Head, Custody Operations, Southern Africa

Job Summary

The Head, Custody Operations, Southern Africa, holds a pivotal leadership position within Standard Chartered, charged with overseeing the entire scope of Financing and Securities Services (FSS) Operations across South and Southern Africa cluster countries.

This role demands hands-on management of operational processes encompassing all product streams, ensuring seamless client delivery while upholding rigorous standards of operational risk controls. The incumbent will drive excellence in daily operations by monitoring key performance indicators such as transaction volumes, productivity rates, accuracy levels, service quality, and risk mitigation.

Beyond operational oversight, the Head is jointly accountable for establishing and governing infrastructure frameworks and processes that guarantee robust compliance and effective controls across the jurisdiction. A critical aspect of this role involves championing the implementation of global and regional strategic initiatives and fostering productive collaboration with other FSS operations and regional leadership to promote best practices and innovation. Effective communication with internal and external stakeholders, strategic foresight, and an unwavering commitment to compliance underpin the success in this role.

Key Responsibilities

• Ensure processes performed meet the minimum standards, and meet or exceed client expectations/ / service level agreements.
• Provide governance over the service provided by outsource partners and take ultimate responsibility for the level of service provided.
• To understand, help implement and ensure compliance with country and global Regulatory requirements.
• To identify and migrate best practice across the region and facilitate dealings with support and sales functions and other businesses.
• To work closely with business heads to ensure that the services delivered by various operational platforms are of top quality and that client needs are being attended to according to our service level agreements.
• To ensure that key business practices and service delivery processes are conducted in compliance with Group and country regulatory guidelines and those risks are identified and managed.
• Management of the day-to-day operations to align to the business strategy and priorities, monitoring action plans, service management, people development and improving operational risk.
• Ensure that the respective operations teams are optimized in terms of people, process, platform, product and place. 
• Driving cost and processing efficiency in the delivery of services.
• Act as first point of contact locally for client, and all relevant stakeholders.
• Participate and contribute to the effective operation of Country/Group specific Business Operational Risk Forums in managing Operational Risks.

Skills and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree or above
• A thorough awareness and understanding of the broader business, economic, and market context impacting the firm's operational environment.
• In-depth knowledge of fiduciary and fund services processes, with keen insight into associated market risks and regulatory requirements. 
• Minimum of 5 years client services experience in Securities Services with proficient product / process knowledge within securities services
• Demonstrated capability to assimilate new areas, concepts, and evolving products quickly, adapting oversight accordingly.
• Familiarity with the firm’s strategic objectives and business model to ensure aligned and effective operational leadership.
• Proven experience in implementing continuous improvement initiatives that enhance operational performance and client experience.
• Well-developed ability to identify, monitor, and mitigate risks with a clear understanding of their implications on the firm’s business.
• Strong financial acumen, enabling the interpretation of financial data and the establishment of appropriate controls and corrective measures.
• Experience in assessing and refining governance structures to ensure effective oversight and control within the operational function.
• A record of leading and managing high-performing teams within comparable financial services functions, with the ability to inspire and drive transformational change.

About Standard Chartered

We're an international bank, nimble enough to act, big enough for impact. For more than 170 years, we've worked to make a positive difference for our clients, communities, and each other. We question the status quo, love a challenge and enjoy finding new opportunities to grow and do better than before. If you're looking for a career with purpose and you want to work for a bank making a difference, we want to hear from you. You can count on us to celebrate your unique talents and we can't wait to see the talents you can bring us.

Our purpose, to drive commerce and prosperity through our unique diversity, together with our brand promise, to be here for good are achieved by how we each live our valued behaviours. When you work with us, you'll see how we value difference and advocate inclusion.

Together we:

• Do the right thing and are assertive, challenge one another, and live with integrity, while putting the client at the heart of what we do
• Never settle, continuously striving to improve and innovate, keeping things simple and learning from doing well, and not so well
• Are better together, we can be ourselves, be inclusive, see more good in others, and work collectively to build for the long term

What we offer

In line with our Fair Pay Charter, we offer a competitive salary and benefits to support your mental, physical, financial and social wellbeing.

• Core bank funding for retirement savings, medical and life insurance, with flexible and voluntary benefits available in some locations.
• Time-off including annual leave, parental/maternity (20 weeks), sabbatical (12 months maximum) and volunteering leave (3 days), along with minimum global standards for annual and public holiday, which is combined to 30 days minimum.
• Flexible working options based around home and office locations, with flexible working patterns.
• Proactive wellbeing support through Unmind, a market-leading digital wellbeing platform, development courses for resilience and other human skills, global Employee Assistance Programme, sick leave, mental health first-aiders and all sorts of self-help toolkits
• A continuous learning culture to support your growth, with opportunities to reskill and upskill and access to physical, virtual and digital learning.
• Being part of an inclusive and values driven organisation, one that embraces and celebrates our unique diversity, across our teams, business functions and geographies - everyone feels respected and can realise their full potential.