Job Purpose:

• To provide strong management and excellent operational support to the Senior Manager-Trade by taking responsibility for managing all aspects of Trade Operations

Key Responsibilities

• Consistently provide exemplary operational and processing support in relation to Letters of Credits,
• Acceptances, Avalized Bills, Guarantees, Documentary Collections, Trade Loans and structured products/facilities.
• Prevent exposures and impacts of operational risks associated with various Trade Finance Products.
• Consistently ensure adherence to and application of established bank policies, processes, procedures and tools to achieve optimal efficiency, compliance and cost containment.
• End-to-End handling of Collateral Management transactions for different commodities with associated import and export documentation and other related activities.
• Continuous training of staff in Operations [both Head Office and branches], to ensure there’s proper succession planning and a pool of competent staff the bank can tap from for both back and front office roles.
• Develop and implement programs that support capacity building within the department.
• Identify strengths and development areas and ensure that staff receive adequate training intervention aimed at ensuring staff are appropriately skilled in doing their jobs.
• Ensuring strict adherence to Credit approval conditions to avert exposures in the life cycle of a transaction.
• Limit potential losses to the bank by ensuring that laid-down Trade processes and procedures are adhered to.
• Ensuring superior processing of all Trade Finance products in line with the applicable ICC publications.
• Handling Trade Finance Processing System roll outs/integrations/upgrades.
• Responsible for the implementation and adoption within Trade Operations unit of all Compliance, AntiMoney Laundering and Sanctions related requirements contained in policies, procedures and processes, including Business Continuity Management.
• Liaising with various stakeholders within and outside the bank on all various Trade Finance matters.
• Ensure timely and regular reconciliation of all items pertaining to Trade Finance in Nostro, Liability Accounts and suspense accounts
• Identify the major risks faced by the Trade Operations unit and ensure that the required controls are in place to monitor and reduce exposure.
• Ensure that revenue recoveries are done in a timely manner for Trade services provided.
• Ensure detailed analysis of incidents is conducted and remediation actions implemented to prevent recurrence.
• Ensure satisfactory audit ratings and track to closure all action plans arising from risk assessments, ops risk reviews, internal and external audits and regulatory inspections to improve the control environment.
• Provide regular and adhoc reports on all Trade Finance products to business teams, Operations, Regulator and other stakeholders as may be required from time to time.
• Safe custody of shipping documents. Release shipping documents in accordance with Trade Finance procedures with zero tolerance to operational risk related to documentation.
• Responsible for growth of Trade Finance business volumes and incomes through marketing and selling of Structured Trade Finance products.
• Ensuring that all businesses are in line with KYC, CTF and AML laws and regulations
• Any other official duty as may be assigned by the management from time to time.

Qualifications:

• First Degree in a Business-Related field.
• Trade Products Certification/Accreditation – Certified Documentary Credit Specialist (CDCS), Certified
• Specialists on Demand Guarantees (CSDG) and Certificate in International Trade Finance (CITF).
• Expert knowledge and understanding of the various ICC Publications for different instruments.
• Expert knowledge and understanding of both vanilla and structured Trade Finance products.
• Experience in handling different commodities under Collateral Management.
• Certifications or professional memberships.
• Ability to train bank staff on Trade Finance products.
• Ability to work under minimum supervision.
• Excellent interpersonal skills to effectively communicate with and manage customer expectations (internal
• and external) and other stakeholders who impact performance.
• Team Player
• Leadership skills.
• 2-5 years of experience in a busy Trade Finance environment