Group Head of Reconciliation at Equity Bank Kenya

Purpose

• The Group Head of Reconciliation will provide management, leadership and development to the Bank Reconciliation team and general oversight of reconciliation across the Group, ensuring accurate and timely completion of daily and monthly reconciliations of all bank General Ledgers. As part of the management team, the Group Head of Reconciliation will play an integral role in ensuring improvement of current processes, systems, controls, ensuring efficiency through processes surrounding Reconciliation and building centre of excellence.

Key Responsibilities

• Establish controls to ensure reconciliation is performed in a timely manner implementing a process to reconcile General Ledgers daily.
• Establish detailed process documentation for performing reconciliation and maintain documents to ensure they are current and result in the best operational service and delivery.
• Lead a team responsible for the development and program management of a consolidated roadmap for all departments across Reconciliation Services in the Group.
• Be part of the Program management team for Equity Group Reconciliation Transformation Strategy.
• Build and maintain strong internal working relationships across all countries.
• Success will be measured on the reduction of platforms, breaks, audit points, cost, and unreconciled balances.
• Develop and maintain relationships with external and internal partners and clients.
• Monitor, track, and report on performance against service level goals and benchmarks.
• Provide subject matter expertise to business-driven initiatives, internal partners, leadership, or projects related to Reconciliation, as necessary.
• Liaise with Risk & Compliance Department to ensure policies and procedures pertaining to Group Reconciliation are appropriately implemented.
• Participate in enterprise-wide control and governance programs and assist the company to implement control and governance programs from enterprise perspective.
• Involve in projects relating to the enhancement of reconciliation capabilities / processes for all monthly intragroup reconciliations.
• Oversees the development of Operational Procedures for the centre of excellence.
• Builds a scalable operation that can ultimately support all jurisdictions and can absorb additional volume from any acquisition activity.
• Provide technical expertise in the use of Reconciliation system functionality to the teams and business lines

Qualifications
 
Job Holder specification

Formal Education:

• At least an Undergraduate Degree from a recognized university. ACCA / CPA Certification will be an added advantage. 

Experience:

• Financial Services, banking, regulatory and commercial experience Team management

Technical Experience:

• 5 - 7 years in Banking Operations, performing General Ledger reconciliation, data management and performance.

Essential:

• Previous operational controls experience at a manager level
• Ability to produce, analyze and interpret reports that demonstrate compliance and successful risk mitigation

Desired:

• Experience of digitizing services.
• Experience of Robotic Process Automation in General Ledger Reconciliation space.

Functional/ Technical Skills

Skill/ Experience

• Experience working at a manager level within an operational service environment within Financial Services.
• Proven track record in operational or assurance roles, ideally within the Financial Services industry.
• Experience of delivering operational Controls and Assurance functions with a good understanding of finance, assurance, and controls.
• Highly numerate and articulate with a strong commercial acumen – confident at presenting strategy and plans at team level.
• Strong negotiation and influencing skills to be deployed at all levels of the organization.
• Ability to work under pressure and to respond quickly to changing circumstances and tight timetables.
• Self-motivated, disciplined and organized.
• Experience in developing and managing teams.
• Proven ability to convey complex or financial information simply and clearly to a range of stakeholders.
• Knowledge of regulatory requirements and risks in the wider Financial Services arena.
• Strong Network of contacts and ability to bring external knowledge and thinking into the organization.
• Ability to learn from the non-Financial Services markets e.g. telecoms and Insurance and apply thinking to the products and services offered by Equity Group.

Accountability

Span of Control

• Manages professional employees and/or team leaders spanning across Equity Group.

Accountability of Performance

• Has accountability for the performance and results of a team within the Group. Defines operating standards of own team.

Tactical/Strategic responsibility

• Provides input into Group Digital Operations plans and policies to address resource and operational challenges. Addresses issues of business impact beyond own team.

Budget & Resourcing accountability

• Exercises management authority on BAU decisions such as recruitment, talent management, performance reviews and improvement plans

Problem Solving

• Decisions and problem-solving are guided by policies, procedures, and business plan; receives guidance from Group Director Operations

Time Frame

• Focus is week to week, looking to ensure each area is performing to targets. Looking at performance trends as opposed to day to day changes