Product Owner

Product Owner

Edinburgh/ Hybrid

£550 PAYE / £714.08 Umbrella per day

5 Month Contract - likely extensions

Our client HSBC are currently seeking an experienced Product Owner to join their team in the Edinburgh office/remote working, this contract will be for 5 months with a review to be extended.

Role Purpose

The Compliance function is a Second line of defence (LOD) function, responsible for reviewing and challenging the activities of the Group's businesses (also referred to as "the First LOD") to ensure that they effectively manage as "Risk Owners" the Regulatory and Financial Crime Compliance risks inherent in or arising from the conduct of their activities and for which they are responsible. The Second LOD consists of 'Risk Stewards' who are independent of the commercial risk-taking activities undertaken by the First LOD. The Compliance function is a Risk Steward for a number of non-financial risks in accordance with HSBC Group's risk framework. This role is particularly critical in the context of increased attention to help identify, measure, evaluate, control and manage operational risk effectively and is a key component in our determination to adopt and enforce the highest standards in HSBC. The individual will be required to share best practice globally, influence/provide guidance to stakeholder teams in a positive manner, challenge controls performance and escalate risks as appropriate.

The Product Management team ensures that essential systems and data are available to enable Compliance to conduct effective and efficient investigations and analytics. The team is proactive and future-looking, shaping financial crime technology and promoting its adoption across Compliance.

The role holder is responsible for:

• Manage the development and deployment of technical product capabilities and rationalisation of product functionality across Compliance.

• Ensure effective stakeholder engagement and user interaction at all levels leading to informed and well-judged trade-offs and priority decisions to maximise business benefit.

• Ensure requirements are communicated clearly and consistently with software delivery and data science colleagues and stakeholders at all levels.

• Ensure effective and efficient allocation of development budget and tasking of scarce and -specialist resources.

• Optimise systems usage in Compliance. Identify and eradicate duplication or underutilisation within the Product Management and across Compliance and lines of business.

• Manage a team of business/data analysts and deployment specialists, nurturing talent and encouraging innovation.

• Support Chief Product Owner to prepare and gain sign off for annual COO Product Management AOP.

The role holder would also be responsible for establishing seamless, trusting and mutually supportive relationships with key stakeholders within the sub-function and other business areas.

The role may require occasional nationwide or overseas travel.

Principal Accountabilities

Impact on the Business

• To manage a team of systems and business analysts in-line with the overall COO Risk & Compliance objectives.

• Ensure effective stakeholder engagement and user interaction at all levels leading to informed and well-judged trade-offs and priority decisions to maximise business benefit.

• Identify strategic opportunities and drive through to build product capabilities.

• Ensure requirements are communicated clearly and consistently with software delivery colleagues and stakeholders at all levels.

• Maintain a consistent and effective product management approach for all business and functional areas.

• Drive efficient allocation of scarce resources, including capital and people.

• Maintain a holistic global oversight of the response to financial crime threats across Global functions, lines of business, regions, and countries.

• Hiring and coaching high calibre members to the team.

• Effective code deployment, minimising defects whilst maximising functional capabilities.

Customers / Stakeholders

• Build networks and manage day-to-day relationships with senior staff on technology related matters in Risk and Business.

• Manage requests from business and risk for intelligence or opportunities to leverage Compliance technology and data.

• Strengthen and broaden internal relationships with global functions, lines of business, regions, and countries who directly benefit from or interact with Compliance systems, including:

• Regional Product Management colleagues

• Compliance managers and lead users

• Compliance stakeholders

• Software delivery and operations colleagues

• Lines of business stakeholders

• Strengthen and broaden external relationships with key technology/data providers as required.

• Provides strategic direction and oversight of the firm's participation in initiatives with key members of Group, public sector and peers to share information on financial crime threats.

Leadership & Teamwork

• Provides support and direction at a global level and support at a regional level to the deployment of systems capabilities within Compliance.

• Pro-active and supportive of colleagues and able to demonstrate initiative and a logical approach to solving business issues.

• Provides sponsorship and strategic vision for People Development initiatives for Compliance, aligned to Group Risk and Group activities.

• Develops strategy for adoption of technology and the realisation of benefit.

• Establish and promote a learning culture focused on open feedback and continuous improvement.

• Attracts, retains and motivates high calibre talent.

• Clearly communicates technology strategy to meet business needs.

Operational Effectiveness & Control

• Ensure business and regulatory implications of system design and operation are proactively anticipated, considered and communicated throughout the lifecycle.

• Establish manual and automated technical processes to ensure and evidence rigorous adherence to Group policies and management of operational risk.

• Develop and present options to implement controls whilst retaining full benefit from investment in systems.

• Maintain sound understanding of key threats and system vulnerabilities and engage proactively with risk stewards to mitigate risk impact.

Major Challenges

• Global Risk & Compliance is going through a period of rapid and deep change both internally and externally. Internally we are restructuring the Group's footprint, ensuring that these businesses are run consistently and globally.

• Managing a team within a large Global Risk & Compliance sub-function in such an environment is challenging by itself. However, there are additional challenges from internal restructuring of our business, major cost reviews and implementation of efficiency programmes.

• The immense amount of change internally and externally calls for the role holder to be alert and adaptable to developing requirements, whilst also delivering challenging targets.

• Managing the demands of multiple diverse aspects of the role.

• Maintaining a global perspective, but with particular consideration of regional distributions (staff, budgets, resources, operations) and the impact of these; and ensuring a proportionate balance in each region.

• Implementing and managing a uniform approach to operations, in view of disparate operating procedures already in operation (within the organisation and within departments) and the unique issues, requirements and problems associated with each.

• Understanding the highly complex and constantly changing landscape of case management technology and data to minimise duplication and maximise benefit.

• Prioritising potentially divergent and conflicting requirements from a broad range of senior stakeholders and ensuring that the stakeholder community remains supportive of the overall direction.

• Remain open to assessing emerging technologies and their potential application to Compliance.

• Providing proactive support for urgent and important issues arising to meet short term challenges whilst ensuring the realisation of strategic goals are not compromised.

• Engaging effectively with a very diverse set of stakeholders from board-level executives to developers.

Role Context

• The role holder will be required to lead and manage global teams of technologists and data specialists as well as subject matter experts in financial crime threats and analytical techniques.

• The role holder will be expected to demonstrate considerable entrepreneurial spirit to obtain the necessary knowledge and identify and realise opportunities.

• The role holder will have access to highly sensitive information and must exercise sound judgement in protecting it whilst adhering to all relevant rules and regulations.

• The role holder will be required to work with team members in multiple jurisdictions and time zones.

Management of Risk

• The role holder will continually reassess the operational risks associated with the role and inherent in the business, taking account of changing financial crimes threats, geopolitical, economic or market conditions, legal and regulatory requirements, operating procedures and practices, management restructurings, and the impact of new technology. Monitor in accordance with the Principal Accountabilities set out above.

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

Knowledge & Experience / Qualifications

• Proven Product Ownership/ Project Management experience in a complex global environment, preferably within the financial services industry.

• Proven ability in leading technology teams using agile methodology and nurturing talent.

• Good hands on knowledge of the Google Cloud Platform preferred

• Good hands on knowledge of Machine Learning development cycles preferred

• Strong Jira and Confluence experience

• Proven ability in leading technology teams using agile methodology and nurturing talent

• Knowledge of KYC and transaction monitoring processes

• Strong focus on DevOPS delivery

• (Desirable) Investigative and/or intelligence experience covering a wide range of financial crime threat areas, including management.

• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate technical matters effectively with senior leaders in Compliance and business sponsors.

• Requirements gathering experience and conducting design activity, with a mix of business, operations and technology focused products/ projects.

• Strong negotiation skills.

• Effective written and verbal communication skills with high attention to detail.

• Highly motivated self-starter with proven ability to work collaboratively within teams and to deliver on time.

• Proven ability to rapidly develop matter expertise in a range of technical and non-technical areas.

• A personal and professional interest in security, intelligence and technology.

• Excellent decision making and problem solving ability.

• Sound judgmental skills to identify and resolve problems.

• Experience of managing resources using appropriate communication, delegation and planning skills.

• Ability to motivate and lead people, employing appropriate management styles.

• Proven ability to work across regions whilst maintaining a global perspective.

• Ability to work with IT teams to deliver on tight schedules.

Please also see below link to our HSBC Career hub:

https://jobs.elevatedirect.com/tapfin-hsbc/index.html

If you are relevant or interested please don't delay, contact me on 0161 503 5558/ Curtis.Sharpe@jeffersonwells.co.uk