Job Summary

The role will be part of the Country Risk Governance team working very closely with the Country / Cluster OTCR team acting as the 2nd line of defence. The role will be critical in identifying and assessing Digital Assets (DA) risks and ensuring risk mitigation actions are implemented by the respective product teams. The DA ecosystem comprises of cryptocurrencies, tokenisation, DeFi and blockchain based technologies etc., and the ecosystem will enhance / supplement the bank's core product range. The key responsibilities include implementing the bank’s risk management frameworks (ERMF/OTCR) and ensure the DA ecosystem aligns with the bank’s overall risk appetite and objectives

•    Support and at times, lead in delivering a strategic risk assessment of the Group’s DA activities, including consideration for DA in Risk Appetite by relevant Principal Risk Types Risk Framework Owners, and the associated risk returns for its DA activities.
•    Critically assess and provide feedback on DA initiatives to support strategic and regulatory objectives.
•    Uphold the integrity of risk, in particular, ensuring that operational risks are properly assessed, that risk / return and cost / benefit decisions are made transparently on the basis of proper assessment, and are controlled in accordance with Risk Appetite.
•    Provide practical implementation guidance on Risk including OTCR Policy & Standard in an effective and consistent manner.
•    Identify, assess, monitor, and mitigate risks related to the daily operations.
•    In conjunction with first line of defence (1LOD), ensure any concerns on key controls, operational risk events and its risk impact are understood and escalated on a timely manner. 
•    Drive comprehensive, high quality root cause analysis of operational risk events, review and provide robust challenge on remedial action plans proposed by 1LOD Risk / Control Owners. 
•    Ensure new and material change in products / services / processes conforms with the Transaction Processing Policy, Change Management Policy, and Product Governance Policy. 
•    Oversee and monitor the execution of inherent and residual risk ratings as per the Risk Control Self-Assessment (RCSA) Framework by 1LOD. 
•    Ensure local regulatory requirements are met pertaining to risk including operational risk management, prudential standards and governance and operational standards.
•    Role requires a combination of expertise in financial services, blockchain systems, digital asset products, regulatory compliance, and risk management frameworks

Key Responsibilities

Business
•    Identify and assess operational risks across digital asset products, including blockchain infrastructure, custody solutions, liquidity management, and payment systems.
•    Analyze risks related to smart contract vulnerabilities, stablecoin reserve management, cybersecurity threats, and compliance with regulatory requirements.
•    Evaluate third party risks in partnerships with custodians, exchanges, and third-party service providers.
•    Provide timely advice, support and challenge to enable compliance with all relevant laws and regulations and support the transition to pro-active and pre-emptive risk mitigation.
•    Develop and implement mitigation strategies for identified risks, such as robust cybersecurity measures, operational redundancies, and business continuity plans.
•    Lead the response to operational incidents like system outages, fraud, or liquidity crises.
•    Collaborate (with Legal, IT, etc) to ensure timely resolution of any operational risk events.
•    Assess the stability and reliability of the blockchain infrastructure supporting the stablecoin.
•    Collaborate (with IT, Product, etc) to mitigate risks related to smart contracts, network attacks, and key management.
•    Ensure robust cybersecurity measures are in place to protect reserves, transaction data, and user accounts.
•    Establish close professional relationship with DA team residing in SC Venture 

Processes
•    Ensure effective management of operational risks to ensure compliance with applicable internal policies, and external laws and regulations.
•    Develop key risk indicators (KRIs) and risk control self-assessments (RCSAs) to monitor operational risks.
•    Establish and maintain incident management and escalation procedures to address operational failures.
•    Continuously improve the operational efficiencies and effectiveness of risk management and compliance processes.

People & Talent
•    Lead through example and build the appropriate culture and values.  
•    Uphold and reinforce the independence of the Risk function from those whose primary responsibility is to focus on maximizing revenues and profits.
•    Lead through example and embed the applicable and appropriate Standard Chartered values and Code of Conduct in the Risk function to drive adherence with the highest standards of ethics, and compliance with relevant policies, processes and regulations among employees.
•    Foster an open environment to stimulate creativity and develop innovative solution to supports banks aspiration for DA. 
•    Support the delivery and design of training and development of people for DA Risk Management     

Risk Management
Risk Appetite
•    Familiar with ERMF and associated DA Framework, policies and standards
•    Conduct, at least annually, the Risk Appetite Refresh across all risk types including Operational Risk and monitor the approved metrics on ongoing basis and escalate incidents of breach to respective Committees.
•    Review and challenge business’s strategy where it is not aligned with the risk appetite.
•    Design, maintain and effectively communicate operational risk control parameters, including policies, control standards, limits and other control levers in order to ensure  risk profile in line with overall risk appetite.
•    For DA initiatives, support, inter-alia, the: 
•    Development of the risk assessments for any planned business direct exposure to DA and/or entities heavily exposed to DA. 
•    Work with Group’s teams and activities including development and implementation of appropriate infrastructure to support DA reviews, and the monitoring of exposures and actions as required.
•    Actively participate in regulatory discussions and consultations, representing the organization’s interests and ensuring compliance with evolving regulations.

Risk Ownership
•    Ensure that risk decisions are transparent and supporting rationales are explained in a professional & courteous manner, especially when turning down proposals.
•    Ensure that material operational risk exposures and related issues are reported to the responsible governance committees and to the Board or Board committee as appropriate.
•    Highlight any data quality issues in the operational risk management system.
•    Obtain assurance regarding the effectiveness of operational risk controls and compliance with applicable laws & regulations.
•    Provide expert advice on the interpretation, application and implementation of all relevant laws and regulations for operational risk.

Governance
•    Design and implement an operational risk management framework tailored to the Digital Asset business
•    Maintain operational risk capability and a control environment which is in line with the OTCR Framework.
•    Ensure that operational risk measurement methodologies are fit-for-purpose, comprehensive and implemented with integrity.
•    Monitor top and emerging risks through forward looking indicators, taking into consideration to external events which may be material. Ensure appropriate management action is being taken to mitigate their impact.
•    Define key risk metrics from Operational Risk Policy / Standards / Procedures and continually track performance on such metrics. Escalate concerns, if any, identified through such tracking to appropriate committees.
•    Participate in initiatives including undertaking assurance and Operational Risk framework effectiveness reviews, preparing risk analytics and other activities that will enable driving consistent set of operational risk management practices.
•    And any other tasks which may be assigned by Head of Risk Governance or OTCR Cluster Head

People, Culture and Values 
•    Lead through example and build the appropriate culture and values. Set appropriate tone and expectations and work in collaboration with risk and control partners within 1LOD and 2LOD.
•    Ensure the provision of ongoing training. 
•    Share best practices in Operational, Technology, and Cyber Risk.

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

Key stakeholders
Engage relevant stakeholders to raise awareness of Operational, Technology and Cyber Risks and how these are managed.

Internal
•    Members of Digital Asset Management Team
•    Country Chief Risk Officer
•    Country Risk Governance Team
•    Cluster Operational, Technology and Cyber Risk Team
•    Group Internal Audit

External
•    Regulators in ASEAN 
•    External Auditors
 

Our Ideal Candidate

• Operational & Technology risk management experience, with 8+ years of experience in banking and financial services. 
• Working knowledge of Digital Assets is preferred, with a strong background in some or all parts of the end to end Financial Markets and other Corporate Banking product range, including settlement, custody and treasury/credit risk management. 
•    A clear understanding of the Bank’s approach to the management of operational risk, or equivalent experience gained in other organisations.
•    Sound judgement and courage necessary to perform a control role and maintain effective working relationships.
•    Local regulatory requirements. 
• Effective verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to present complex risk issues to senior and non-technical stakeholders
• Excellent interpersonal skills, multicultural awareness and sensitivity
• Proactive risk management.

Role Specific Technical Competency

• Risk Governance
• Operational Risk
• Digital Asset

Competencies

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.

Recruitment Assessments

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