Executive Director- First Line Risk & Control - GCC

FAB, the UAE's largest bank and one of the world's most secure financial institutions, is dedicated to creating value for its employees, customers, shareholders, and communities. Through innovation, agility, and differentiation, FAB is committed to fostering growth.

We are looking for top talent and your success is our success. Accelerate your growth as you help us reach our goals and advance your career. Be ready to make your mark a top company, in an exciting and dynamic industry.

Job Purpose:

This is a Regional Role Representing the ownership and management of Risk in the  First Line and equivalent of the Country Chief Risk Officer helping in effective  ownership of risk in the first line under the 3 Lines of Defence and :

• To Drive the development of a strong Risk culture and Control environment in the country convering all financial and non financial risks across all businesses and functions.
• To Ensure an appropriate and effective control environment within all Front Office and Support activities, specifically:
  • The identification of all financial and non-financial risks introduced into  FAB
  • The introduction and embedding of appropriate and effective risk mitigants  to ensure that the inherent risk profile remains within the agreed risk appetite.
• To oversee the production of timely, relevant and complete management information which will enable the Country Management to assess the effectiveness of their respective control functions in relation to their individual regulatorily prescribed’ and allocated responsibilities.
• Work closely with the 2nd Line of Defense to support further embedding and maturity of the 3 Lines of Defense model and evolve a robust ‘Risk and Compliance’ culture across the 1 Line of Defense.
• Drive business head risk owners in the embedding of a comprehensive Conduct Risk framework to enable the identification, mitigation, management and reporting of Conduct Risk; and
• Drive clarity and collaboration across both the first and second lines of defense by introducing unified MI and systems that encourage and drive best practice. 

Execute all actions required based on relevant internal and external audits and work with the business for timely closure of Audit issues

Key Accountabilities:

1. Develop, maintain and own the Branch Risk profile covering all financial and non financial risks.
2. Ownership of the branch’s control framework to deliver reduced risk of non-financial control breaches, incorporating cross-functional supervision of non-financial risks (both operational and conduct related) within the First Line of Defense, to deliver:

• Enhanced governance – the framework must enable the assessment of effectiveness of controls across front office businesses.
• Control framework optimization – the framework must deliver simplification and delineation of control responsibilities across each front office business, streamline the control design and simplify reporting models.
• Improved responsiveness – pro-active management and execution of the control framework to meet the review and reporting requirements of the Branch and any individuals who may be held accountable for the business and associated risks by the relevant Regulators.

First Line Risk Reporting and Remediation

The production and provision of independent MIS and reports that support and enable the branch senior management to assess the appropriateness and effectiveness of their respective operational control environment.

Prevention / Risk Assessment 

• Oversees and coordinates the timely and effective production by the Business Heads and Support Units of the annual ‘Risk Control Self-Assessments’ (RCSAs) and ‘Business Risk Assessments’ (BRAs).
• Contribution to the rationalization, cleaning, efficiency of controls while reducing risks
• Conduct training and awareness sessions aiming to strengthen a risk mitigation culture. 
• Oversee the production by the Business heads of any ‘New Product’ approval requests to ensure they align to the Branch’s ‘New Product Policy’;
• Work with Business Heads for the development and implementation of department policies, procedures and controls covering all areas of the business

Strategy Development and Implementation

• Contribute to the formulation, implementation and delivery strategy in line with the Bank's vision, mission, values and priorities (from a risk perspective).
• Assist in the translation of Strategy into operational business plans for the short, medium and long term within the department(s) and ensure that performance is monitored, reported and delivered and necessary actions are taken to achieve the strategy and plans with a particular focus on Risk management.

Leadership

• Act as a role model in First Line in relation to compliance, conduct and standards by driving adherence to organisational values and ethics by employees to ensure the establishment of a value driven culture within the FAB Franchise.
• Champion the development of a risk culture within FAB Asia to drive heightened awareness and understanding of prudent risk, regulatory and conduct practices and further advise and guide the business on technical aspects so that key stakeholders are equipped with the necessary knowledge and capability to take risk-based decisions on behalf of the Group.

Regulatory

• Ensure local and applicable regulatory guidelines are adhered to when rolling out policies, procedures and reviews.

Reporting

• Act as the SPOC for Buisness management related tasks e.g. DLP, BCP, Compliance reviews, RCSA co-ordination, SOP’s, Product Approvals, PPG addendums, ARCHER reporting, assist with client on-boarding documentation and credit approvals.
• Undertake ad-hoc projects and duties assigned by Manager.

Knowledge & Experience:

• A degree in one of the following disciplines (preferred):Finance or Business Management/Administration or Accounting
• More than 10 years working experience in a financial institution
• Previous experience in managing current and emerging financial and non financial risk, developing risk policies and frameworks, knowledge of risk management approach for risks such as Information & Cyber Security, Data Privacy, Compliance, Operational Risk, Fraud, Reputational, ESG and Business Continuity.
• Experience in developing and maintaining a relevant and current risk profle covering financial and non financial risks for a business unit or branch.
• The candidate will need to demonstrate:
• Leadership capability to influence and drive senior stakeholders to establish appropriate risk norms and strong control environment.
• Understanding of what an operational control environment looks like and experience in developing / managing an appropriate reporting framework
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to navigate through a ‘functions led’ organization at all levels
• Attention to detail and a well-organized approach to work
• The ability to priorities work and perform well under pressure
• An analytical approach to problem-solving
• Proven stakeholder management capabilities
• Capability to manage through  influence  and  the  confidence  to  provide  support and challenge to Senior Management and EXCO members