Senior Manager – Corporate Operations

About the role

Sidian Bank is looking for a Senior Manager Corporate Operations to lead corporate operations, risk control and regulatory compliance. The role provides strategic leadership over treasury, trade, custody and payments operations, driving operational excellence, automation, audit issue closure and continuous improvement, and gives direct leadership to the managers of Treasury, Trade, Custody and Payments Operations. It is a full-time position based in Nairobi.

Key responsibilities

• Set and drive the corporate operations agenda across treasury, trade, custody and payments, aligned with business growth, customer commitments and regulatory expectations.
• Oversee end-to-end performance, including transaction processing, settlements, reconciliations, documentation, reporting, investigations and exception management within agreed SLAs and cut-off times.
• Maintain a strong first-line control environment with maker-checker discipline, AML/CFT and sanctions controls, audit readiness, issue closure and timely escalation of material risks.
• Partner with business, treasury, risk, compliance, finance, technology, legal, audit and external counterparties to remove bottlenecks and improve service.
• Sponsor process simplification, automation, straight-through processing, reconciliation improvements and capacity planning.
• Provide governance reporting on volumes, SLA performance, exceptions, risk events, audit actions and regulatory matters.
• Lead and develop the Treasury, Trade, Custody and Payments Operations managers, strengthening accountability, capability and succession readiness.
• Decide within delegated authority, escalate material issues to the Head of Operations, recommend process and control enhancements, and allocate work and resources.

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Accounting, Banking, Economics, Operations Management or a related field; Master's degree is an added advantage.
• Professional banking qualification such as AKIB or an equivalent recognised certification is an added advantage.
• Training in operational risk, AML/CFT, compliance, project management, Lean Six Sigma or business process improvement is advantageous.
• At least 8-10 years of progressive experience in banking operations, corporate operations, service delivery, operational risk or related functions.
• At least 5 years in a senior leadership role managing multi-unit operations teams in a regulated financial institution.
• Demonstrated experience in service delivery management, audit issue closure, operational risk control, regulatory compliance, process improvement and stakeholder management.

Required skills

• Corporate operations, treasury settlements, trade finance, custody operations, payments processing, reconciliations, exception management and operational risk management.
• Good understanding of Kenyan banking regulations, CBK prudential expectations, POCAMLA, data protection requirements and internal control standards.
• Ability to interpret operational data, define KPIs, prepare management reports and turn insights into corrective action.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and working knowledge of core banking, workflow, service management, reporting and issue-tracking systems.
• Understanding of business continuity, incident management, outsourcing/vendor risk and change management.

The application is made through the recruitment agency advertising the vacancy.