Trade Clients Solutions Manager at CITIBANK

The business landscape in Nigeria is evolving very fast, though lagging behind Cash Management products, the technology evolution happening in local and international trade is gathering momentum with CBN

clearing the way for increasing automation of hitherto manual processes within the economy of Nigeria.

In addition, the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting drop in commodity prices and multiplier effect on foreign reserves of many African Nations gave rise to the CBN focusing more on Import Substitution strategy and providing finances for backward integration for critical companies operating in Nigeria.

Regionally, the recently launched AFcFTA and the attendant unveiling of the PAPSS platform is proof that African Countries are willing to increase intra-African trade and ease the challenges of looking for convertible currencies to pay for their Imports.

All the scenarios above dictates that a Trade Clients Solutions (TCS) staff must be able to provide a full suite of Trade Solutions to Clients of Citibank Nigeria.

The Trade Client Solutions (TCS) staff, must have close proximity to buying centers & behavior.  The staff will be responsible for originating (all Trade products including EAF & Structured Trades), structuring and executing on deals.  This staff (working within a team) will also champion acquisition and deepening wallet with our GSG/ PS/ TTLC/ CCB Trade clients in Presence & HMCs (ex-FI clients).

He/She will be assigned a list of Trade clients to be managed as an owner.

Some of the duties of  TCS staff are as follows:

• Managing (end-to-end) the Clients' Trade Products needs with a view to significantly growing  share of wallet of the client customers’ trade business and the corresponding revenues.
• Identifying trade opportunities in the Nigerian market and develop products and processes with a view to significantly encourage the customers to adopt Citdirect and other electronic methods and digitization initiatives. This will enable straight through processing thereby increasing the capacity of the bank to offer better client experience and reduce operational costs to the bank and increase margins on trade products.
• Develop partnerships with regulators and other stake-holders to enable Citi obtain approvals and quick understanding of various circulars issued by regulators impacting our trade clients.
• Identify and aggressively drive growth and penetration of new trade platforms and payment systems  in Nigeria.

Trade Products is one of the two key product groups in our Treasury and Trade Solutions business. The digital transformation strategy of the firm, the aggressive push for digitization reforms across markets including Nigeria continues to accentuate the criticality of this role.

As clients transform their Trade Portfolio for efficiency and to meet the emerging and changing needs of their businesses, consistent with the macroeconomic environments, the need for innovative products will continue to be a critical element that underlie the quality of our engagement and  relationship with our clients in the drive to grow share of wallet.

Responsibilities:

• New Product rollout including documenting business requirements, conceptualizing, development, implementation, piloting and market roll-out.
• Manage (end to end) existing trade products to achieve revenue and other set goals
• Interface with Relationship Managers, Implementation, Electronic Banking and Operations & Technology to obtain customer feedback and processing metrics that can aid in new product development and enhancement of existing products.
• Promote the use of automation and play a role in industry-wide initiatives to increase adoption of PAPSS and other CBN/AFcFTA initiatives by Trade clients of Citi Nigeria.
• Develop customized, efficient and cost-effective trade solutions for customers.
• Manage Partnerships / Alliances related to the product suite.
• Become a Subject matter expert responsible for successful knowledge transfer to internal business partners and guidance to Sales / Relationship Managers and other customer facing units in respect of devising marketing strategies (training, materials and support) to enable sales of trade  products and conversion of the bank’s target market.
• Competitive understanding of the market place, customer need identification and development of strategies and tactics to grow share and revenues for profitability
• Implementation of Product Plans which encompasses: Product Offering Definition, Development, Testing and Launch, Marketing strategies, Pricing Strategies, Training, Operations and Tech Roadmap, Pricing Models, Sales and Distribution, Delivery Channels, Metrics and Performance Management., Capacity Planning etc.
• Prepare and ensure Product Programs are approved in a timely manner.
• Take full ownership for P& L for Trade Products.
• Grow P&L for existing trade products as well as new introductions. Develop metrics for monitoring performance and institute a disciplined process for analysis and reporting at agreed frequency.
• The replication of Citi’s global capabilities is a key requirement of this role. At least an episodic deal must be booked annually.
• Increase trade assets and volume by at least 10% annually.
• Manage products through internal strategic partnership with Sales, Operations, Relationship Management, Legal, Financial Control, Treasury and other local and regional peer for successful delivery of all products.
• Establish strong market presence through membership and active participation in driving industry initiatives, become positive change agent throw enthronement of best practices leveraging on knowledge from other climes.
• Risk Management for the Products (ownership of Rate, Credit, Regulatory and Operational Risk) and its management through the Product Program Process.

Qualifications:

• At least 7 years of relevant experience
• Working knowledge of product management, program management, and marketing
• Good understanding of macro-economics, international trade and local business dynamics
• Experience in Trade Product Management. Experience in an ICT related function, Fintechs  is an advantage.
• Good communication (written and verbal) and interpersonal skill
• Project Management skills
• Strong quantitative and analytical skills
• Strong creative thinking capability, come up with solutions and innovations
• Relationship Management skills
• Good presentation skills
• Self-starter

Education:

• Minimum of a first degree in a numerate discipline. MBA and/or professional accounting qualification is an added advantage
• Candidates must also have a minimum of 10 - 12 years post-graduation experience, out of which at least 7 years must have been in the banking industry.