Trade Finance Operations Specialist

Job Description

Assistant Manager – Operations – Corporate – Imports | Mashreq

The Tone:
This is a full-time role at Mashreq, a financial institution providing services across UAE and its International Banking Group. This position is central to ensuring the accurate, compliant, and efficient processing of Trade Finance approvals, payments, and other miscellaneous activities. The incumbent will be responsible for upholding internal policies, ICC guidelines, and maintaining high-quality service, thereby safeguarding operational integrity and ensuring seamless client delivery for various business segments.

The TL;DR
• Role: Full Time
• Type: Full-time
• Location: Not specified
• Team: Reports to a Team Head within Operations
• Mission: Ensure accurate, compliant, and efficient processing and authorization of Trade Finance transactions to maintain service quality and prevent revenue leakage.
• Tech Stack: Processing system, SWIFT messages, MS Office (Word, Excel)

What You’ll Actually Do
• Authorize Transactions: Authorize and input Trade Finance transactions into the processing system and prepare/authorize relevant SWIFT messages, adhering to internal policies, SOPs, and ICC guidelines.
• Manage Trade Operations: Handle all aspects of Trade Finance operations across various business segments, performing sanction checking of relevant parties and documents.
• Ensure Compliance and Quality: Maintain strict adherence to practices and procedures stated in manuals (SOP/OPM’s, UCP/ISBP/ISP), and provide quality service to internal and external customers.
• Prevent Revenue Leakage: Ensure all applicable charges are recovered as per extant guidelines, prevent revenue leakage, and promptly address any outstanding reconciliation entries.
• Resolve Operational Issues: Take corrective and preventive actions on customer complaints and operational errors, close audit observations effectively and timely, and escalate critical issues to the manager.

The Must-Haves
• Background: Bachelor’s Degree with a senior career level in Trade Operations.
• Experience: At least 9-12 years of relevant working experience in Trade Operations, including expert-level knowledge of accounting entries and User Acceptance Testing (UATs).
• Skills: Good communication, team management, and interpersonal skills; proficiency in MS Office (Word and Excel); attentive to details, good analytical skills, ability to work under pressure, excellent organizational skills, and a good team player.
• Bonus: Expert-level understanding of ICC publications, global compliance scenarios, Trade Based Money Laundering, geopolitical situations, and amortization principles.