Sub - Saharan Africa Trade Head - MD at CITIBANK

Reference No.: 21301929
Job Category: Product Management and Development

Job Description

• SSA is projected to emerge from a tough economic recession triggered by the pandemic in the latter part of 2021, with recovery projections  at 3.4%p.a. in part from the recovery of global and other trade corridors and resulting demand. 
• Citi in SSA covers 1500 GSG, 800 Banking and FI names.  70% of revenues are attributable to our LC confirmation activities, predominantly the FI book.
• Citi has an estimated 9% revenue share on trade services in SSA  (based on 2018 SWIFT data). There is a clear opportunity to grow our vanilla and structured trade finance offerings, deepen share in corporate space, and address clients by embracing digitalization and innovation for new  trade products developments, and reposition the business for further growth in 2022 and beyond.
• We are looking for an ambitious leader who can lead the next wave of growth in SSA  trade, by driving transformation, change and innovation.

The individual will energize the team and collaborate with  partners to achieve the following broad objectives:

• Deepen acquisition of overall corporate client opportunity to reduce dependence on historical FI revenue leadership
• Deepen effectiveness & use of trade finance offering in SSA for corporates in particular, by driving a cohesive asset and product strategy to match our deposit-side optimization aspirations
• Expand our product innovation capability to address the rapid use of technology to digitize client routes to consumer, and the rapid ecosystem development we see driven by the public sector particularly around logistics, ports and other strategic infrastructures that drive trade
• Work with Credit Risk, Banking and other partners to expand the use of risk defeasance programs and deploy  structured financing where warranted to take on more complex transactions.
• Attract/retain/reposition the talent bench with the skills that can achieve these goals over the next three years

Key Responsibilities

• Meeting the financial goals as agreed with TTS/Trade management. This includes delivering revenue plan, monitoring all types of expenses, maximizing efficiency of capital usage, minimizing cost of credit and maximizing net income.    
• Working closely with the EMEA Trade head and teams to ensure SSA is well catered for in terms of  product strategy.
• Developing good working relationships with ICG client coverage  and risk seniors and industry specialists responsible for Citi’s clients.  This would include region and country management i.e. CCO, Banking Heads, Independent Risk etc.
• Ensure SSA  at forefront of new product development and key initiatives as set by the business
• Coaching and mentoring reports (direct/ matrix) and ensuring entire trade team undertake appropriate annual training
• Work to maximize performance through driving discipline around  trade scorecard targets, product knowledge training , trade risk management processes
• Implement reorganization/ right placement  of trade resources to align with the overall trade transformation program  underway.     
• Providing support and direction into “winning” the most complex and profitable transactions
• Together with the countries and risk regularly review the credit quality of the trade portfolio to minimize cost of credit. Ensure team prioritizes credit training.
• Foster a strong “one team” mentality across the various trade product & sales teams seeking to maximize collaboration, cross-sell & team spirit in SSA and tighten connectivity and collaboration with the EMEA hub
• Strong partnership with the Trade Operations Teams constantly seeking ways to improve trade efficiency, turnaround times and ensuring we minimize operational losses/errors
• Strong partnership with Trade risk distribution to help trade effectively manage it’s balance sheet, individual credit exposures and increase skim revenues
• As the SSA  Trade Head be visible in representing the business at key trade conferences (chairperson/speaker) and getting the team seniors regular opportunities for appropriate visibility

Development Value:

• Part of the cluster TTS and the Regional Trade management team responsible for delivering against aggressive growth targets
• Experience gained of managing a broad and complex set of trade products
• Experience gained from managing a large and geographically/culturally diversified team
• Managing a large P&L business  
• Broad regional business exposure
• As part of a cluster/regional management team structure, great positioning as potential successor to senior roles at the cluster or regional level

Qualifications

• Master's Degree preferred.
• Extensive trade experience in global or Emerging market settings with complexity
• Proven track-record of team, people and business management skills 
• Strong credit skills and experience including broad knowledge of Citigroup credit processes
• Broad client management experience.

Skills:

• Excellent communication and written skills
• Superior organisational skills
• Superior strategic and analytical skills
• Superior client management & deal negotiation skills
• Ability to interact at all levels of senior management.

Competencies:

• Exceptional organization and process management ability.
• Excellent talent manager, with ability to attract and retain top talent
• Proven team player with  ability to motivate and influence at senior leadership levels
• Superior interpretive and problem solving skills.
• Ability to operate in a complex matrix environment.