| Job Title: | Counterparty Risk Review Manager |
|---|---|
| Reference: | CP08/46 |
| Salary: | Negotiable subject to skills & experience |
| Location(s): | London, London East, London North, London South, London West, Middlesex, City of London |
| Industry(s): | Banking |
| Advertiser: | FSG Ltd Executive Search & Selection |
| Employment Type: | Permanent |
| Posted: | 14-07-2008 |
Description:
My client is a leading organisation in the UK Financial Services Sector. They wish to recruit an experienced, numerate and articulate individual to manage their new Counterparty Risk Review Team. For this vacancy they are looking for an individual either with a strong experience heading teams of wholesale quantitative risk specialists, or with a wide-ranging experience of managing and measuring credit risk across OTC derivatives and securities financing. The work is stimulating, offering a wide perspective on market practice, and calls for a pragmatic problem-solving approach to important real world regulatory issues. Team leading, good judgment and well-developed communications skills are vital for this role, in addition to proven quantitative skills.What does the job involve?
• Lead a team of highly-skilled and senior specialists
• Organise, structure and prioritise the work programme of the team, so that it delivers a substantial contribution to the fulfilment of the organisation’s objective of maintaining clean and orderly markets
• Manage the relationship of the team with all its stakeholders, internally within the organisation and externally with the industry and other regulators, in order to promote and maintain the profile and reputation of the team
• Pro-active identification and analysis of the risks to which firms are exposed through their OTC derivatives and securities-financing activities
• Review of counterparty risk management practices within firms across OTC derivatives and securities financing. The work involves assessing these practices within regulated firms and assessing them against international standards for capital requirement (so-called Basel 2)
• On-site visits to regulated firms including interviews with staff of regulated firms coupled with desk-based review of documentation, formulation of findings, presenting results within the FSA and to the firm and writing reports
• Collaboration with other teams (e.g. market, credit, operational or liquidity risk review teams) to ensure that risks of different natures arising from counterparty relationships across market players are identified consistently
• Support to teams across the organisation in areas where risk analysis and risk modelling are used
Essential skills required?
• A wholesale credit risk specialist with strong experience, spent either heading teams of wholesale quantitative risk specialists, or managing and measuring counterparty risk across OTC derivatives and securities financing
• Familiarity with derivative instruments, and with the various types of securities being financed on the market, their characteristics, and their risks. This should include structured products
• Familiarity with collateral management in a trading environment, including margining, valuation, systems, and re-hypothecation issues
• Team leading. You will need to lead and coordinate the work of highly-skilled and senior professionals
• Team-working and collaboration. You will need to work closely with Divisional and other FSA colleagues. In particular you will need to be pro-active in agreeing with the team's stakeholders on the appropriate level of intervention required from the team's experts
• Strong communication skills. You will need to promote the reputation and profile of the counterparty risk review team within the FSA and in the industry, and will be responsible for maintaining the team's outputs to high standards. You will need to create a strong impact by presenting technical issues convincingly to colleagues, influencing staff in the FSA and in regulated firms and writing clear succinct reports
• Confidence. You will have the confidence to deal with the senior management of regulated firms and lead meetings with firms
• Analysis and judgment. You will need to compare and contrast what firms are doing in the fields you examine. You will need to be pro-active and spot strengths and weaknesses in their approaches. You will need to select and prioritise recommendations arising from visits, and relate technical issues to the wider goals of regulation. A pragmatic problem-solving approach is needed
• Potential. You will need to acquire new skills and knowledge very quickly within this role and so you will be expected to have a strong learning and development capability
Qualifications:
Candidates should have a first degree in a numerate discipline and will need to demonstrate basic knowledge in linear algebra, probability and statistics. Exceptional candidates who do not meet these criteria may be considered for the role provided they have the necessary skills and experience.
