Person

You will be responsible for assisting the management of the process of credit approval on individual credit facility proposals for Corporate and Retail customers (only those retail proposals that fall outside applicable policy parameters), forwarded to them by the appropriate departments/ units. The incumbent will assess the quality of the credit exposure sought to be undertaken and adherence to established policies and procedures. The incumbent will constantly research and seek to apply best practices in credit risk, in accordance with the latest banking regulations and other relevant guidelines.

Experience

• Perform activities within the assigned Credit Risk Strategy that reflects the Group’s tolerance for risk and the level of profitability the Group expects to achieve for incurring various credit risks.

• Manage a team of 2 Credit Analysts.

• Ensure the use of a standardized process for evaluating credit proposals ensuring that all approved credits are within QNB’s Credit Risk Strategy.

• Assist the Head of Risk in creating Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the department and monitor their achievement on periodic basis.

• Coordinate with Compliance Group to ensure an appropriate response to obtain updates on regulations pertaining to credit risk review that are promulgated by the Central Bank, if any.

• Build and maintain strong and effective relationship with the all other related departments and units to achieve the Group’s goals/ objectives.

• Provide timely and accurate information to the external and internal auditors and the Compliance function as and when required.

• Assist the Head of Risk in the development/ finalization of Service Level Agreements (SLAs) between the respective overseas operations and Head Office units/ departments as and when needed, to the extent they relate to the business functions.

• Ensure adherence to the Turn around Times (TAT) specified in the SLAs

• Perform credit assessments, and provide credit approvals within the authority delegated to the incumbent. 

• Ensure compliance with established/ approved credit risk policies and procedures and ensure that a sound environment for identifying, measuring, monitoring and controlling credit risk is in place.

• Check coordination with business unit Relationship Managers for the timely receipt of customer documents/ other information required to evaluate the credit worthiness of the proposed borrowers.

• Supervise the assessment of the credit proposals is adequate and analyses the various credit risk facets to measure a final credit risk rating including (but not limited to) an assessment of the requested facility and guarantees provided, client management and background, industry analysis, country analysis, external agency credit rating (if applicable), financial and cash flow analysis and the risk rating from the credit risk rating tool in use.   

• Based on the assessment, recommend extending or declining the facility request or asking for additional security/ further structuring of the deal/ facility to safeguard the Group’s interests.

• Ensure that all credit approvals meet overall policy guidelines and QCB regulations and to stipulate terms and conditions to mitigate the credit risk borne/ faced by the Group.

• Coordinate activities with business units to ensure the timely processing of customer credit requests within established TATs.

Qualifications and Requirements

• Bachelor degree preferably in finance, economics or related subjects.

• Masters or Professional certification such as PRM, CPA, CFA is preferred.

• Minimum of 5-7 years’ experience in a large bank in a risk function.

• Experience in working with Microsoft Excel (financial modelling) and complex data sets.

• Knowledge of the latest banking regulations and relevant accounting standards (including IFRS 9), with particular emphasis on credit-related issues and credit modelling methodologies.