Manager, Finance Policy & Operational Risk (Nigeria and West Africa) at Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria

Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria - We attract talented individuals. Not only can they give you the benefit of their experience, they also reveal a closer, more personal look at the wide range of global opportunities we offer. At the core of the Group's people strategy is our focus on employee engagement. Engagement is a key driver of productivity and performance, which creates the foundation of our performance culture. We encourage and focus on the behaviours that bring out the very best from every employee, assessing their performance not just on results but on how those results were achieved. To further embed these behaviours we have a remuneration programme in place, carefully designed to incentivise our employees to live our values every day.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Manager, Finance Policy & Operational Risk (Nigeria and West Africa)

Job ID: 2200020079
Location: Lagos
Job: Finance
Schedule: Full-time
Employee Status: Permanent

The Role Responsibilities
Strategy:

• Drive full implementation and adherence to Financial Controls Policy across the West African Cluster (Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Cote D'Ivorie, Sierra Leone and The Gambia) and also serve as a contact point/ Subject matter Expert to the Cost Centre / Account Owners on all requirements of the Financial Control Policy
• Drive the GL accounts reconciliation process bank-wide ensuring completeness, timeliness of reconciliations at the right quality and also ensure all material risks are identified, assessed, mitigated, monitored, and promptly escalated.
• Foster a culture of risk awareness by communicating clear standards of conduct and driving the message of zero tolerance for operational losses.

Business:

• Support the business in minimizing operational risks and losses, and ensure material operational losses are investigated to prevent recurrence per group policy.
• Partner with the business and support units on finance operational risk matters to ensure business growth is balanced with risk management and controls
• Drive bank wide adherence to reconciliation requirements of the FCP.

Processes:

• Support the day-to-day controls & periodic monitoring of activities, timely identification and reporting of significant risks & losses, and effectiveness of risk mitigation actions
• Continuously improve the operational efficiency and effectiveness of processes and drive the adoption of standardized reporting across West Africa
• Maintain the PeopleSoft Financial Control System to ensure a robust reconciliation environment by ensuring that all accounts are appropriately owned and mapped,
• Ensure strong GL controls are in place by ensuring all dormant cost centres and accounts are monitored and closed at the FCP required frequency
• Review of Manual Entries in TP Control Accounts
• Ensure TP/ GL reconciliations are being tracked and resolved by TP owners
• Drive the account maintenance process by ensuring proper FINETL rule engine and PSGL Rule Maintenance
• Perform reasonableness review of high-Risk Accounts and ensure prompt escalation of any exceptions.

People and Talent:

• Set appropriate tone and expectations in terms of ensuring effective financial controls.
• Work in collaboration with all reconcilers, approvers and control partners to ensure that
• Serve as Secretary to FORTM and ensure all minutes are promptly circulated and action plans are tracked
• Work with the colleagues to deliver specific projects and deliverables, as determined by the Country CFO.
• Develop and embed a high-performance culture with specific focus on capability, effectiveness and productivity.

Risk Management:

• Responsible for the timely identification, assessment, mitigation, reporting and escalation of all identified Operational Risk exposures. Assist in identification of operational risk for new products and new business, regulatory and thematic risks and implementation of appropriate controls to mitigate those risks.
• Execute an effective risk management framework and promote a strong risk management and a compliance culture.
• Drive adherence to the operational risk management framework i.e. the identification, assessment, mitigation, control and monitoring of operational risk and control issues. In addition, monitor all material Operational Risk exposures and key external trends in accordance with Operational Risk Policies and Procedures and any directives, policies and procedures
• Ensure that material gross and residual risk exposures, control weaknesses, losses and near misses are reported to the FORC and Unit mangers as appropriate.
• Responsible for the implementation and execution of the Control Sample Testing (CST) process, sampling and testing the population of controls to ensure compliance with agreed control standards and facilitating the monitoring/collection of any Key Risk Indicators (KRIs) and ensuring that proper action plans are in place for recurring breaches
• Monitor and ensure timely completion of ORF checks by the finance Teams, ensure escalation of exceptions noted if any, through appropriate forum
• Perform reconciliation on a monthly basis on all Phoenix operational losses versus GL entries to ensure that all losses/recoveries are correct and/or accounted for on both sources and the Bank’s books and records.

Governance:

• Serve as the Back up to the Functional Operational Risk Manager and Secretary of Functional Operational Risk Committee (FORC) 
• Assist in managing the Finance Operational Risk Forum (Country, Cluster, Region) by preparing all relevant reports 
• Ensure absolute adherence to country BAU FCU/OR reporting deadlines and effective business escalation from FORC to the Country Operational Risk Committee (CORC), Process Governance Committee etc.
• Create awareness and understanding of the regulatory framework in which the Bank operates and the regulatory requirements and expectation relevant to the role.
• Coordinate with Internal and Statutory Auditors in terms of all Financial Control and Risk related activities / framework and ensure all issues identified are promptly resolved.
• Ensure that all DOIs within the Finance are updated regularly to comply with the FCP manual.
• Manage peer reviews within the finance function; this may involve travel to other markets to conduct such reviews and share best practice
• Develop control enhancements to ensure that any known risks are controlled within acceptable boundaries and consistent standards.
• Liaise with finance staff as required to ensure that Risk Acceptance Templates (RATs) are completed for material risks or control failures identified and passed to Senior Operational Risk Officer (SORO) for approval before submission to CORC for acceptance.

Regulatory & Business 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 teams in West Africa 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:

• Selected partners, including CEOs
• Regional and Country Finance Heads
• Function Heads
• Partners aligned to [product, segment or function] in Risk, Legal & Compliance, Finance and Group Technology and Operations
• All Staff with FCS responsibilities across West Africa
• Country SORO for all countries in West Africa Cluster
•  BORMs for all countries in West Africa Cluster
• Country Audit and Compliance Team
• Country CIOs.

Our Ideal Candidate

• First Degree in BSc. Accounting, Finance, Economics or similar degree
• Desirable - Professional certifications in Accounting, Professional Memberships in ICAN, ACCA
• Work experience in financial control / operational risk functions of, internal audit of FIs or external audit from Big 4 firms.
• Cross team collaboration and leadership experience skills - proactive engagement with various units across different geographies
• Languages: English, French.

Application Closing Date
15th August, 2022 (11:59:00 PM).

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online