Wealth Credit Services - Credit Approval Control Lead in London

Citi Wealth is a leading global provider of financial solutions catering to affluent, high-net worth, and ultra-high-net worth clients. Our lending business offers a diverse product portfolio, including Securities Backed Lending (SBL), Commercial Real Estate (CRE), Aircraft, Art-backed Finance, and bespoke solutions for Private Bank clients.

The Wealth Credit Services (WCS) team is an integral part of the Wealth Credit Management (WCM) organization. WCM is dedicated to providing integrated, end-to-end credit underwriting, transaction, and portfolio management partnering closely with all origination businesses within Citi's Private Bank and Wealth Management.

We are seeking an experienced professional to join our Credit Approval Control (CAC) team within Wealth Credit Services (WCS). The CAC team provides an independent and comprehensive Quality Control function at the credit approval stage, ensuring a robust control environment and continuous adherence to evolving credit policies, wealth product programs, and regulatory requirements. This team works closely with Underwriters, Center of Excellence (CoE) Analysts, and Team UW Heads to facilitate a seamless credit process and mitigate operational risks.

This position offers a unique opportunity to gain in-depth insight into the Wealth Lending and Underwriting process and interact with various areas within the Wealth organization in the EMEA region.

Key Role and Responsibilities:

• Act as a critical control point to ensure credit approvals adhere to applicable laws, regulations, and internal Citi Policies and Wealth Product Programs.
• Assess and confirm that credit facilities have obtained the appropriate levels of approval in accordance with Wealth Credit Risk (WCR) and Retail Credit Risk (RCR) Policies.
• Confirm that all loan parties are fully KYC compliant before authorizing any credit facility.
• Authorize new credit facilities approvals and subsequent modifications within the regional credit system ensuring all prerequisites are met.
• Ensure all required local regulatory documentation and information are complete and compliant prior to facility authorization.
• Conduct reviews of credit regulatory, and policy-driven data attributes within the credit system to ensure accuracy and integrity.
• Validate Critical Data Elements (CDEs) in the credit system to guarantee high-quality data capture for reliable downstream reporting.
• Review completeness of the executed legal documentation prior to CA authorization.
• Conduct regional CAC training sessions to ensure all stakeholders are informed and proficient regarding changes in the Quality Control process.
• Act as a key stakeholder and subject matter expert, representing the Credit Approval Control team in various workstreams and strategic initiatives across the Wealth and WCR businesses.
• Actively participate in working groups with Wealth Platform and Technology teams to expand the automation of the Quality Control checklist.
• Proactively identify and champion opportunities for process improvements, focusing on streamlining workflows and optimizing controls for maximum efficiency.
• Constructively contribute to the development and refinement of new procedures, standards, controls, and regulatory protocols, ensuring all process documentation is meticulously maintained.

Qualifications:

• Strong knowledge of lending products and credit risk concepts is required.
• Good understanding of Credit Memo and Loan Documentation Structure.
• Comprehensive knowledge of Citibank’s Credit Policies, Wealth Product Programs, Citi policies including KYC and AML. A firm grasp of the regional and local laws across EMEA is essential.
• Experience participating in and contributing to strategic projects, such as remediation efforts and regulatory-driven initiatives.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with team members, senior management, and stakeholders across various business lines and cross-functional groups.
• Proven ability to identify and escalate issues, coupled with the skill to formulate, propose, and execute effective solutions to complex problems.
• Multi-tasking, organizational, and time management skills, with a proven capacity for continuous follow-up and coordination with diverse stakeholders.
• A consistent, results-driven approach to all tasks and responsibilities, with a focus on achieving and exceeding goals.

Education and Skills:

• Bachelor’s degree is required.
• Solid attention to detail combined with strong initiative and an interactive, hands-on approach to problem-solving.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, with a proven ability to articulate complex ideas clearly and effectively.
• Prior working experience in a control function, credit management or banking/client service role is highly preferred.
• Strong influencing skills and the resilience to excel in a fast-paced environment where priorities are subject to frequent change.
• Full proficient with the Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, and PowerPoint).

What We Offer:

• A challenging and rewarding role within a dynamic and growing team.
• The opportunity to gain deep expertise in the underwriting process for a wide range of sophisticated lending products.
• A commitment to your professional development and career growth.

Citi is an equal opportunity employer, and qualified candidates will receive consideration without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law.