Director, Japan Head Of Markets Operations

Director, Japan Head Of Markets Operations

Working at Citi is far more than just a job. A career with us means joining a team of more than 230,000 dedicated people from around the globe. At Citi, you'll have the opportunity to grow your career, give back to your community, and make a real impact.

Job Overview

Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management. Our core activities are safeguarding assets, lending money, making payments, and accessing the capital markets on behalf of our clients.

Citi's mission and value proposition explains what we do, and Citi's leadership standards explain how we do it. Our mission is to serve as a trusted partner to our clients by responsibly providing financial services that enable growth and economic progress. We strive to earn and maintain our clients' and the public's trust by constantly adhering to the highest ethical standards and making a positive impact on the communities we serve. Our leadership standards are a common set of skills and expected behaviors that illustrate how our employees should work every day to be successful and to strengthen our ability to execute against our strategic priorities.

Diversity is a key business imperative and a source of strength at Citi. We serve clients from every walk of life, every background, and every origin. Our goal is to have our workforce reflect this same diversity at all levels. Citi has made it a priority to foster a culture where the best people want to work, where individuals are promoted based on merit, where we value and demand respect for others, and where opportunities to develop are widely available to all.

Japan Franchise Background

Citi's presence in Japan dates back to 1902. Today, Citi has one of the largest presences in Japan among all foreign banks, with about 1,150 total direct staff across ICG, Citi Holdings, Global Functions, Operations, and Technology.

Citi conducts its operations in Japan from offices in Tokyo, Osaka, and Okinawa.

From its headquarters in Tokyo, Citi serves Japanese and non-Japanese corporate, institutional, and governmental clients across a full range of businesses, including sales, trading & research; investment banking; corporate banking; and transaction services.

Citi conducts its local activities through two main operating entities: Citigroup Global Markets Japan Inc. (CGMJ), a locally incorporated securities company, and Citibank, N.A., Tokyo Branch (CBNA Tokyo Branch).

Citi's operations in Japan also include a shared services company, Citigroup Services Japan Ltd. (CSJ), which provides technology-related and other shared support to Citi affiliates and others in Japan, and a Citi Holdings business, CFJ G.K., which is in a long-term process of winding down its legacy consumer finance portfolio and residual "gray zone" claims by former customers.

Following the successful 4Q 2015 divestiture of Citi's retail banking and cards businesses in Japan, the Citi Japan franchise is focusing on its core operating ICG business as it continues to move forward on various initiatives to improve financial performance, simplify the organization, optimize the balance sheet, and develop a deeper bench of local talent to lead the franchise going forward. The Operations head for Japan will be expected to play a leading role as part of the senior management team responsible for addressing the remaining challenges for the franchise as it continues to reposition and pivot into growth mode.

Key Responsibilities

• Actively engage with businesses and functions to provide strategic direction from an operations perspective; requesting technology support for the franchise, maintaining a strong focus on the delivery of high-quality client services through operational processes and platforms that are reflected in a high degree of customer satisfaction, and ensuring execution priorities are aligned with business strategy.
• Ensure the organization meets and exceeds financial goals. Work in partnership with partners, products, and functions to identify opportunities to optimize expenses.
• Take a leadership role in exploring and developing key themes within Operations such as re-engineering, simplification, digitization, straight-through-processing, and outsourcing, leveraging organizational resources within and outside Operations to drive and implement these initiatives. Partner with products and functions to identify opportunities to digitize processes.
• Address key franchise wide risks in the space of outsourcing, continuity of business, and non-employees, focused on risk mitigation.
• Maintain a strong control and compliance environment throughout the Operations organization that can rapidly adapt to the continually changing regulatory and compliance environment.
• Proactively escalate all Operations issues timely and competently through the drafting, implementation, and tracking of relevant Corrective Action Plans (CAPs).
• Support country financial and resource goals and actively deliver on Operations expenses and resource targets.
• Actively champion initiatives which drive workforce readiness for the future and enhance manager capability and forward compatibility.
• Continue to develop a diverse management team in line with the Leadership Standards, focusing on individual development, a drive to excellence, transparency in feedback, and partnership with the product and functional partners.
• Focus on talent development with priorities around building a strong pipeline, diversity, and leverage the breadth of opportunities to develop future leaders. Create ready succession for the Operations head role with a focus on local talent. Use Citi talent programs aggressively to provide exposure to local talent beyond the country. Focus on mobility across Operations units.
• Promote an inclusive, meritocratic work environment and actively differentiate employee rewards based on performance.

Qualifications

• The candidate would be expected to have 15+ years of work experience.
• Superior people leadership/management skills. Ability to identify and attract talent, build a team, and develop people and talent pipeline, including skills in coaching, mentoring, and teaching on the job.
• Ability to learn quickly and work under pressure and able to manage effectively in a matrix environment.
• Knowledge of Markets (Equities / FID) operations as well as FX-related operations in a complex regulatory environment.
• Excellent communicator (written and oral) in English. Japanese language skills are also a prerequisite for this role.
• Proven leader with demonstrated ability to define strategy and provide direction, support, as well as inspiration.
• Strong prioritization, organization, influencing, and negotiation skills.
• Able to deal with internal stakeholders in a positive manner and help deliver solutions that benefit the business.
• Willingness and ability to explore alternatives and positions to reach outcomes that are supported and accepted by various parties.
• Proactive and dynamic with a strategic mindset.
• Able to identify and resolve issues quickly and effectively.
• Ability to work effectively in situations requiring analytical, interpretive, and problem-solving skills of a complex nature without perfect inputs.
• Ability to switch quickly from the strategic to the tactical depending on the situation.
• Knowledge of corporate banking products, as well as a strong understanding of our technology program.
• Knowledge in local legal and regulatory requirements will be an advantage.
• Good understanding of operational risk.
• Performance management skills: recognition and rewards for good performance, providing constructive criticism, and taking corrective action for poor performance.
• Effectiveness in building trust, respect, and cooperation among team members.