Operations Manager - Ernest Hunter Green Ltd in London

The Operations Manager is responsible for leading and managing the London Operations function, ensuring the efficient, controlled and compliant processing of all operational activities supporting the Bank's Corporate Banking business. The role has overall responsibility for operations relating to corporate lending, vanilla foreign exchange and vanilla trade finance products, ensuring high standards of service delivery, operational risk management, regulatory compliance and client service. The role acts as the operational lead for the London Branch, working closely with Front Office, Treasury, Risk, Finance, Compliance, Technology and Head Office functions to support business growth, maintain a strong control environment and deliver operational excellence.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the day-to-day operations function, ensuring that all transactions are processed accurately, efficiently and within agreed service levels.
• Develop and maintain robust operational procedures, implementing effective controls and ensuring that operational processes remain aligned with regulatory requirements and the Bank's internal policies.
• Have end-to-end responsibility for the operational processing and servicing of the Bank's corporate lending portfolio, including loan drawdowns, repayments, rollovers, amendments, interest and fee processing, loan servicing, covenant monitoring and operational support for both bilateral and syndicated facilities where applicable.
• Work closely with Relationship Managers, Credit Risk and Finance throughout the loan lifecycle to ensure timely execution and accurate record keeping.
• Oversee the settlement and processing of vanilla foreign exchange transactions, including spot and forward contracts, ensuring timely confirmation matching, settlement processing, reconciliation of nostro accounts, investigation of failed settlements and management of settlement risk through effective operational controls.
• Oversee all operational activities relating to vanilla trade finance products, including Letters of Credit, Documentary Collections, Bank Guarantees and Standby Letters of Credit, ensuring transactions are processed in accordance with applicable international rules while maintaining a high standard of customer service and operational accuracy.
• Maintain a robust operational risk and control framework across all activities, including identifying operational risks, implementing mitigating controls, investigating operational incidents, maintaining accurate risk reporting and ensuring that audit findings are addressed promptly.
• Support Internal Audit, External Audit and regulatory reviews while ensuring ongoing compliance with UK regulatory requirements, anti-money laundering, sanctions and financial crime policies.
• Lead, motivate and develop the Operations team, establishing clear objectives, managing performance and promoting a culture of accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement.
• Support succession planning, staff development and knowledge sharing to ensure the department maintains the appropriate level of capability and resilience.
• Build strong relationships with Front Office, Treasury, Finance, Risk, Compliance, Technology and Head Office Operations teams, acting as primary operational contact for the London Branch.
• Maintain effective relationships with correspondent banks, corporate clients, service providers, auditors and regulators where required.
• Actively support business change initiatives, including the implementation of new products, operational process improvements, system enhancements and regulatory change programmes.
• Contribute to business continuity planning, operational resilience initiatives and digital transformation projects to improve operational efficiency and strengthen the Bank's operating model.

Skills, Knowledge & Experience

• Extensive experience in banking operations within a corporate or international banking environment.
• Strong operational knowledge of corporate lending, vanilla foreign exchange and trade finance products.
• Proven experience leading and developing an operations team.
• Sound understanding of operational risk management, internal controls and governance.
• Experience of SWIFT messaging, payment processing and settlement operations.
• Good knowledge of UK banking regulations, AML, sanctions and financial crime requirements.