Job Summary

As the Head of Trade & Working Capital based in Riyadh, you will play an instrumental role in driving the growth and success of Standard Chartered’ s Trade Services and Trade Finance offerings in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the broader MENA region. Your primary responsibility will be to develop an in-depth understanding of the regional trade dynamics, customer behaviours, and regulatory environment. You will craft and execute well-researched and impactful customer value propositions that enhance revenue streams through innovative new products, portfolio re-engineering, and strategic partnerships.

This role demands close collaboration across various functional areas, including coverage, operations, and regional teams, ensuring alignment with the bank’s overall strategic objectives. You will lead product management initiatives focusing on enhancing the trade and working capital finance products, supporting the bank’s ambition to be a market leader in Saudi Arabia.

Key strategic responsibilities include:

• Defining and driving the country-specific trade product strategy aligned with regional and global goals.
• Ensuring consistent communication and reporting of strategic plans to senior stakeholders, leveraging market insights to influence product development and sales initiatives.
• Leading efforts in product innovation, pricing strategies, risk management, and trade promotion campaigns to maximise customer engagement and revenue.

People and risk management aspects include:

• Providing expert advice, guidance, and training to team members within the Trade Banking department to enhance performance and team cohesion.
• Upholding stringent compliance with local regulatory standards and the bank’s internal risk, compliance, and governance frameworks to protect the organisation and its clients.

This position requires a visionary yet hands-on approach, combining strategic insight with practical operational execution to deliver exceptional trade finance solutions in the Saudi market.

Business

The Head of Trade & Working Capital will champion the continuous development and refinement of trade finance products tailored to the unique demands and trends in Saudi Arabia. You will possess strong acumen in market analysis to identify emerging customer needs and competitive opportunities. By leveraging your expertise, you will advise on pricing strategies, risk mitigation, and innovative financing mechanisms that align with both client priorities and the bank’s risk appetite.

A critical part of your remit includes working collaboratively with cross-functional teams such as sales, operations, and compliance to ensure seamless delivery of trade finance products and superior customer service. Your leadership will support initiatives to enhance efficiency, service quality, and client satisfaction while managing regulatory adherence rigorously.

You will play a pivotal role in coordinating local market intelligence gathering, including competitive benchmarking and regulatory updates, to ensure Standard Chartered remains agile and well-positioned in the market. Building strong alliances with industry bodies and regulators will be essential to navigate evolving frameworks effectively.

This role also involves championing digital transformation and innovation within trade finance to deliver value-added and sustainable solutions that meet the evolving demands of clients in the Kingdom and wider MENA region.

Key stakeholders

•    Head of Trade & Working Capital and TB, AME
•    Head of TB Sales, AME
•    Heads of Global Subsidiaries, KSA and AME
•    CIB Head KSA
•    CIO KSA
•    Heads of Trade Operations KSA, MENA

Our Ideal Candidate

• Product and Market Knowledge 
  
  • knowledge of Trade and Working Capital products
• Commercial and Financial Acumen 
  • strong grasp of P&L dynamics, cost management, capitalallocation and return optimizations
• Risk and Regulatory Insight 
• Stakeholder and governance capability 
• Strategic Influence and Communication
• Client centric mindset

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.