Job Summary

This role may be based in either Singapore or London.  As part of the Trade Management Team, the Head of Trade Portfolio Management is a key role to ensure that Trade activities are grounded in the Bank’s strategic priorities through delivering customer value, containing credit losses, driving productivity, optimizing cost efficiencies, and facilitating #simplefasterbetter.  We are looking for candidates who are able to demonstrate strategic leadership, influence and ability to drive ambitious agendas and priorities, and able to effectively engage and execute via teams.

You will focus on generating value for shareholders by maximising Return on Equity and minimising losses.  The Trade Portfolio Management (TPM) team is accountable for designing risk appetite and control and monitoring processes for the Trade finance portfolio of the bank and in specific the flow transactions. The team ensures that the total credit losses in the Trade finance portfolio is within the threshold set. This team will also be key point of contact for all model related inputs to the regulators – PRA or any specific country regulators - and will ensure an outcomes are optimised from a capital usage and returns perspective.

Key Responsibilities

Trade Risk control and Portfolio Planning

• Set the strategy and manage a framework for risk appetite (exclude counterparty credit risk) and monitoring.
• Set and manage a framework for dynamic compensating controls to in place - based on triggers (external or internal event based) such that any foreseeable risk event has an appropriate control/mitigation mechanism. 
• Develop, implement and manage the Trade portfolio, hedging, acquisition, divestment plans.
• Embed Trade credit risk control thresholds in client-level decision making.
• Define and set fraud risk control and approval mechanism to minimise first party fraud risks 

Portfolio Reporting and Portfolio Management

• Develop and implement baseline portfolio reporting supporting the Global Head Trade and the Trade Management Team in managing the risk of the Trade portfolio.
• Set up and drive a program of periodic trade portfolio reviews covering pertinent risks and issues, leading to tangible portfolio action plans in close collaboration with credit risk and credit and portfolio risk.
• Track and monitor the execution of all portfolio decisions and action plans.

First Line Credit and Fraud Risk 

• Provide expert guidance and sign offs (where applicable) on product structures.
• Be responsible to review and manage handoff risks from leading from multiple process universe in delivery of a product proposition. Embed this at the product design stage where a product is being designed or renewed.
• Build, align and fire-drill stress action plans for the Trade finance portfolio.

Risk Innovation

• Strategize and lead development of data based/ AI models for products in Trade space including risk approval framework linked to these.
• Represent Trade in key forums relating to Trade risk in the bank to enable the bank to have a uniform understanding of the risk and reward of the Trade portfolio, industry challenges and new developments.
• Proactively manage the Trade products from a regulatory horizon risk perspective.

Risk / return optimisation

• Work closely with Finance, Transaction Banking (TB), Liquidity & Balance Sheet Management, Group Treasury, Credit Portfolio Management to understand drivers of the Trade product’s contribution to returns and ensure these are reflected in strategy setting and dynamic management on pricing based on changes in risk parameters.
• Align and drive robust and disciplined execution of actions plans to increase returns from Trade.
• Closely work with the credit and portfolio management team to look at the committed cross sell realisations on account of a trade deal.

Leadership, People and Talent 

• Responsible for leading, directing and influencing the frontline teams responsible to develop, manage or sell trade products in: 
  • Driving the correct risk culture and risk identification methodology;
  • Adopting a strategic mindset to advise senior business leaders on risk issues and forward looking solutions;
  • Driving collaboration between Global and Corporate Banking RMs, TB product and Sales teams on client and portfolio risks; and
  • Providing advice and thought leadership on a range of risk related opportunities and challenges in country and across the markets.  
• Responsible for ensuring a sustainable organizational focus on deepening product management excellence across the organization, including promoting the Transaction Banking brand at all levels of the enterprise.  

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.
• Lead the Trade Portfolio Management team to achieve the outcomes set out in the Bank’s Conduct Principles: Fair Outcomes for Clients; Effective Financial Markets; Financial Crime Compliance; The Right Environment.
• Effectively and collaboratively identify, escalate, mitigate and resolve risk, conduct and compliance matters.

Key stakeholders

• Global and Regional leaders within Transaction Banking, Trade, Credit and Portfolio Management, Liabilities & Liquidity Management, and Risk.
• Members of the Trade Management Team.
• Global and Regional leaders of Financial Institutions and Industries.

Skills and Experience

• Focused career experience in Trade.
• Global and strategic mindset, and well-developed organisational skills.
• Effective stakeholder management.

Qualifications

Education 

• Bachelors degree from a reputable university, preferably Masters degree and/or Professional qualifications in Finance (e.g. Accountancy, CFA, MBA).

Professional experience:

• Minimum 15 years relevant banking experience: significant experience in roles involving credit approvals and credit portfolio management, or front office sales / client coverage, product, structuring or distribution with strong credit responsibility.  Deep and practical understanding of management of credit and fraud risks arising from Trade facilities and structures, across diverse markets.
• Senior influence, engagement and coordination: Significant senior management engagement / influencing skills, and credibility in this subject matter area. Ability to engage within the banks financial, strategic and business planning processes and advocate for the Trade product perspective.  Ability to coordinate and deliver build of key cross-function initiatives.
• Market knowledge and business acumen: Ability to assess risk and appropriate levels of return, identify opportunities for sustainable growth.  Hands on experience of managing distressed clients / Trade structures following name-level / market-wide issues arising.
• Portfolio management: Ability to identify growth opportunities and risks across different markets, sectors and products in real time.  Direct experience of credit risk mitigation and distribution and funded/synthetic credit markets.
• Regulatory and accounting frameworks: Awareness and understanding of the regulatory framework and expectations - in particular Credit RWA and impact of future regulation and accounting standards on the Trade portfolio.

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.