Job Summary

The Manager, Trade Business Risk plays a pivotal role within our Trade & Cash business, ensuring that all operational activities conform strictly to the relevant Country and Group policies and comply with local regulatory frameworks. This position oversees risk management from front to back office operations, promoting a culture of rigorous controls and proactive risk identification.

This role encompasses strategic leadership aimed at embedding robust risk governance by overseeing the adherence to the Enterprise Risk Management Framework and aligning local procedures with Group operating principles. The Manager acts as a critical liaison with the Cluster Head of Trade & Cash Business Risk, offering insight and foresight on risk-related matters impacting the Country. By developing comprehensive and targeted performance metrics, the post-holder empowers senior management to accurately assess the operational risk environment and take well-informed actions.

Through vigilant control execution and diligent issue remediation, this role ensures residual risks are effectively communicated and managed. It fosters collaboration within Country teams and across the Group to advance efficient risk controls such as the hubbing of control checks, while maintaining country-specific ownership. The ideal candidate will be instrumental in shaping a resilient operational risk landscape that supports both sustainable business growth and compliance excellence.

Key Responsibilities

Key Responsibilities

Business Risk Management

• Lead comprehensive risk and process assessments jointly with operating units and Global Business Services to identify vulnerabilities and drive continuous improvement in risk mitigation practices.
• Champion initiatives that simplify and automate operational processes to strengthen control frameworks and enhance overall efficiency.
• Conduct regular governance assessments to validate the adequacy and effectiveness of the Country’s control environment, adapting frameworks proactively to evolving business and regulatory landscapes.
• Serve as the primary escalation point for operational risk issues, providing expert advice and support to ensure timely and effective remediation.
• Coordinate preparations and support for internal audits and external regulatory examinations, ensuring readiness, transparency, and clear communication of risk and control issues.

Risk Controls and Compliance

• Partner with business units to detect, assess, and manage operational risks, facilitating the implementation of robust controls and monitoring mechanisms to address identified gaps.
• Review and provide risk oversight on new and modified products, initiatives, and compliance requirements, integrating risk considerations throughout project delivery lifecycles.
• Manage the Residual Risk Acceptance Requests (RRARs) process meticulously, ensuring escalations are handled in line with governance protocols and senior management approvals are secured for material risks.
• Advocate for strict adherence to the Operational Risk Framework (ORF), guaranteeing that embedded risk controls are actively maintained and subject to periodic validation to uphold their effectiveness.
• Monitor the implementation, execution, and outcome of the Control Sample Testing (CST) process, results of any Key Risk Indicators (KRIs), and Key Control Indictors (KCIs) to ensure compliance with agreed control standards.
• Oversee risks in the risk tracking system (M7) and responsible for ensuring the quality of information being recorded as well as ensuring data accuracy, completeness and timely resolution.
• Determine effectiveness/ ineffectiveness of defined prevalent controls and control testing through independent validation.
• Review the ORF results and arrived on the action plan for reducing residual risk rating and mitigating repetitive failure /exceptions.
• Loss Reporting and Investigation
• Support the unit in minimizing operational losses and issues, and ensure operational losses are investigated to prevent recurrence.
• Drive the root cause analysis discipline, validate the content before submission and track the treatment plans until closure. Ensure that significant operational losses are escalated with appropriate root cause review completed.
• Oversee the recording of operational errors that occur within the unit that result in financial losses, gains, near misses, or non-financial damage.
• Oversee and have a 2nd line view on the unit reconciliation on a monthly basis of all operational losses records in the risk management system versus GL entries to ensure that all losses / recoveries are correct and/or accounted for on both sources.
• Ensure units have obtained the relevant approvals for losses in line with delegated authorities granted

Risk Management through Standardised MI

• Review, analyse and initiate actions in coordination with the respective unit based on Standard MI e.g. KRI, EMF, Reconciliation Scorecards, ORF Results, etc.
• Review weekly reports circulated by Central Team on issues and incidents logged in EORP and ensure information on EORP is kept up-to-date.
• Monitor whether COPMAN Controls adhered to, review the type of exceptions and analyse with the team.

Skills And Experience

Skills and Experience

• 5-8 years of experience in Trade and handling Trade Risk
• Risk Analysis & Data Management: Demonstrated expertise in analyzing complex operational risk datasets to extract meaningful insights that inform strategic decisions and risk mitigation efforts.
• Operational Risk Management Experience: Proven track record managing operational risk within financial institutions, with particular emphasis on trade finance and cash management operations.
• Trade Finance and Cash Operations Knowledge: Comprehensive understanding of trade finance products, cash handling processes, and the regulatory environment governing these activities.
• Effective Business Partnering: Skilled in building strong, collaborative relationships with stakeholders across business and support functions to embed risk-aware behaviours and integrate controls seamlessly into operations.
• Process Improvement Expertise: Adept at identifying inefficiencies and leading projects to streamline processes through automation or redesign, enhancing compliance and operational effectiveness.
• Regulatory and Compliance Acumen: Deep familiarity with local regulatory requirements and Group policy frameworks, ensuring that day-to-day operations consistently meet or exceed compliance standards.

Qualifications

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 O’level Credits or better including Mathematics and English
• Bachelor’s degree from a recognised university or college in Business, Finance, Risk Management, or a closely related field, providing a solid foundation for risk management principles.
• Zambia Qualifications Authority (ZAQA) verification of all qualfications is mandatory.

Professional Certifications

• Relevant professional certifications such as Operational Risk Management, Compliance, or broader Risk Management qualifications are strongly preferred, enhancing subject matter expertise.
• Additional credentials like Certified Risk Manager (CRM), Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), or similar designations will be considered an asset and support career advancement.

About Standard Chartered

We’re an international bank, nimble enough to act, big enough for impact. For more than 170 years, we’ve worked to make a positive difference for our clients, communities, and each other. We question the status quo, love a challenge and enjoy finding new opportunities to grow and do better than before. If you’re looking for a career with purpose and you want to work for a bank making a difference, we want to hear from you. You can count on us to celebrate your unique talents and we can’t wait to see the talents you can bring us.

Our purpose, to drive commerce and prosperity through our unique diversity, together with our brand promise, to be here for good are achieved by how we each live our valued behaviours. When you work with us, you’ll see how we value difference and advocate inclusion.

Together We

• Do the right thing and are assertive, challenge one another, and live with integrity, while putting the client at the heart of what we do
• Never settle, continuously striving to improve and innovate, keeping things simple and learning from doing well, and not so well
• Are better together, we can be ourselves, be inclusive, see more good in others, and work collectively to build for the long term

What We Offer

In line with our Fair Pay Charter, we offer a competitive salary and benefits to support your mental, physical, financial and social wellbeing.

• Core bank funding for retirement savings, medical and life insurance, with flexible and voluntary benefits available in some locations.
• Time-off including annual leave, parental/maternity (20 weeks), sabbatical (12 months maximum) and volunteering leave (3 days), along with minimum global standards for annual and public holiday, which is combined to 30 days minimum.
• Flexible working options based around home and office locations, with flexible working patterns.
• Proactive wellbeing support through Unmind, a market-leading digital wellbeing platform, development courses for resilience and other human skills, global Employee Assistance Programme, sick leave, mental health first-aiders and all sorts of self-help toolkits
• A continuous learning culture to support your growth, with opportunities to reskill and upskill and access to physical, virtual and digital learning.
• Being part of an inclusive and values driven organisation, one that embraces and celebrates our unique diversity, across our teams, business functions and geographies – everyone feels respected and can realise their full potential.