Senior Credit Officer in London

This is an excellent opportunity for a Director, Counterparty Credit Adjudication at BMO. Join our London‑based Counterparty Credit Second Line of Defense team as a senior, autonomous credit professional overseeing a rapidly expanding and dynamic portfolio of Banks, Insurance, Pension plans and Non‑Bank Financial Institutions. You’ll leverage financial statement analysis skills and strong expertise in trading products—along with solid knowledge of the European market—to deliver independent, objective assessments and adjudication credit proposals. This position is based in Central London and in‑office collaboration is required for 3‑4 days a week.

Provides independent, objective review and adjudication of credit applications and transactions for an assigned portfolio. Ensures the credit quality of the assigned portfolio is maintained within the Bank’s risk tolerance, policies & procedures, and meet financing guidelines.

In this role, you will apply independent judgment to provide effective challenge on credit requests including complex transactions across trading products. You will also lead ongoing portfolio monitoring, ensuring that credit quality is maintained, emerging risks are identified early, and exposures remain within the bank’s risk appetite and established credit guidelines.

You will be in frequent and direct contact with the desk heads and traders behind the deals you sanction and are expected to work with ease in a dealing room environment.

Responsibilities

• Credit Decisioning & Effective Challenge: Review and communicate credit decisions with clear, well supported rationale.
• Provide effective challenge on structures, terms, conditions, and collateral.
• Evaluate risk‑return tradeoffs and ensure transactions align with credit policy and risk appetite.
• Approve exceptions in accordance with established standards.
• Oversee ongoing monitoring of the European portfolio: limit adherence, stress exposure ensuring credit quality and early identification of emerging risks.
• Maintain awareness of market and economic trends impacting the portfolio.
• Ensure exposures remain within risk appetite and aligned with Bank guidelines.
• Work with partners to ensure strong risk controls, monitoring, and reporting across both transactional and portfolio levels.

Product & Industry Expertise

• Apply trading product and counterparty credit expertise (FX, derivatives, financing) to assess complex or non‑routine situations.
• Leverage strong industry knowledge to propose sound, creative credit solutions.
• Stay current on industry developments, competitive practices, and regulatory expectations.

Stakeholder Engagement & Leadership

• Build strong relationships with Front Office, risk partners, and external stakeholders.
• Act as a trusted advisor to senior leaders and influence decision making.
• Participate in committees, working groups, and enterprise level initiatives.
• Serve as a senior specialist resource across the organization.

Coaching, Guidance & Knowledge Transfer

• Provide credit coaching to business partners and colleagues, enhancing structuring, risk awareness, and policy understanding.
• Communicate complex or abstract concepts in simple, actionable terms.

Strategic Insight, Analysis & Process Improvement

• Identify emerging issues and trends and recommend enhancements to credit processes.
• Lead or contribute to operational improvements, reporting enhancements, and analytics initiatives.
• Integrate data from multiple sources to improve monitoring, efficiency, and insight generation.
• Drive change management and execution of strategic initiatives.

Qualifications

• Typically 9+ years of relevant experience and post‑secondary degree in a related field of study or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Credit Qualifications and associated credit knowledge and skills according to the established qualification standards.
• Expert knowledge of banking products & services.
• Expert knowledge of industry trends and regulations.
• Expert knowledge of credit portfolio management policies & procedures, and financing guidelines.
• Proven leadership skills.
• Seasoned expert with knowledge of the European Financial Institutions market.
• Technical leader viewed as a thought leader for innovation.
• Analytical and problem solving skills - Expert.
• Influence skills - Expert.
• Collaboration & team skills; with a focus on cross‑group collaboration - Expert.
• Able to manage ambiguity.

Please note you must have the Right to Work in the UK for this role.