Trade Operations Manager at National Bank of Kenya

Job Ref No.HR/010/18

Division: Operations

Reporting to: Head- Cash and Corporate Operations

The Job holder will be responsible for providing leadership, management and governance for the Trade Operations department.

He/ she will offer support to Corporate and Institutional Banking and Retail Banking Divisions of the Bank with regard to Trade Operations.

Key Responsibilities:

• Manage the Trade operations department and provide leadership support for the day to day activities for the team. He / she will ensure accurate and timely execution of all transactions throughout their transaction’s life cycle.
• Manage the settlement process and related risks, transaction processing over appropriate systems, related accounting entries processing, reporting and communication to third parties.
• Manage reconciliation activities for all products and services offered under Trade Finance Operations in the Bank considering their SLAs.
• Lead and develop the trade operations team to ensure efficient operations in strict compliance with the various local and international laws, market set standards and Bank’s risk standards while ensuring continuous improvements on resource management.
• Effective risk management to protect the Clients’ and Bank’s interests during the day to day operations.
• Provide guidance for periodic self-assessment checks on key controls in the department to assess the proper functioning and adequacy of controls.
• Provide management of Business Continuity Plans / Disaster Recovery Plans’ process and documentations recommended by the CBK Prudential guidelines, Bank’s policies and best practice.
• Monitor stability of system- issues within the department and coordinate for closure of issues raised.
• Ensure SLA adherence, monitoring & breaches reporting are being upheld in line with the set controls.
• Oversee Claims investigations and management and any incurred bills processing to vendors for Trade related transactions.
• Comply with all Bank’s set policies, procedures & guidelines as well as other regulations and standards and report all suspicious activities.
• Liaise with the Manager – Operational Risk in developing and updating of procedures, controls and monitoring plans for Operational Risk management
• Management of complaints and communication of action plans to relevant stakeholders

Skills & Experience:

• A degree in a Business/technical related field from a recognised university
• Professional qualifications in CPA, ACCA and or Trade Finance
• Experience in Trade Operations
• Banking & Finance certification will be an added advantage
• Eight (8) years working experience in Bank operations, three of which must be at supervisory level within a busy Trade Finance Operations environment.
• Knowledge of International Business practices and understanding of the rules that govern International Trade ( ICC rules)
• Understanding of Operational Risk Management
• Leadership and Management skills
• Independent and Self-motivated individual
• Excellent presentation skills
• Operational Excellence
• Excellent interpersonal, communication and negotiation skills
• Knowledge of the bank’s products, services and policies
• Excellent Customer Experience skills
• Analytical thinking, Decisive and keen to details