Senior Director, Operations Group Manager – Trade Finance Operations

We’re seeking a future team member for the role of Senior Director, Operations Group Manager – Trade Finance Operations to join our Global Payments and Trade team. This role is located in Manchester or London.

About the Role:

The Senior Director, Trade Finance Operations – will lead end-to-end operational strategy and execution across the globe, covering trade finance operations across all the processing locations, and all traditional Trade Products as well as Portfolio Management and Supply Chain Finance. This leader will drive operational excellence, client experience, and risk control while accelerating data‑driven decisioning, AI‑enabled operations, and intelligent automation at scale. The ideal candidate is a transformative operator with deep trade finance domain expertise, strong people leadership, and a strategic mindset, passionate about reengineering, simplification, and continuous improvement.

In this role, you’ll make an impact in the following ways:

• Global Leadership and Strategy

  • Own the global Trade Finance operations strategy, operating model, and performance outcomes; set direction, define success metrics, and ensure alignment with global standards.
  • Lead multi‑country operations teams, balancing regional nuances with global consistency and scalability.
  • Shape capacity planning, workforce strategy, location strategy, and vendor/partner engagement.

• Operational Excellence and Risk Management

  • Ensure daily operational integrity across all payment rails with a focus on timeliness, accuracy, resiliency, and client SLAs.
  • Strengthen first‑line risk and control discipline: incident prevention, rapid issue resolution, root‑cause elimination, change control, and regulatory adherence.
  • Drive robust operational readiness for new products, market infrastructures, and regulatory changes.

• Data, AI, and Automation

  • Build a data‑literate culture; define critical data elements, quality standards, and the operational analytics roadmap.
  • Implement AI/ML use cases for exception handling, anomaly detection, forecasting, and intelligent workflow orchestration.
  • Scale intelligent automation (RPA, orchestration, decision engines) to reduce manual effort, accelerate cycle times, and improve straight‑through processing (STP).

• Reengineering and Transformation

  • Lead end‑to‑end process reengineering: eliminate failure demand, simplify controls, standardize workflows, and modernize tooling.
  • Champion continuous improvement (Lean/Agile) and measurable uplift in KPIs: STP, cost‑to‑serve, defect rate, turnaround time, etc.
  • Partner with Technology and Product to co‑create target‑state capabilities, ensuring operational design is embedded early in change.

• Client Experience and Stakeholder Management

  • Serve as the senior operational point of contact for strategic clients and market infrastructures globally; handle escalations with urgency and transparency.
  • Collaborate with Sales, Product, Technology, Risk, Compliance, and Finance to deliver client outcomes and business growth.
  • Represent operations in global governance forums; communicate performance, risks, and transformation progress.

• People Leadership and Culture

  • Build and develop high‑performing, diverse teams; set clear goals, coach leaders, and foster accountability.
  • Promote a culture of client obsession, curiosity, ownership, and collaboration across locations and time zones.
  • Invest in upskilling: data literacy, AI fluency, automation tooling, and agile ways of working.

To be successful in this role, we’re seeking the following:

• Bachelor’s degree or the equivalent combination of education and experience is required; advanced/graduate degree preferred.

• 15 plus years of total work experience preferred, with at least 5-7 years in management.

• 12 plus years in trade finance operations with 7 plus years leading large, multi‑site teams.

• Proven track record running complex operations with significant daily volumes, tight SLAs, and high regulatory scrutiny in targeted markets.

• Demonstrated success implementing AI/ML and automation in production operations, with measurable KPI improvements.

• Strong data literacy: ability to define data strategies, interpret analytics, challenge insights, and make decisions grounded in evidence.

• Deep understanding of operational risk, control frameworks, business continuity, and regulatory requirements across global jurisdictions.

• Experience in process reengineering (Lean/Six Sigma) and agile delivery; comfortable leading transformation programs end‑to‑end.

• Exceptional stakeholder management and executive communication skills; adept at influencing across Product, Technology, Risk, and front‑office.

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree or professional certifications (e.g., PMP, Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, data/AI certifications) are a plus.

Technical and Domain Skills

• Trade Finance domain: Working knowledge of Trade Finance Products, preferably CDCS/CSDG certified, working knowledge of UCP 600, ISBP, URC and URDG rules, industry level awareness of recent developments including digital assets, tokenization and distributed ledger technology.

• AI/Automation: familiarity with AI/ML operations use cases, applicability / use in Trade Finance, mindset for capacity creation.

• Data and Analytics: SQL and/or data visualization literacy; comfort with KPI dashboards, anomaly detection, and operational capacity forecasting.

• Tools and Platforms: exposure to case management/workflow tools, incident/change management platforms, and control monitoring systems.