Senior Relationship Officer, Trade Finance

Job Description

To Grow and Manage the trade finance Business portfolio to ensure set targets of portfolio growth, income and quality are achieved.

Duties and Responsibilities

Financial

• Responsibility for leading Trade Sales across MSME Banking segment.
• Primary responsibility for management of the Trade finance Budget in collaboration with the relationship management teams in the respective business segments.
• Advising and  structuring  for  International  Trade  & Commodities Finance and Correspondent Banking  relationships.
• Provide necessary support to the relationship teams through sales materials, sales drives etc. to ensure sustainable growth of Trade funded and NFI numbers.
• Work with various segments to develop sales pipelines of Trade related business in line with overall Account Plans.
• Maintenance of the existing client base and acquisition of new businesses from the market in which Faulu Bank is represented.
• To structure Working Capital solutions and sell Trade solutions to new and existing customers within Business Banking segments.
• Drive innovative product offerings through re- engineering existing products or developing new ones for roll out to clients across the region
• Ensure adherence to statutory and bank legal requirements in relation to operations in the Trade Finance front office in the respective subsidiary offices.
• Provide support for approvals for concessionary pricing of both funded and non-funded Trade finance products to business units and operations.
• Represent Faulu Bank in various Trade finance forums and marketing of the Faulu Brand to  various stakeholders.
• Gather market intelligence on a continuous basis and leverage the information to ensure Faulu Bank remains competitive from a pricing and product perspective.

Internal business processes

• Regularly identify, measure, monitor and control the overall levels of risks in the Trade Finance business
• Responsible for the units RCSA development, regular reviews and updates to ensure risk management adaptation to the changing business environment
• Responsible for the Performance management of all Trade staff ensuring effective target setting, monitoring and correct performance measures are done.
• Support in development of policies and procedures for structured Trade finance and Trade products that have been customized for use by the various business units.
• Maintain a reporting schedule of defined Key Risk Indicators and measure performance against these on a monthly basis to reduce possible losses due to omissions and mistakes.
• Provide advisory and guidance services to the Bank’s operations staff, credit risk teams and branch network in relation to Trade Finance related products and transactions.
• Periodically review and support in development of Structured Trade Finance procedures and processes to mitigate against inherent risks in the region using a solid understanding of the working capital cash conversion cycle, and be able to effectively quantify and relate how our Supply Chain Finance and / or traditional  Import  LC  or  Export  LC  solutions  would improve a company's working capital metrics.
• Co-ordination of utilization reports for STF facilities between the Trade finance back office, the relationship management team(s) and credit risk for purposes of monitoring.
• Ensure effective resolution of operational issues covering areas under direct control.
• Ensure that the Bank remains reasonably unexposed to any undue risks, by collecting, collating and analyzing market related intelligence information for use by the Bank.

Customer

• Support to draw up and implement process SLAs (service level agreements) in respect of Trade Finance in relation to all service areas under the direct control of the role holder and ensure that Operational standards and cost targets are understood by all stakeholders.
• Effectively monitor drawn SLA’s to ensure that Trade products are handled in a timely and efficient manner and that all elements of operational risk, e.g. fraud, follow up of audit recommendations, are managed effectively across all areas under the direct control of the role holder.
• Initiate actions to overcome problems identified in meeting the service levels and ensure agreed SLAs with the department are executed and adhered to by all stakeholders.

Learning and Growth

• Develop and agree on an annual basis, individual and team performance objectives, standards and targets in conjunction with Manager, Transactional Banking and ensure that processes are in place to monitor performance against budget.
• Provide ongoing coaching and feedback to direct reports.
• Identify development and training needs and develop plans to meet set objectives in the identified areas.
• Provide technical and product training to staff in the Bank as well as conduct Trade forums and workshops to support business units across the group.

Education & Experience

• A degree in a business-related field i.e. Bachelor of Commerce, Business Studies, Economics or Banking/Finance.
• Formal training in lending/Relationship management
• At least 5 years of relevant experience with proven track record for delivery of superior results

Desired:

• Masters in a business-related field.
• ACIB/AKIB or Marketing Course

Technical Competencies

• Financial analysis Skills: Ability to analyze and/or interpret financial statements, prepare and assess credit papers.
• Analytical business and investment appraisal Skills: Keen to detail and able to conceptualize financial investment proposals and provide viable solutions.
• Technology Skills: Computer literate with proficiency in computerized financial analysis applications.
• Industry knowledge: Candid knowledge of the financial sector, Government securities investment, International Trade Finance opportunities, Money Market and Forex. Dealing Concepts as well as current banking operations practice and Liquidity Management.

Behavioral Competencies

• Goal driven and results oriented: Enjoys being measured, and judged by financial and other performance targets.
• Personal Ethics: Must be honest, fair and just with self and others, and demonstrates integrity in work and business contacts.
• Communication Skills: Excellent communication skills.
• Interpersonal  Skills:  Must  be  a  people’s  person,  with  ability  to interact with key stakeholders in the various business sectors.
• Proactive Initiator: Must be pro-active, a self-starter and have the ability to see, grasp and advice on opportunities.
• Human Resources Management Skills: Staff supervisory skills and ability to train and develop staff.