Risk Control Unit Manager

About the Role

Join a trusted African banking group with more than a century of strong local roots and international experience. As a Risk Control Unit Manager, you will play a critical role in supporting business growth while ensuring a strong wholesale credit risk control framework is upheld. This includes overseeing post-sanction fulfillment activities such as facility letter generation, limit and excess management, covenant oversight, and management of securities.

Key Responsibilities

• Monitor and control live credit portfolios to ensure compliance with sanction terms, promptly identifying and escalating areas of concern.
• Facilitate business growth by ensuring timely processing of facility letters, limit setup, and disbursements within agreed credit and service level agreements.
• Ensure all cases of documentation deficiency have appropriate legal opinions and credit waivers or deferrals.
• Provide technical expertise and guidance on risk-related matters specific to post-sanction activities.
• Effectively manage facility limits to align with the latest sanctions and operational procedures.
• Oversee monitoring of post-sanction activities including security maintenance, limit and excess management, cash margin controls, and sanction condition adherence.
• Review daily reports of excesses to confirm appropriate actions have been taken by the relevant teams for both reportable and non-reportable cases.
• Manage covenant data integrity, testing, timely notification, flagging breaches, and escalation processes.
• Collaborate closely with legal teams on non-standard commercial terms and documentation amendments.
• Serve as the primary contact for internal and external audit processes, ensuring all audit recommendations are addressed and documented appropriately.
• Produce accurate and error-free management information for governance forums and regulatory reporting.
• Maintain segregation of duties (maker-checker) within all Risk Control Unit operations without exceptions.
• Conduct periodic testing of the Risk Control Unit's Business Continuity plan.
• Support User Acceptance Testing for new project rollouts as directed by leadership.
• Adhere strictly to credit and risk control processes to maintain impairment and loan loss rates within agreed limits.
• Actively participate in monthly portfolio and risk meetings to discuss overdue documents, valuations, drawdown controls, sanction breaches, security maintenance, and account excesses.
• Ensure full compliance with regulatory and conduct standards within the Risk Control Unit.
• Contribute to the design and update of Wholesale Credit Policies as needed.
• Monitor syndicate loan activities including repayments and condition compliance with agent and participant banks.
• Review and enhance Wholesale Credit procedural manuals and continuous process improvements.

Business Risk Partnership

• Assist in monitoring service delivery to meet business requirements.
• Proactively embrace and champion change initiatives aimed at improving processes, quality, and cost efficiency.
• Build collaborative relationships with colleagues and customers to anticipate and exceed expectations.
• Maintain ongoing communication with Wholesale Credit Teams and business partners to resolve credit risk issues promptly.
• Participate in meetings with relationship managers and credit teams to address credit-related concerns.
• Promote best practices and guideline awareness within Risk Control and Wholesale Credit stakeholders.
• Join customer visits with managers to better understand client needs and enhance service quality.

Team Collaboration

• Cultivate strong working relationships across business, credit risk, and related functions.
• Maintain comprehensive management information systems to support portfolio monitoring and control.
• Regularly attend team and stakeholder meetings and provide updates on team performance and concerns.
• Contribute to official and informal team events to foster a positive working environment.
• Support the Wholesale Credit Risk Team to achieve shared business objectives.

Preferred Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent in Business, Commerce, Management, or related disciplines.
• At least 3 years of relevant experience in a similar role within the financial sector.
• A minimum of one year’s experience in a governance and control function is advantageous.