Job Summary

As the Head of Business Risk for Wealth & Retail Banking (WRB) in Hong Kong, you will play a pivotal role in supporting the sustainable delivery of WRB HK’s strategic priorities by providing strong, independent risk leadership, constructive challenge, and robust governance. Partnering closely with the WRB HK Chief Operating Officer, you will lead the oversight and management of non-financial risks across the WRB business, ensuring a high-quality control environment is maintained in all activities.

Your responsibilities will include establishing and maintaining effective governance frameworks and infrastructure to enforce compliance with internal policies and external regulations across the full range of non-financial risks — encompassing Customer Due Diligence, Anti-Money Laundering, sanctions, sales suitability, fraud prevention, cross-border risk, and information and asset protection. You will proactively engage with key stakeholders, including the Group COO, Business Risk, to ensure timely communication and escalation of emerging risks and alignment with group-wide priorities.

Governance & Risk Management
• Provide leadership to uphold a strong control environment that supports WRB’s business operations within defined risk tolerances and regulatory expectations.
• Monitor effectiveness of risk management frameworks and drive continuous improvements to processes and controls.
• Embed Enterprise Risk Management principles and frameworks across the business, fostering a risk-aware culture.
• Collaborate closely with audit teams to identify and resolve operational losses or control weaknesses.

This role offers a unique opportunity to lead risk governance in a dynamic market environment, contributing directly to the bank’s sustainable growth and reputation for integrity.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and manage regulatory audit and inspection processes for the WRB business in Hong Kong, effectively representing the bank and building strong relationships with regulatory bodies.
• Collaborate with governance committees to ensure product processes comply with regulatory standards and internal policies.
• Continuously identify and assess new and emerging risk sources arising from regulatory changes, market developments, new products, and shifts in business strategy.
• Develop and deliver targeted training and communications to increase risk awareness and promote proactive risk management across frontline teams.
• Ensure the design and implementation of effective controls to mitigate identified risks, and oversee remediation actions where required to maintain compliance with global standards and local variations.

Functional & Business Alignment
• Maintain robust engagement with all three lines of defense to foster collaboration, ensure consistent risk management practices, and align risk priorities.
• Ensure inclusive representation of relevant stakeholders in governance forums to foster transparency and shared accountability.
• Escalate risk issues and concerns promptly to the WRB HK COO and Group COO, Business Risk, enabling timely intervention and resolution.

Regulatory Compliance
• Exemplify the highest standards of ethical behaviour aligned with the Group’s Values and Code of Conduct.
• Embed compliance with laws, regulations, and internal policies across all relevant WRB activities.
• Drive initiatives that support the Bank’s Conduct Principles, ensuring fair client outcomes, market integrity, and effective financial crime controls.
• Proactively identify, escalate, and resolve risk, conduct, and compliance issues in a collaborative and timely manner.
• Ensure timely and accurate regulatory reporting in compliance with the Group’s Compliance Risk Type Framework.

Location: Kwun Tong, Hong Kong
Working Style: Full-time, Office-based
Reporting to: Country WRB Chief Operating Officer
Team Leadership: Yes, with accountability for managing business risk professionals.

Skills and Experience

Essential Skills

• Extensive experience in financial and non-financial risk management within the banking sector, demonstrating a comprehensive understanding of operational, reputational, and compliance risk areas.
• Strong aptitude for critical thinking, enabling effective evaluation of complex risk scenarios and formulation of sound risk mitigation strategies.
• Courage to challenge established practices constructively and influence senior stakeholders to uphold risk standards.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex risk concepts and engage effectively across multiple levels of an organisation.

Additional Competencies

• Proven leadership in risk governance and the ability to foster a strong risk culture within diverse teams.
• Highly organised with the capacity to manage multiple priorities and regulatory demands efficiently.
• Strong analytical skills with proficiency in interpreting risk data and audit findings to drive actionable improvements.

Qualifications

Qualifications and Experience

• Degree level education with at least 10 years of substantial risk management experience in the banking industry, including leadership roles overseeing sizeable risk portfolios.
• Proven expertise in risk assessment, regulatory compliance, and operational risk frameworks, with hands-on experience leading regulatory audits and managing inspection outcomes.
• Outstanding communication skills to effectively liaise with internal and external stakeholders and to present complex information clearly to senior management.
• Demonstrated capability in people management, fostering team collaboration and performance excellence.
• Proficient computer skills including Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word to support risk reporting and presentations.

Certifications

• Certified Operational Risk Management Professional or equivalent is preferred. Candidates without this certification may be expected to obtain it following appointment.

Language Proficiency

• Fluency in English and Cantonese is required to effectively engage with local stakeholders and regulatory authorities.

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.