance, Compliance and Internal Audit,
  • Regulators and supervisory bodies, as required.
• Provide effective oversight and constructive challenge while maintaining collaborative working relationships.

Regulatory & Business Conduct

• Display exemplary conduct and live by the Group’s Values and Code of Conduct.
• Take personal responsibility for embedding the highest standards of ethics, including regulatory and business conduct, across Standard Chartered Bank. This includes understanding and ensuring compliance with, in letter and spirit, all applicable laws, regulations, guidelines and the Group Code of Conduct.
• Effectively and collaboratively identify, escalate, mitigate and resolve risk, conduct and compliance matters.

Key stakeholders

• Global Head, Country & Strategic Risk
• Group Chief Credit Officer
• Country Chief Executive Officers
• Country Chief Risk Officers
• Cluster Chief Risk Officers
• Senior Credit Officers
• Global Research
• Risk Portfolio Analytics
• Risk Reporting
• Credit & Portfolio Management

Other Responsibilities

• Embed Here for good and Group’s brand and values in Risk;
• Perform other responsibilities assigned under Group, Country, Business or Functional policies and procedures; 

Skills and Experience

• Macroeconomic Analysis and Forecasting
• Sovereign and Country Credit Risk Assessment
• Transaction and Credit Risk Analysis (Deal-Level Assessment)
• Country Risk Frameworks, Risk Appetite and Limit Management
• Political, Geopolitical and Policy Risk Analysis

Qualifications

Education

• Academic background in economics, statistics or finance (post-graduate degree preferred) and a keen interest in global geopolitical and economic developments.
• Over 10 years of work experience with a strong background in country, sovereign, macroeconomic or geopolitical risk, gained within a financial institution, multilateral, rating agency, or policy environment.
• Demonstrated ability to analyse complex macro‑financial and political developments and translate them into actionable risk insights.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to brief senior stakeholders clearly and concisely.
• Sound professional judgement, independence of thought, and confidence to challenge constructively

Certifications

• Chartered Financial analyst (CFA) or financial risk manager (FRM) will be beneficial

Languages

• English

About Standard Chartered

We're an international bank, nimble enough to act, big enough for impact. For more than 170 years, we've worked to make a positive difference for our clients, communities, and each other. We question the status quo, love a challenge and enjoy finding new opportunities to grow and do better than before. If you're looking for a career with purpose and you want to work for a bank making a difference, we want to hear from you. You can count on us to celebrate your unique talents and we can't wait to see the talents you can bring us.

Our purpose, to drive commerce and prosperity through our unique diversity, together with our brand promise, to be here for good are achieved by how we each live our valued behaviours. When you work with us, you'll see how we value difference and advocate inclusion.

Together we:

• Do the right thing and are assertive, challenge one another, and live with integrity, while putting the client at the heart of what we do
• Never settle, continuously striving to improve and innovate, keeping things simple and learning from doing well, and not so well
• Are better together, we can be ourselves, be inclusive, see more good in others, and work collectively to build for the long term

What we offer

In line with our Fair Pay Charter, we offer a competitive salary and benefits to support your mental, physical, financial and social wellbeing.

• Core bank funding for retirement savings, medical and life insurance, with flexible and voluntary benefits available in some locations.
• Time-off including annual leave, parental/maternity (20 weeks), sabbatical (12 months maximum) and volunteering leave (3 days), along with minimum global standards for annual and public holiday, which is combined to 30 days minimum.
• Flexible working options based around home and office locations, with flexible working patterns.
• Proactive wellbeing support through Unmind, a market-leading digital wellbeing platform, development courses for resilience and other human skills, global Employee Assistance Programme, sick leave, mental health first-aiders and all sorts of self-help toolkits
• A continuous learning culture to support your growth, with opportunities to reskill and upskill and access to physical, virtual and digital learning.
• Being part of an inclusive and values driven organisation, one that embraces and celebrates our unique diversity, across our teams, business functions and geographies - everyone feels respected and can realise their full potential.