HSBC Group

GCB 3

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Our GCOO organisation is critical for HSBC. This team partners closely with business teams to drive simplification and deliver exceptional customer outcomes in Asia and the Middle East region which covers 26 markets, 600+ offices and branches, and more than 140,000 employees. By strengthening our control environment and enhancing risk management, we drive operational excellence and enable the bank to deliver focused and sustainable growth in this super-region.

We are currently seeking a high calibre professional to join our team as a Head of Control Office, Asia and Middle East.

The Business Risk and Resilience Risk function brings together specialist risk and control disciplines [Control Office, Business Continuity & Incident Management, Operational Resilience, Protective Security, ServCo and Third-Party Risk Management] in Asia and Middle East. The team has responsibility for embedding the Enterprise Risk Framework across HSBC Asia and Middle East, and leading risk and control remediation (as required). This function is also responsible to lead and influence conversations with Senior Management and Regulators.

The function acts as First Line of Defence and ensures the bank operates within its risk appetite by providing specialist risk and control knowledge and insights, promoting risk and control monitoring and decision-making. It also identifies trends to anticipate future developments in the risk and control environment, positively challenges poor controls, tasks, and behaviours.

This senior role will be accountable for all aspects of Control Office and critical in the context of increased internal, as well as external attention to identify, measure, evaluate, control, and manage risk effectively. The role will support the safe growth by ensuring that risk and control activities align to the overall HSBC strategy. The role also requires a significant level of oversight, communication, and management to manage & liaise with all markets across Asia and Middle East at senior levels of management.

The responsibilities will include, and not be limited to the end-to-end management of risks and controls by:

• Enforcing robust risk & control governance and ensuring all stakeholders have visibility of key risks and remediation activity.
• Partner and advise on setting, communicating, and monitoring risk appetite including appropriate support and challenge. 
• Leading high-quality reviews of risk and control performance, overseeing controls remediation, raising awareness, and understanding of risks, controls, and risk management. 
• Continuously improving the monitoring of risk and control metrics, including behaviours, and embedding the Bank’s Enterprise Risk Management Framework.
• Promote accountable risk and control decision-making based on quality data and commercial analysis
• Provide specialist risk and control knowledge and insights
• Identify trends to anticipate future developments in the risk and control environment
• Actively challenge poor, inefficient or excessive controls, related tasks and behaviours
• Recommend insightful tactical and strategic solutions where issues have been identified
• Promoting desired behaviours and a positive risk culture
• Managing and shaping a team of professionals across the function. 
• Delivery of priorities and strategy for Business Risk and Resilience function
• Lead and influence regulatory engagements
• Acting as escalation point for complex issues

Principle Accountabilities

Impact on the Business

• Liaise with stakeholders across Asia and Middle East to proactively identify and resolve challenges over control remediation and or management of third-party risks.
• Active management of the Enterprise Risk Management Framework adherence and changes.
• Lead the strategic direction and plans of effective Risk and Control Governance.
• Identify issues / areas of concern for the Asia and Middle East COO senior leadership team and develop recommendations for action, including conducting the necessary research, trigger reviews, writing reports, presentations, and periodic updates.
• Stewardship of the Asia & Middle East Control office operating model, service catalogue, procedures, and toolkits.
• Own the implementation vision and strategy for the Asia and Middle East Control Office team.
• Review and challenge and support the definition of business cases for investment across Control Office as necessary. 
• Embed risk culture and change delivery capability
• Own continuous improvement of processes, policies, and tooling across Asia and Middle East Control Office

Customers / Stakeholders

• External Stakeholders: Support engagement with regulators as needed to understand current and future regulatory requirements 
• Internal Stakeholders:
  • Engage with stakeholders across Asia and Middle East to ensure their Risk and Control needs are met.
  • Develop strong relationships with Business, Group Infrastructure and COO leadership to be able to effectively deliver the Risk and Control Services they require.
  • Manage internal customer experience, analysing root causes of dissatisfaction and/or SLA breaches, and putting in place actions to address these.
  • Be the SME on all aspects of Risks and Controls.
  • Address regulatory findings to deadlines through a disciplined programme focused on business and customer outcomes.

Leadership and Teamwork

• Leadership: 
  • Define responsibilities for Control Office team in conjunction with Head of Business Risk and Resilience Asia and Middle East team including developing a utility capability.
  • Define core delivery targets for team and ensure team deliver on commitments made.
  • Contribute to the overall Strategy to drive increased value to Asia and Middle East Markets.
  • Work closely and effectively with risk domain heads, sourcing, service delivery teams and operational risk leads to deliver clear and reportable solutions for third party management and its associated controls.
• Team Management: 
  • Define the Operating Model for management for Control Office responsibilities.
  • Implement Group performance management & reward strategies to balance growth of a sustainable business with allocation of reward aligned to responsible risk management.
  • Role model for inclusive behaviours and actively manage poor performers or behaviours.
  • Track record of developing diverse talent and multi skilled teams that work together to deliver results.

Operational Effectiveness and Control

• Implement quality framework for area of responsibility.
• Ensure all staff and activities comply with existing regulation and audit requirements.
• Ensure implementation of relevant audit recommendations and maintaining satisfactory level of audit. 
• Ensure organizational compliance with all relevant internal and external rules, regulations, procedures that apply to the conduct of compliance.
• Ensure financial procedures implemented all comply with the global policies and plans.
• Ensure that reporting is efficient, pertinent and addresses stakeholder needs and Group requirements.
• Ensure that quality assurance is measured and controlled through adequate audit and benchmarking activities.
• Ensure that global functional teams have adequate governance processes in place.
• Ensure clarity and cascade of relevant policies, procedures and financial authority levels to ensure that all expenditures are approved by the appropriate signatories. 
• Review and recommend action on all escalated functional expenditures.
• Further develop metrics and KPI/KRIs in relation to administrative activities and identify and implement best practice where possible.
• Ensuring that Operational risks are adequately identified and managed.

Major Challenges

The role holder will be continually:

• Having, and maintaining, a very strong understanding of Enterprise wide risk and control topics in financial services in order to be able to evolve the service. 
• Influencing Risk Domain leaders across HSBC to drive a consistent and proactive approach to risk and control management.
• Staying ahead of regulatory and 3rd line of defence observations.
• Making sure that any revisions to HSBC Risk Management Framework are practical and workable for our businesses, functions, and service / supplier managers – enabling better risk oversight, not disabling
• Ensuring that Risk management processes remain efficient and effective; maintain effective quality assurance; and do not become “tick box exercises”.
• Working in a matrix management environment across a high number of diverse stakeholders and geographies, with often conflicting viewpoints and agendas.
• Engender support through Interacting with and influencing senior and executive management in the Region, entities and business/functions and maintaining/driving the Asia and Middle East position.
• Successfully challenging the status quo with executive peers.
• ‘Joining up’ complex and fragmented global function, across language, cultural, systems and legislative boundaries.
• Working to manage the directly competitive pressures of cost reduction and internal/external demands to strengthen risk mitigation.
• Ensuring delivery of designated strategic global projects, involving multiple stakeholders, across DBS and global business and functions.
• Required to interpret complex and opaque information to make crucial decisions and provide guidance to executives and other senior colleagues.

Management of Risk

The jobholder will ensure the fair treatment of our customers is at the heart of everything we do, both personally and as an organisation.

The jobholder will also continually reassess the operational risks associated with the role and inherent in the business, taking account of changing economic or market conditions, legal and regulatory requirements, operating procedures and practices, management restructurings, and the impact of new technology.

This will be achieved by ensuring all actions take account of the likelihood of operational risk occurring. Also, by addressing any areas of concern in conjunction with entity management and/or the appropriate department.

Observation of Internal Controls

The jobholder will also adhere to and be able to demonstrate adherence to internal controls. This will be achieved by adherence to all relevant procedures, keeping appropriate records and, where appropriate, by the timely implementation of internal and external audit points, including issues raised by external regulators.

The jobholder will implement the Group compliance policy by containing compliance risk in liaison with Global Head of Compliance, Global Compliance Officer, Area Compliance Officer or Local Compliance Officer. The term ‘compliance’ embraces all relevant financial services laws, rules and codes with which the business has to comply.

This will be achieved by adhering to all relevant processes/procedures and by liaising with Compliance department about new business initiatives at the earliest opportunity. Also and when applicable, by ensuring adequate resources are in place and training is provided, fostering a compliance culture and optimising relations with regulators.

Knowledge and Experience

•    Expertise in Risk Management methodologies, including MI & Reporting, Utility management, Culture and Capability; Governance. 
•    Ideally comprehensive understanding of HSBC structures, processes, and objectives across the Group.
•    Ideally has experience in global, regional and market roles with previous background of working in a matrix organization structure; ability to persuade individuals at different levels.
•    Strong interpersonal skills, coupled with the ability to succeed within a matrix management structure and build and maintain regional team relationships.
•    Excellent written and verbal communication skills at all levels of management, with strong attention to detail.
•    Ability to engage with team, colleagues, and business partners collaboratively to deliver at pace.
•    Ability to work well under pressure, demonstrate flexibility and adapt to rapidly changing priorities and tasks that are potentially highly restricted in nature, unpredictable, wide ranging, complex and time sensitive.
•    Proven ability to articulate complex issues concisely and in simple language to support problem analysis.
•    Proven experience in strategic planning, communication, and people management processes.
•    Excellent written and verbal communication skills at all levels of management, with strong attention to detail.
•    Consider transformation and innovation in all that they do.

Your local internal application policy should be followed. For internal applicants in Hong Kong with less than twelve months in their current role, please also obtain and enclose the endorsement from your current line manager in the application as well; for more information, you can visit HRDirect and search for content "HKG: Do I need any approval to look for internal career opportunities?".

Opening up a world of opportunity

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Issued by The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited.