Job Summary

Business Planning Manager and Company Secretary is responsible for leading governance excellence, driving strategic alignment across business functions, and ensuring the organization’s compliance with regulatory frameworks and group policies. The role acts as a key enabler of executive decision-making by ensuring high-quality board-level engagement, risk oversight, and business planning execution. It plays a pivotal role in shaping corporate governance standards, operational strategy, and cross-functional initiatives aligned with the long-term vision of the entity and the Group.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Planning & Office Leadership
•    Support the CEO with the development of the KSA country strategy based on the agreed key priorities and the desired outcome, to align with Group and Cluster.
•    Work with EXCO members in preparation and execution of country strategy.
•    Ensure that an appropriate tracking / follow up mechanism is in place to effectively measure progress against strategic priorities.
•    Take a key role in identifying issues, structuring work plans, forming hypotheses, designing, and conducting research & analyses, synthesising conclusions, making presentations, and helping implement change in ensuring the attainment of strategic goals.
•    Work with the CEO to identify in-organic growth opportunities.
•    Keep track of country financial performance, balance sheet and capital adequacy requirements – raising any issues and working with business in identifying enablers to achieve / exceed budgets.
•    Support the CEO in performance management discussions
•    Working with the CFO and other senior stakeholders to facilitate quarterly sessions to track performance targets against actual in light of the set performance objectives.
•    Track performance through the country scorecard focusing on critical performance metrics
•    Manage the CEO’s office operational rhythm, coordinating critical business initiatives and high-impact deliverables with discretion and effectiveness.
•    Serve as a strategic liaison between the CEO, business heads, and Group functions on all matters related to planning, governance, and performance management.
•    Provide up-to-date and relevant guidance on the application and interpretation of laws, regulations and policies relating to corporate governance and other laws applicable to the business.
•    Provide high-level administrative oversight to ensure operational continuity and alignment with strategic priorities
•    Prepare performance management reviews/presentations as and when required. 

Advisory 
•    Working in alliance with SCSA Team, to ensure compliance by the company and the directors (i) local regulatory requirements and (ii) any standards/guidelines issued by Group Corporate Secretariat not limited to the Subsidiary Governance Policy.

Documentation
•    Ensure robust documentation standards and compliance with statutory obligations through the development and continuous improvement of board processes and controls.
•    Prepare all board papers/resolutions for execution.
•    Maintain soft copies of all final and executed/signed documents in shared server.
•    Safe keep of company seal, business licenses, corporate registers and board/shareholders’ minutes and resolutions, ensuring all registers (including share register) are up to date.
•    Safe keep and maintain original contracts/agreements including issued POAs.
•    File reports or events with the CMA and/or other regulators on timely basis.
•    Support Accountable Executives and Responsible Persons in updating Blueprint and acting as RP for local subsidiary, as required.

Risk Management
•    Act as a key contributor to operational risk identification and mitigation strategies specific to corporate governance and entity management.
•    Collaborate with risk owners to ensure robust control design and implementation of monitoring mechanisms at the subsidiary level.
•    Lead internal governance audits and ensure readiness for external regulatory reviews.

Board & Committee Management
•    To ensure that the Board has adopted a Schedule of Matters Reserved for the Board and all Board Committees have adopted Group endorsed Terms of Reference and all necessary Board approvals (Statutory or as required by the Group Delegated Authority Manual) are in delivered in a robust and timely manner.
•    Oversee all aspects of Board and Shareholders’ meetings, including agenda planning, board pack coordination, minutes drafting, and follow-up on resolutions.
•    Ensure robust documentation standards and compliance with statutory obligations through the development and continuous improvement of board processes and controls.
•    Maintain an effective governance calendar and uphold the integrity of all corporate records, including shareholder and director registers, POAs, and business licenses.
•    Provide up-to-date and relevant guidance to the Board, Directors (including training and induction) and the business on the application and interpretation of legislation, governance regulations and policies relating to corporate governance applicable to the business.

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.
•    Ensure that all activities under your remit are compliant with both internal governance protocols and external regulations.
•    Exercise authorities delegated by the Board of Directors and act in accordance with Articles of Association. 

Key Stakeholders
•    Chief Executive Officer (CEO) – SCSA
•    Regional Head, Subsidiary Governance
•    SCSA Executive Committee Members
•    Group Legal, Compliance, Finance, and Business Teams
•    Local Regulatory Bodies

Other Responsibilities
•    Exercise authorities delegated by the Board of Directors and act in accordance with Articles of Association. 
•    Maintain comprehensive filing and governance systems to ensure audit-readiness and regulatory compliance.
•    Deliver executive-level presentations and reports for senior leadership and regulatory meetings.
•    Provide high-level administrative oversight to ensure operational continuity and alignment with strategic priorities. 
•    Oversee content, maintenance, and regulatory alignment of the SCSA website.

Skills and Experience

•    Manage Conduct
•    Manage Risk
•    Manage People

Qualifications

Certifications    CME - 1
Languages    English - Arabic
•    Ability to work independently and collaborate effectively across functions and jurisdictions.
•    Details orientated, good interpersonal skills and comfortable working in a fast moving, evolving, start-up environment. 
•    Business/Legal related degree 
•    Ability to work independently or under minimum supervision.
•    Excellent oral and written communication skills.
•    Arabic to English translation and vice versa

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.