Background

Trade Finance Operations Officer ( 1 Position)

Reporting to the Manager – Trade Finance and Financial Markets Operations, the role holder will be responsible for efficient and effective handling of the Trade Finance Operations transactions in accordance with the policies, process, and controls in to safeguard the bank against any risks or loss and contribute towards customer service excellence.

Responsibilities

• Timely and accurate processing of all trade transactions, including Import and Export Bills, Letters of Credit, guarantees, Contract Finance, and all the other Trade Finance products.
• Carry out due diligence of Trade Finance documents for completeness and any anomalies and escalation to the Senior Officer Trade Finance operations for guidance.
• Prepare drafts and Trade Finance documents e.g., Letters of Credit, guarantees, etc. in accordance with the operating guidelines.
• Draft appropriate cover letters and SWIFT messages for trade bills/ transactions at the different stages and avail them to the stakeholders.
• Document, release, confirm amend and close guarantee instructions in accordance with bank policies.
• Act on exceptions / outstanding items on the Nostro, LCs and Guarantees accounts (cash and non-cash covered).
• Monitor trade Transactions status through their lifecycle and advise Relationship Managers to engage customers to take corrective action.
• Resolve customer queries that relate to Trade Finance Operations within the agreed timelines and the mutual satisfaction of all parties.
• Comply with the set service standards in the Service Level Agreement.
• Escalate any process gaps that result into potential or actual loss to the Senior Officer Trade Finance operations in line with the incident reporting policy.
• Proper record keeping and referencing for easy identification and retrieval of records by monitoring teams.
• Screen the trade instructions at every stage to Identify and report suspicious activity in line with the AML/CFT, KYC programs.
• Provide advice to customers and/ or the sales team on trade transactions’ structuring from time to time.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree.
• Trade Finance Certification.
• Basic Banking Training in Trade Finance and international trade principles.
• Minimum banking experience of 3 years with 1 year banking experience in back office operations.
• Thorough understanding of Trade Finance processing procedures, rules & policies, operational risks awareness and counter party limits.
• Insight into the international rules and regulations that govern Trade Finance.
• The ability to engage with all the key stakeholders in and out of the organisation.
• Ability to prioritize daily tasks.
• Ability to work with strict deadlines.
• Customer oriented (Internal and external).
• High level of integrity and ethical standards.
• Excellent interpersonal and communications skills.
• Ability to pay attention to detail.
• Ability to effectively work within a team-oriented environment.
• Proactive approach to work with a high level of maturity and self-drive.
• Able to work under very demanding deadlines or timelines.

• Timely and accurate processing of all trade transactions, including Import and Export Bills, Letters of Credit, guarantees, Contract Finance, and all the other Trade Finance products.
• Carry out due diligence of Trade Finance documents for completeness and any anomalies and escalation to the Senior Officer Trade Finance operations for guidance.
• Prepare drafts and Trade Finance documents e.g., Letters of Credit, guarantees, etc. in accordance with the operating guidelines.
• Draft appropriate cover letters and SWIFT messages for trade bills/ transactions at the different stages and avail them to the stakeholders.
• Document, release, confirm amend and close guarantee instructions in accordance with bank policies.
• Act on exceptions / outstanding items on the Nostro, LCs and Guarantees accounts (cash and non-cash covered).
• Monitor trade Transactions status through their lifecycle and advise Relationship Managers to engage customers to take corrective action.
• Resolve customer queries that relate to Trade Finance Operations within the agreed timelines and the mutual satisfaction of all parties.
• Comply with the set service standards in the Service Level Agreement.
• Escalate any process gaps that result into potential or actual loss to the Senior Officer Trade Finance operations in line with the incident reporting policy.
• Proper record keeping and referencing for easy identification and retrieval of records by monitoring teams.
• Screen the trade instructions at every stage to Identify and report suspicious activity in line with the AML/CFT, KYC programs.
• Provide advice to customers and/ or the sales team on trade transactions’ structuring from time to time.

• The ability to engage with all the key stakeholders in and out of the organisation.
• Ability to prioritize daily tasks.
• Ability to work with strict deadlines.
• Customer oriented (Internal and external).
• High level of integrity and ethical standards.
• Excellent interpersonal and communications skills.
• Ability to pay attention to detail.
• Ability to effectively work within a team-oriented environment.
• Proactive approach to work with a high level of maturity and self-drive.
• Able to work under very demanding deadlines or timelines.

• Bachelor’s Degree.
• Trade Finance Certification.
• Basic Banking Training in Trade Finance and international trade principles.