Careers at Citi

Description:

• Underwriting Senior Credit Analyst  is an integral part of the Institutional Credit Management (“ICM”) organization. Underwriting 's mandate is to deliver best-in-class credit risk analysis, monitoring and credit administration as a partner to Corporate Banking and Risk shared commitment to ensuring the safety and soundness of wholesale lending across Citi.
• Underwriting Analysts and Associates are responsible for a portfolio of Corporate Relationships, owning the Credit Risk Analysis for those relationships, and being responsible for the continuous monitoring of that portfolio. That includes the production of Initial Credit Approvals, Transaction Approvals, Annual Reviews, Quarterly Reviews, and the support to Ad-Hoc Portfolio & Industry Reviews and Stress Testing.

Key Responsibilities:

• Assess the credit and financial strength of Citi’s Most Complex Large Corporate, Public Sector, and Financial Institutions Clients by performing fundamental credit analysis of counterparties using both quantitative and qualitative factors.
• Complete Credit Analysis write-ups while assigning internal credit risk ratings based on independent assessment and judgement completed on the due diligence of the client and industry knowledge.
• Continuous monitoring of the covered portfolio, including following industry trends, impacts to key relationships, and escalation of potential credit issues to Underwriters, Risk and Banking partners.
• Partnership with applicable regional and industry stakeholders in Banking and Independent Risk in the implementation of credit assessment and monitoring standards for applicable portfolios.
• Other duties as required to support business unit and company goals.

Knowledge/Experience:

• Demonstratable financial services experience, including 8-10 years of credit experience in Banking, Credit Risk Management or equivalent credit experience
• Strong proficiency in English and French (written and verbal).
• Strong analytical skills, including an understanding of key financial components (liquidity position, leverage profile) with the ability to identify root causes and trends and anticipate horizon issues.
• Background on both Corporate and Financial Institutions’ risk analysis will be a plus.
• Advanced industry research capabilities, including risk and key drivers.
• Proven analytical skills including the ability to understand and assess company financial statements, cash flow, industry/competitive analysis and projections; including complicated business structures with foreign subsidiaries and/or parent organizations.
• Excellent organizational skills, prioritizing capabilities, attention to detail, and the ability to complete assignments within required deadlines in a fast-paced environment
• Effective inter-personal and written/verbal communication skills
• Thorough problem recognition and resolution skills

Education:

• Bachelor’s/University degree or equivalent experience.
• Higher degree in Business (MBA), or any other related subject will be an added advantage.

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About the role

• Critical senior Risk & Control Site Lead based in Nairobi, Kenya, supporting Services Controls leadership and governance for Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) and broader MEA Cluster— a strategically significant and growing hub within the MEA cluster.
• This role is specifically designed to provide on-the-ground senior leadership as one of the MEA cluster's most important strategic locations. The Kenya site is not only a key in-country market but increasingly serves as a scalable hub for MEA cluster operations — making strong, embedded Controls oversight at this location a critical priority for the franchise.
• Importantly, MEA Services Controls organization already has an established presence in Nairobi with an existing team of 3 professionals on the ground — a clear demonstration of the site's growing strategic relevance and a strong foundation upon which this senior Site Lead hire will build. Critically, this role also carries a Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) regulatory compliance and governance mandate, with a longer-term view of supporting the broader MEA cluster — making it a significant and expanding strategic reach.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide dedicated, on-the-ground senior Risk & Control leadership and governance for the Kenya site and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), supporting Controls delivery at one of the MEA cluster's most strategically significant locations.
• Drive a proactive, forward-looking risk reduction agenda through thematic reviews, early identification of control gaps, and continuous process improvement across SSA and the broader MEA Cluster.
• Implement the R&C Target Operating Model (TOM) principles with rigour and consistency at the Kenya site level, bridging ground-level execution with the broader MEA Controls leadership structure.
• Serve as the primary Controls partner Services Country Operations — acting as the key bridge between Operations, Product, and Geography teams to deliver a unified approach to risk and control across all products.
• Identify and drive enhancements to documentation, controls, and processes — including within the Managers Control Assessment (MCA) construct — to meet local and cross-border risk and regulatory requirements across SSA.
• Monitor and ensure compliance with primary and secondary regulatory requirements across SSA for Services, accounting for the diverse and unique regulatory regimes across the sub-region.
• Lead and develop the existing Nairobi-based Controls team of 3 professionals, building capability and capacity in line with the site's growing strategic importance as a scalable MEA hub.
• Lead the identification, escalation, and end-to-end resolution of control issues and risk events cross the SSA and MEA Cluster in line with firmwide escalation guidelines.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with senior stakeholders across multiple countries, Citi franchise, products, and control functions within MEA and globally, to influence outcomes and drive accountability.

Knowledge/ Experience:

Bachelor’s Degree is required.

• 10+ years expertise in Operational Risk Management and other regulatory related function within Financial Services sector preferred.
• Deep understanding of Operational Risk and related frameworks as they relate to the banking sector is required, as is a working knowledge of the Regulatory environments/regimes within MEA countries for Transaction Banking.
• Proven record in monitoring compliance to regulations including controls and process mapping within the Managers Control Assessment (MCA) construct.
• Excellent business acumen, and ability to quickly understand multiple areas within a function and across functions, and how they interact to achieve the objective of the processes.
• Strong working knowledge of the regulatory landscape impacting Transaction Banking across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) — including but not limited to payment system regulations, foreign exchange controls, anti-money laundering (AML) frameworks, central bank reporting requirements, and cross-border transaction regulations across key SSA markets such as Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, and South Africa.
• Ability to identify, assess, and respond to regulatory change across SSA markets — translating evolving requirements into timely and effective control and process updates within the Services business.

Competencies:

Risk & Control Leadership

• Proactive risk reduction mindset with a commitment to forward-looking control management through thematic reviews and early gap identification.
• Proven ability to design, challenge, and remediate controls across complex, multi-market environments, with a particular understanding of SSA's regulatory and operational landscape.

Site Leadership & Team Development

• Demonstrated ability to provide embedded, on-the-ground senior leadership at a strategic hub location, setting the tone for risk and control culture at the site level.
• Proven experience in leading and developing small, high-impact teams — building capability, fostering ownership, and scaling teams in line with growing organisational mandates.
• Ability to translate cluster-level strategy into ground-level execution, ensuring Target Operating Model principles are implemented with consistency and rigour.

Strategy & Transformation

• Ability to develop and execute a controls strategy that supports business transformation and long-term sustainable growth.
• Operates effectively at both strategic and executional levels — big picture thinking with high attention to critical detail.
• Strong process improvement orientation with a track record of embedding continuous improvement into risk and control delivery.
• Operational & Processing Risk Management| Compliance & Regulatory Change Management
• Deep understanding of operational and processing risk frameworks as they apply to Transaction Banking and financial products across the SSA region.
• Proven record in identifying, assessing, and remediating processing risk exposures, including controls and process mapping within the MCA construct.
• Demonstrated ability to identify, assess, and manage the impact of regulatory change on the business — translating new and evolving regulatory requirements into actionable control and process updates across SSA markets.
• Experience in managing end-to-end regulatory change programmes, including horizon scanning, gap analysis, control remediation, and embedding changes into BAU governance and monitoring frameworks.

Stakeholder Influence & Communication

• Exceptional ability to engage and influence senior leaders, Country, Cluster and Product managers across a complex, matrixed organization.
• Strong written, verbal, and analytical skills — able to distil complex risk topics into clear, actionable insights for senior audiences.

Influencing & Matrix Effectiveness

• Proven ability to drive outcomes and effect change without direct authority — influencing senior stakeholders and cross-functional teams through credibility, expertise, and relationship capital.
• Skilled at building consensus and holding teams accountable across a highly matrixed, multi-geography organization, navigating competing priorities and ambiguous accountabilities across markets.
• Adept at translating complex risk and control issues into business terms to secure buy-in from non-controls audiences and drive timely decision-making at senior levels.

Execution & Accountability

• Committed to delivering results with exceptional execution skills and high personal accountability.
• Strong track record of managing competing priorities across multiple markets to deliver high-quality, timely outputs.
• Effective at managing compliance monitoring routines, audits, and governance cycles concurrently.

Collaboration & Cross-functional Partnership

• Acts as a principal partner to Operations, Product, Geography, and Technology teams across a geographically diverse cluster.
• Comfortable navigating complex, highly matrixed organizations across 29 markets with varying regulatory and operational contexts.
• Strong relationship-building skills across multiple countries, products, and control functions within MEA and globally.