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Senior Trade Finance Specialist

Job Summary

• Assist in articulation, ownership, and execution of the TB strategy for Business Banking, manage and deliver business objectives through the SME sales team in the commercial banking segment.
• Manage and grow TB business each year across the SME clients in the commercial banking segment.
• Manage the returns while employing sound risk management disciplines in the SME banking segment.
• To lead and manage senior level client interaction and sales.

Key Accountabilities/Deliverables/Outcomes

Sales: Time Split 50%

• Accountable for the delivery of TB revenues from Business Banking clients in the commercial banking segment.
• Develop and execute the sales strategy to deliver the revenue ambition through a portfolio of existing and target list in SME.
• Increase client penetration and revenues for the bank by actively promoting the bank’s network and product capabilities (cross selling). Replicate TB solutions and successes within the portfolio.
• Lead the team to achieve quantitative and qualitative performance objectives for your portfolio. Leverage the existing sales tools and techniques to identify opportunities for new/incremental business – account planning and pipeline management to achieve sales/revenue targets.
• Maintain a detailed and up to date knowledge of the bank’s comprehensive products capabilities and their application to clients’ needs and use this knowledge in structuring of solutions.
• Ensure smooth interaction and communication with the Customer Support team, product development and customer services teams within Business Banking team. Drive alignment with key stakeholders; TB teams across multiple geographies, SME Banking and operations to achieve TB priorities.
• Lead client insight events and industry forums to showcase ABSA’s leadership in Transaction Banking and to build the brand awareness.
• Maintain high performance standards and role model behaviors that demonstrate the bank values.

Service and Operational Rigor: Time Split 30%

• Working with the SME service team ensure delivery of world class customer service practices and ensure adherence to ABSA Service standards.
• Lead the team in assisting the SME coverage teams in the commercial banking segment develop relationship account plans for their customer portfolios.
• Achieve operational rigor excellence in all aspects of procedures and processes undertaken to ensure 100% compliance.
• Minimize potential of fraudulent applications by following each product criteria.
• Ensuring that pricing is authorized by as per mandate Business Banking Director and Transactional Baking Director, agreed with Customer, and properly set up to ensure 100% collection upon product/customer set up.
• Follow the TB end-to-end product set-up process ensuring new set-ups are authorized and properly set up.
• Ensure compliance with operations risk & rigor requirements e.g., Health & Safety standards and security of premises.

Team Support and Management: Time Split 20 %

• Set SMART individual objectives that are in line with and seek to achieve the teams’ overall objectives. Review and drive performance of the team against the objectives on a regular basis,
• Identify training needs and recommend training plans to satisfy those needs for the CSAs.

Role/person specification

Preferred Qualification

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent academic qualifications
• Postgraduate or equivalent academic qualifications

Preferred Experience

• Over 5 years’ experience in SME/Business Banking
• Strong people and sales management skills experience
• Frontline Transactional sales experience

Knowledge and Skills

• Strong people and sales management skills, and experience in banking.
• Solid and proven frontline transactional sales experience across Working Capital, Trade Finance (documentary trade products i.e., LCs, bonds & guarantees; bank & country risk products), Supply Chain Financing & Cash Management (Regional/Local payments, receipts and liquidity management structures, system infrastructure, etc.)
• Skills for analyzing and formatting data provided by Finance and other sources.
• Strong sales management skills and experience, ideally with relevant banking or business/corporate banking background
• Proven treasury, credit, and country risk exposure

Behavioural Competencies

•  Open minded, good listener, flexible with ‘think out of the box’ mentality.
•  Disciplined approach to deal execution/client follows up.
• Strong cross-cultural awareness
•  Excellent interpersonal skills
• Team player

Technical Competencies

• Excellent knowledge of the banking polices standards, local regulations and legislation of the prevention of money laundering.
• Judgment / Managing Complexity
• Strong negotiation and presentation skills; ability to communicate with all levels in an organization.

Value Chain Finance Execution Manager

Job Summary

• To achieve profitability of the assigned supplier and distributor finance portfolio within PBB and CIB ecosystem through identifying opportunities for providing finance solutions related working capital finance, asset finance, term loans etc.
• To deliver value and growth for distributor and supplier financing, by driving and integrating the operational plans and strategic sales directives in alignment with the Business Banking strategy

Key Responsibilities

Profitability and Revenue Management

Outputs and measures

• Ensured continuous clarity and timely co-ordination of the end-to-end processes to both Suppliers and Distributors and buyers.
• Manage the on boarding strategy to achieve the highest possible revenue results.
• Build on and streamline the documentation of on boarding processes.
• Manage the buyer relationship and the intermediation between Suppliers and Distributors and the buyer on all Suppliers and Distributors finance related matters.
• Coordinate with Suppliers and Distributors banks to ensure that the clients received required priority interest in asset financing.
• Track and manage Suppliers and Distributors activity within the internal systems and oversight dashboards.
• Coordinate and execute the on-boarding of Suppliers and Distributors for various Suppliers and Distributors of finance programs.
• Proactively reach out to Suppliers and Distributors to promote the various supply chain finance programs and maintain programme utilization.
• Handhold Suppliers and Distributors on the programme to maturity.
• Successfully coordinate with back-office teams (Operations) to ensure timely Suppliers and Distributors setups.
• Regularly work on Suppliers and Distributors analysis and other materials for client presentations.
• Manage daily buyer communication for important Suppliers and Distributors
• Conduct market research to identify potential clients.

Sales and Service

Outputs and measures

• Leverage and optimizes people, resources, channels, business and risk controls in line with market potential to maximize business growth, retention and profitability targets.
• Develop and drive measures and manages the sales plan in support of the Business Banking sales strategic objectives.
• Identify leads within the ecosystems and direct to the relevant Business Banking relationship bankers and work with them to convert the leads to profitable business for the bank.
• Identify business opportunities and develops tactics/ sales plan to leverage these; and keep abreast of market developments and market potential, adjusting sales targets and tactics accordingly.
• Implement processes to monitor and manage Distributors and Suppliers’ capacity to leverage market potential.
• Manage the proactive sales calling programme for distributors and suppliers, i.e. contact key clients (top 20 distributors and suppliers) in collaboration with the
• relationship bankers in order to understand customer needs, offer finance solutions with view to increasing volumes of business written as well as strengthening relationships.
• Utilize MIS and work with Finance to review performance and profitability and to work with the relationship bankers in completing the CVCA and Sales Force tools in order strengthen the selling process.
• Drive a culture of service excellence by planning, monitoring, and managing the implementation and continuous enforcement of service level agreements internally with interdependent business areas (e.g., credit, account maintenance etc., service standards and service initiatives) when servicing customers.
• Develop strategies and tactics to retain market share through improvement of existing service level standards and by ensuring that service tactics support the sales strategy.
• Attend to the resolution of customer complaints escalated through the relationship bankers as related to distributors and suppliers; resolve or direct customer queries accordingly (e.g. service, pricing etc.).
• Work with relationship manager to conduct root cause analysis to address and resolve customer issues; and to prevent recurrence.
• Conduct upskilling to relationship bankers about distributor and supplier market in order ensure the development of the required sales and service competencies.

Measures:

• Tracks, reports and achieves sales targets and budgets.
• Achieve Net Promoter Score targets.
• Resolve customer queries within SLA.

Risk and compliance management

Outputs and measures

• Adheres to internal risk management requirements and external regulatory requirements (e.g., distributor license requirements) as per predefined requirements.
• Conducts Know Your Customer (KYC) as per defined procedures and compliance requirements.
• Conducts a needs analysis to identify customer needs effectively when selling advances or giving product advice, in line with regulatory requirements.
• Completes disclosure to the customers in terms of accreditation, service fees, and commission, in accordance with the KYC guidelines.
• Conducts a needs analysis prior to opening new accounts or providing finance solutions recommendations.
• Adheres to all internal risk related policies and guidelines, including KYC.
• Keeps proper records in terms of local financial legislation and regulatory requirements.
• Facilitates a sound working partnership with Credit to stimulate business growth without compromising the quality of lending and risk.
• Ensures that the distributors and suppliers are informed in the general knowledge and application of bank credit principles and practices.
• Provides input and arbitration of credit decisions where required.

Measures:

• Adherence to risk management frameworks when servicing customers
• Achieve clean audits.

KEY SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE AND PERSONAL COMPETENCIES REQUIRED

Skills

• Good knowledge of trade finance products available globally, their features, applications, and potential improvements and to combine these with the ability to translate these into the local market.
• In-depth knowledge of the local market, customers, and competitors
• Ability to communicate at all levels of the organization both internally & externally.
• Ability to keep abreast on changes in the market, customer requirements, competitors’ responses, and the bank’s ability to use information to identify new business opportunities.
• Strong interpersonal, communication, presentation, and organizational skills
• Comprehensive knowledge of banking operations.
• Organizational and people management skills.
• Strong analytical skills

Knowledge

• Relevant business-related tertiary qualification particularly in the Commercial field (Business flavor), e.g. business related degree qualification.
• Strong numerical skills and financial acumen to analyze evaluate and identify trends in complex consolidated financial statements, balance sheets and ratios.
• A sound understanding of cash – flow cycles pertaining to the industry being analyzed.
• A good knowledge of financial spreadsheet applications (e.g., Excel) to capture and analyze financial data.
• Good knowledge of general banking practices and procedures.
• A good understanding of the principles and practices of business economics and the current business economic environment.
• A good current knowledge of different industry sectors and sector risk profiles/ trends; this includes an understanding of the impact of climactic conditions on the agricultural market (if there are agric clients in the portfolio).
• A thorough knowledge of multi-level products available to business banking customers (features & benefits) and pricing structures.
•  A good knowledge of financial investment options, vehicle and asset finance and electronic banking options for lead generation purposes.
• A good knowledge of competitor offerings and structures.
• A sound knowledge and understanding of Credit principles and practices, including an understanding of credit application, securities and balance sheet requirements.
• A strong working knowledge of the terms and conditions of multiple legal entities (companies, close corporations, sole proprietorships etc.) in the commercial market and the legislative restrictions & requirements governing these from a financial services perspective.
• Sound understanding of current taxation laws as they apply to the portfolio of customers.
• Negotiation skills.
• A good working knowledge of administration processes and procedures pertaining to Business Banking transactions.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Knowledge of how to use the Group Reference Guide to access/ look up relevant information.

Personal competencies

• Highly numerate/ Data rational: Is good with numerical data, operates on facts, and enjoys assessing and measuring.
• Inquisitive and curious: is keen to understand and learn about all facets of the Business client, which also encompasses the Macro and Micro Economic environment.
• Socially Confident: Self-assured, enjoys meeting people, creates a good impression in social situations, is good with words and knows what to say (even when communicating disagreeable information).
• Persuasive: Enjoys selling and negotiating, changes the opinions of others, is convincing with arguments.
• Conceptual: Enjoys the complex and the abstract, intellectually curious.
• Analytical: Identifies and analyses patterns and trends, sees the relationship between cause and effect, has an enquiring mind.
• Critical: Good at probing the facts, challenges assumptions, sees disadvantages.
• Observant: Is quick to identify potential opportunities, notices the details of situations and is in touch with the local environment.
• Innovative: Generates ideas, shows ingenuity and thinks up solutions.
• Forward planning: Prepares well in advance, enjoys setting targets, and plans activities.
• Controlling: Takes the lead, directs, manages, supervises and organizes others.
• Systematic: Likes to get every detail right, methodical and organized, precise, accurate, neat and tidy with paperwork.
• Resilient: Maintains enthusiasm despite setbacks, is rarely upset by criticism, and is emotionally restrained.
• Displays empathy and helpfulness towards others.

Drive

• Active: Energetic, vigorous, enjoys being out & about.
• Results orientated: Strongly motivated to compete and achieve impressive results, strives to improve, has a “can do” attitude and enjoys challenges.

Knowledge Competencies

• Business Knowledge and Contribution
• Risk Management
• Project Management
• People Management
• Financial Management
• Change Management
• Knowledge Management

Inter–personal Competencies.

• Delivering Results
• Serving Our Customers
• Communicating with Impact
• Working in teams
• Building Relationships
• Leadership

Personal Competencies

• Being Proactive
• Resilience
• Problem Solving Style
• Acting with Integrity
• Empowering

RECOMMENDED MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education Level

• Strong academic track record- Minimum university undergraduate degree
• Computer Literacy

Experience

• Over 5 years’ experience in Business Banking or Corporate and Investment Banking
• Strong people and sales management skills experience
• Frontline Transactional sales experience
• Ability to understand, interpret and conduct financial statements analysis will be an added advantage.
• Awareness/knowledge of the full range of Banking products and services (including Operational products, Electronic Banking, Treasury, Foreign Trade.

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