Country Chief Operating Officer

Company Description

United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) is a leading African financial institution, serving over 55 million customers through 1,000 branches in 20 African countries. As a globally recognized bank, UBA also has a presence in New York, London, Paris, and Dubai. The bank connects people and businesses across Africa and beyond through retail and corporate banking, cross-border payments, and trade finance. UBA is committed to facilitating growth and innovation in financial services.

UBA has been present in France through a representative office since 2009. UBA France is in the process of acquiring a banking license and it is in this context that we are seeking its Country Chief Operating Officer, to build the operations of the bank and run the Operations and Technology department once the banking license granted by the regulators.

Role Description

This is a full-time, on-site role for a Country Chief Operating Officer based in the Greater Paris Metropolitan Region. Reporting to the 2
nd
Effective Manager / DMD, the COO plays a pivotal role as a member of the Senior Management Team and is responsible for day-to-day oversight of all Operations and Information Technology functions of the Bank.

The COO is also responsible for ensuring the smooth day-to-day operations of the bank with particular focus on back-office operations, information technology, premises and facilities, procurements, driving efficiency, positive customer experience, leading innovation and transformation initiatives whilst ensuring strong operational controls.

The COO is responsible for providing strategic leadership and oversight necessary to ensure that the Bank achieves its strategic intent while also maintaining strong and effective operational controls and compliance with all local laws and regulations, EU-Regulations, EBA guidelines, and the bank's policies and procedures.

Primary Responsibilities

• P
  rovide effective oversight to the bank's operations directly supervising the Operations, Information Technology, Projects, Facilities and Process Improvement initiatives.
• Oversee the end-to-end management of all functions involved in the fulfilment and delivery of the bank's products and services to customers.
• Develop strategies to ensure the scalability of the bank's operations to support business growth and regulatory compliance.
• Develop and institutionalize processes to drive cost efficiencies, reduce turnaround time for transaction processing, eliminate waste and redundancies, improve cost to income ratio as well as optimize service delivery and customer experience.
• Anticipate and proactively provide timely and appropriate resolution to issues.
• Collaborate with the Chief Risk Officer in the development and execution of Continuity of Business Plans and Operational Resilience Strategies.
• Oversee Bank technology systems and procedures building resilience into all systems, platforms, workflows, and processes.
• Accountable for ensuring system integrity, system stability, data availability, consistency, reliability and protection.
• Lead the delivery of proactive and effective customer service while ensuring compliance with relevant regulations, policies and procedures.
• Develop and sustain a culture of responsiveness to Internal Audits, Internal Control reviews and Regulatory examinations and, oversee the management of the audit of the departments under the COO's span of control to ensure satisfactory audit and regulatory examination outcomes.
• Conduct periodic staff evaluations, highlight skills gap and training needs.
• Collaborate with HR to ensure prompt and timely execution of the training plan.
• Develop individual & team goals and implement execution plans to achieve corporate, departmental and team goals.
• Motivate, guide and direct Operations, IT and Corporate Services staff to meet set goals.
• Ensure effective Vendor Management whilst ensuring compliance with vendor management framework and SLAs.
• Oversee the delivery of value-adding and cost-efficient corporate services to the wider bank and ensure proactive and solution-oriented facilities and premises management.
• Participate in and contribute to deliberations in Management Committee meetings.
• Must have an innovative mind set, flexible and adaptable to change, willing to embrace new ideas and able to train, develop and mentor employees in Operations, IT and Corporate Services functions.
• Support and advise the Effective Managers on matters pertaining to the bank's operations and necessary for operational resilience as well as safe and sound banking.

Minimum qualifications

• Minimum of an Advanced STEM degree with certifications in process improvement and business optimization.
• Extensive knowledge and experience in banking operations and Information Technology. [Minimum of 15 years].
• Hands on experience in overseeing Transaction Banking Operations with good understanding of Payment Systems, SWIFT, ICC rules and Payment platforms.
• Proficient in use of technology to deliver cutting edge solutions to the bank and its customers.
• Must have analytical, decision-making and problem solving skills;
• Must possess the proven ability to balance multiple tasks and projects simultaneously;
• Possess strong attention to detail, strong organizational, interpersonal, communication and customer relations skills.
• Proficient with France' Regulatory framework with experience in regulatory engagement  and Examination management.