AVP, Control & Governance

JOB SUMMARY / INTRODUCTION

• The role supports the GM MO Control & Governance function by executing and monitoring first-line control activities across Global Markets Middle Office processes, ensuring control discipline, timely exception escalation and accurate evidence management.
• The role performs day-to-day control monitoring across trade controls, risk monitoring, reconciliations, exceptions, breaks, lifecycle events and governance reporting, working under the direction of the VP & Head of GM MO Control & Governance.
• The role helps ensure that trading permissions controls, booking template controls, internal and Islamic trade booking controls, off-market monitoring, counterparty exposure monitoring, reconciliation checks and control reporting are performed consistently and escalated appropriately.
• The role works closely with GM MO Trade Support, Front Office, Global Markets Operations, Product Control, Market Risk, Finance, Compliance, Technology, Credit, Reference Data and regional teams to support issue resolution, root-cause analysis, control evidence and operating-model discipline.
• The role does not own Dealer Assist, client activation coordination, T0 booking support, trade enrichment or same-day validation delivery, as these activities sit under the GM MO Trade Support pillar.
• Functional Coverage: Control execution and monitoring activities across trade controls, risk monitoring, reconciliations, exceptions, breaks, lifecycle events, control evidence and control reporting.
• Product / Process Coverage: FX/MM, Rates, Derivatives, Commodities, Capital Markets and related Global Markets processing activities including trading permissions checks, booking template checks, off-market indicators, counterparty exposure monitoring, internal/external reconciliations and settlement-fail monitoring.
• Geographic Coverage: UAE and international locations / hubs where GM Middle Office Control & Governance support is required.
• Stakeholder Coverage: VP & Head of GM MO Control & Governance, GM MO Trade Support, Front Office, Sales, Trading, Global Markets Operations, Product Control, Market Risk, Finance, Compliance, Technology, Credit, Reference Data and regional teams.
• Control Focus: Timely control execution, accurate investigation, evidence retention, aged-item tracking, escalation quality, KPI/KRI inputs and recurring-issue remediation.
• People / Team Context: Individual contributor or team lead within the Control & Governance team, supporting Specialists where assigned and coordinating with peer AVPs across Collateral Management and Reporting.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Control Execution and Operating Discipline

• Execute assigned GM MO Control & Governance activities in line with approved SOPs, control standards, escalation protocols and evidence requirements.
• Perform daily, periodic and event-driven control checks across assigned Global Markets products and processes.
• Maintain disciplined control logs, issue trackers, exception records, evidence files and escalation documentation.
• Support the VP & Head of GM MO Control & Governance in implementing the control operating model, SOP updates, control library requirements and governance routines.
• Identify recurring issues, control gaps, data-quality issues and process breakdowns, and support remediation planning.
Trade Controls
• Perform trading permissions control checks against approved desk mandates, product permissions, system entitlements and operating standards.
• Perform booking template and desk business model control checks to identify booking inconsistencies, inappropriate template usage or policy deviations.
• Support review of internal trade booking controls and Islamic trade booking controls where applicable.
• Review amendment and cancellation control evidence, including approvals, rationale, thresholds and escalation requirements.
• Escalate breaches, repeated exceptions or unresolved control issues to the VP & Head of GM MO Control & Governance and relevant owner functions.
Risk Monitoring and Surveillance Support
• Perform off-market trade monitoring checks and coordinate escalation of indicators requiring review by Product Control, Market Risk, Front Office or Compliance.
• Support counterparty exposure monitoring activities by tracking exceptions, threshold breaches, pending clarifications and required stakeholder actions.
Validate completeness of monitoring outputs, exception comments, investigation evidence and escalation status.
Identify trends in off-market indicators, exposure breaches, late actions or recurring control exceptions.
• Provide inputs into risk-monitoring dashboards, KRI reporting and governance forums.

Reconciliations and Exception Governance

• Perform or oversee assigned internal reconciliation checks, including front-to-back, system-to-system, T0 and position-related reconciliations where applicable.
• Support external reconciliation follow-up with custodians, counterparties, brokers, clearing channels or market infrastructure providers where applicable.
• Track failed trades, alleged trades, settlement fails, aged breaks and unresolved exceptions within agreed escalation standards.
• Coordinate root-cause analysis for recurring breaks, aged items and high-impact exceptions.
• Ensure reconciliation evidence, exception commentary and remediation actions are complete, accurate and available for management review.

Lifecycle Events and Control Support

• Monitor assigned lifecycle event controls, including credit events, corporate actions, settlement-related lifecycle updates and other post-trade control triggers where applicable.
• Coordinate with Trade Support, Operations, Product Control, Market Risk and other stakeholders to ensure lifecycle-related control issues are investigated and escalated.
• Track open lifecycle-event control items, evidence completion, owner actions and closure status.
• Support timely escalation of high-impact lifecycle events or unresolved control matters to the VP & Head of GM MO Control & Governance.
• Contribute to remediation of recurring lifecycle control issues through process clarification, control enhancement and stakeholder follow-up

Reporting, MI and Governance Inputs

• Prepare inputs for management dashboards, KPI/KRI reporting, control packs and governance forums relating to assigned control activities.
• Provide accurate commentary on exceptions, aged items, trends, breaches, remediation actions and control performance.
• Support regulatory reporting quality oversight by tracking rejections, breaks, owner actions and remediation status where assigned.
• Ensure reporting inputs are accurate, complete, timely and supported by appropriate evidence.
• Support automation and dashboard enhancement opportunities for control reporting and issue tracking.

Audit, RCSA and Control Evidence Support

• Support audit, RCSA, operational risk and control-effectiveness activities by preparing control evidence, issue status updates and remediation tracking.
• Maintain auditable evidence for assigned controls, including source data, review notes, approvals, exception comments and closure records.
• Assist in documenting process gaps, control issues, remediation plans and management action updates.
• Support closure of audit and control-review actions within assigned responsibility areas.
• Escalate overdue actions, missing evidence or unresolved audit/control issues to the VP & Head of GM MO Control & Governance.

Stakeholder Management and Issue Resolution

• Coordinate with Front Office, GM MO Trade Support, Global Markets Operations, Market Risk, Product Control, Finance, Compliance, Technology, Credit and regional teams on control investigations and issue resolution.
• Maintain clear communication on control findings, required actions, deadlines, owners and escalation status.
• Provide independent challenge where control issues, incomplete evidence or recurring weaknesses are identified.
• Support effective hand-offs between Trade Support execution activities and Control & Governance oversight activities.
• Promote a disciplined, evidence-based and timely escalation culture across assigned control processes.

Process Improvement and Automation

• Identify opportunities to simplify controls, reduce manual effort, improve evidence capture and enhance reporting accuracy.
• Participate in UAT, workflow design, dashboard development and automation initiatives impacting Control & Governance processes.
• Support standardisation of control checklists, control logs, escalation templates and governance reporting formats.
• Contribute to continuous improvement initiatives to strengthen control effectiveness, reduce recurring issues and improve operational resilience.
• Coach Specialists were assigned and support knowledge transfer across products and control processes.

Frameworks, Boundaries and Decision-Making Authority

• Operate within Group policies, approved procedures, organisational governance frameworks and approved authorisation matrices.
• Execute assigned controls and escalation activities within approved SOPs, operating standards, control libraries and evidence requirements.
• Escalate material control issues, unresolved exceptions, aged breaks, regulatory reporting breaks, missing evidence and repeated process failures to the VP Head of GM MO Control & Governance.
• Maintain clear boundaries with GM MO Trade Support: Trade Support owns execution enablement, while Control & Governance owns independent control monitoring, evidence, exception tracking and governance escalation.
• Support audit, RCSA, KPI/KRI and control-effectiveness processes by maintaining accurate records, timely evidence and clear action tracking.
• Exercise judgement within delegated authority for prioritising control reviews, coordinating issue resolution and escalating exceptions.

Key Working Relationships

• Internal stakeholders include the VP & Head of GM MO Control & Governance, Head of Global Markets Middle Office, GM MO Trade Support, Front Office, Sales and Trading Desks, Global Markets Operations, Product Control, Market Risk, Finance, Compliance, Legal, Technology, Credit, Operational Risk, Internal Audit, Reference Data, KYC, GM Documentation, Service Governance and regional Middle Office teams.
• External stakeholders may include counterparties, custodians, brokers, clearing channels, clearing houses, market infrastructure providers, external auditors and regulators where Control & Governance support is required for investigation, evidence, reporting quality, reconciliation or exception resolution

REQUIREMENTS / QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, Banking, Economics, Business Administration, Accounting, Risk Management or a related discipline; professional qualification preferred.
• 7+ years of experience in Global Markets Operations, Middle Office, Control, Governance, Reconciliations, Regulatory Reporting, Product Control, Market Risk, Collateral Management or related first-line control functions.
• Strong understanding of Global Markets products including FX, Money Markets, Rates, Derivatives, Commodities, Capital Markets and structured products.
Good knowledge of trade lifecycle controls, booking controls, amendment/cancellation controls, reconciliations, settlement-fail monitoring, lifecycle events and exception management.
• Experience preparing control evidence, issue logs, reconciliation commentary, KPI/KRI inputs, audit evidence and management reporting.
Practical knowledge of systems and platforms such as Murex, MarkitWire, Bloomberg, reconciliation tools, regulatory reporting platforms and workflow/dashboard tools.
• Strong stakeholder management, investigation, analytical, escalation and documentation skills.
• Experience supporting process standardization, control enhancement, automation, UAT or operating-model change.

Preferred / Beneficial

Technical Knowledge and Competencies

• Global Markets Control & Governance
• Trade control execution
• Trading permissions controls
• Booking template controls
• Internal and Islamic trade booking controls
• Off-market trade monitoring
• Counterparty exposure monitoring
• Reconciliation and break tracking
• Failed and alleged trade monitoring
• Settlement-fail monitoring
• Lifecycle event control support
• Control evidence management
• Regulatory reporting break tracking
• KPI/KRI inputs and dashboards
• RCSA and audit evidence support
• Issue and action tracking
• Murex, MarkitWire and Bloomberg knowledge
• Workflow, reconciliation and reporting tools
• SOPs and control libraries
• Escalation protocols and governance packs

Leadership and Behavioral Competencies

• Control mindset
• Attention to detail
• Independent challenge
• Stakeholder management
• Clear communication
• Escalation discipline
• Accountability and ownership
• Analytical thinking
• Issue-resolution focus
• Collaboration across functions
• Process improvement mindset
• Ability to manage multiple priorities
• Evidence-based decision support
• Ability to work under time pressure
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