Finance Operations Team Lead

WHO WE ARE:

As Singapore’s longest established bank, we have been dedicated to enabling individuals and businesses to achieve their aspirations since 1932. How? By taking the time to truly understand people. From there, we provide support, services, solutions, and career paths that meet their individual needs and desires.

Today, we’re on a journey of transformation. Leveraging technology and creativity to become a future-ready learning organisation. But for all that change, our strategic ambition is consistently clear and bold, which is to be Asia’s leading financial services partner for a sustainable future.

We invite you to build the bank of the future. Innovate the way we deliver financial services. Work in friendly, supportive teams. Build lasting value in your community. Help people grow their assets, business, and investments. Take your learning as far as you can. Or simply enjoy a vibrant, future-ready career.

Your Opportunity Starts Here.

Job Summary:

The Finance Operations Team Lead is responsible for leading and overseeing the Finance Operations function, with primary accountability for treasury and cash management, FX operations, trust account management including fund segregation, payment processing, bank account management and regulatory obligations. The role ensures the integrity of customer asset protection processes, liquidity management, settlement activities, and financial controls supporting the business.

The incumbent is responsible for ensuring critical daily operational activities are completed accurately and within strict regulatory and operational timelines. Failure to perform these activities in a timely manner may result in regulatory breaches, settlement failures, funding shortfalls, customer impact, financial losses, and reputational risk to the organization. The team lead serves as the primary escalation point for operational matters and partners closely with Finance, Operations, Risk, Compliance, Treasury, Technology, and business stakeholders to support business growth, regulatory compliance, and operational excellence.

Key Responsibilities

Team Leadership & Operational Management

Ensure all critical operational activities are completed accurately and within prescribed timelines to meet regulatory, settlement, and business obligations.

Provide leadership, coaching, and technical guidance to team members to maintain a high-performing and resilient operating environment.

Act as the primary escalation point for funding issues, settlement exceptions, trust account breaks, liquidity concerns, payment incidents, and operational control issues.

Ensure adequate cross-training, succession planning, and backup arrangements across all critical functions to minimise key-person dependency risks.

Drive a strong culture of accountability, risk awareness, continuous improvement, and operational discipline.

Partner with stakeholders across Finance, Operations, Technology, Risk, Compliance, and business units to support strategic initiatives and operational effectiveness.

Cash Management, Treasury & FX Operations

Lead and oversee daily cash management activities across house accounts, customer trust accounts, settlement accounts, and funding accounts to ensure sufficient liquidity and timely settlement of obligations.

Provide oversight of funding activities, fixed deposits, loan drawdowns, share financing settlements, and treasury operations.

Oversee FX operations including currency exposure monitoring, FX settlement activities, hedging support processes, FX rate administration, and overnight position management.

Monitor cash buffers, overdraft positions, and funding requirements to ensure compliance with internal liquidity and risk management policies.

Ensure timely and accurate reporting of foreign currency exposures, funding positions, and treasury-related activities.

Ensure compliance with trust fund segregation requirements and timely escalation of any exceptions, breaks, or regulatory concerns.

Bank Management & Payment Governance

Oversee the management of banking relationships, bank account administration, and periodic review of banking arrangements.

Ensure proper governance over bank account opening, closure, maintenance, and authorized signatory administration.

Oversee user access administration, payment templates, standing settlement instructions, and controls across banking platforms.

Ensure payments, fund transfers, trust account transactions, fixed deposit placements, and FX settlements are processed accurately and in accordance with approved procedures.

Drive enhancements to banking processes and controls to improve efficiency and mitigate operational risks.

Financial Reporting & Closing Oversight

Lead and coordinate month-end and periodic closing activities to ensure timely and accurate financial reporting.

Oversee the preparation and review of monthly financial statements and regulatory submissions to Head Office, Group Finance, and relevant authorities.

Ensure reconciliations and reporting documentation are completed accurately and within prescribed timelines.

Drive continuous improvement of financial reporting processes to enhance efficiency, transparency, and control effectiveness.

Reconciliations, Controls & Risk Management

Support the management and reconciliation of customer trust accounts, segregated funds, and client monies.

Monitor compliance with trust account requirements and ensure prompt resolution of exceptions and reconciliation breaks.

Ensure timely investigation and resolution of reconciliation breaks, operational exceptions, and control issues.

Monitor key risk indicators, aging items, and control exceptions, implementing corrective and preventive actions where required.

Establish and maintain a robust control environment across finance operations, treasury, banking, and trust-related activities.

Lead remediation efforts arising from operational reviews, audit observations, and risk assessments.

Regulatory Compliance & Audit Management

Ensure compliance with applicable financial regulations, accounting standards, internal policies, and regulatory reporting requirements.

Lead engagements with internal and external auditors and coordinate timely responses to audit requests and findings.

Ensure Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), process documentation, and control frameworks remain up to date and effective.

Drive implementation of sustainable solutions to strengthen audit readiness and regulatory compliance.

Transformation, Automation & Continuous Improvement

Drive finance transformation initiatives to improve operational efficiency, scalability, and control effectiveness.

Identify opportunities for automation, workflow optimisation, and digitalisation of finance and treasury processes.

Champion the adoption of analytics, dashboard reporting, and AI-enabled solutions to enhance operational insights and decision-making.

Promote a culture of continuous improvement and innovation across the Finance Operations function.

Management Reporting & Analytics

Develop and oversee management dashboards and reports to provide insights into operational performance, productivity, risk, and service delivery.

Analyse trends and operational data to identify improvement opportunities, emerging risks, and process bottlenecks.

Provide recommendations to management on operational enhancements, control improvements, and transformation opportunities.

Work Experience and Education Requirements

Degree in Finance, Accounting, Banking, Business or a related field, with at least 8 years of relevant experience in Finance Operations, Cash Management, FX Operations, Funding or Treasury.

Strong understanding of cash management, FX operations, trust fund segregation, settlement processes, and banking operations.

Proven ability to manage time-sensitive operations in a regulated environment with a strong focus on risk and controls.

Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to identify issues and drive practical solutions.

Effective communicator with strong stakeholder management skills and the ability to work across Finance, Operations, Risk, Compliance, Technology and business teams.

Experience leading teams, managing operational priorities and driving performance in a fast-paced environment.

Knowledge of banking regulations, market practices and evolving settlement requirements.

Demonstrated ability to drive process improvements, automation and operational efficiencies.

Resilient, proactive and able to perform effectively under demanding timelines in a high-risk operational environment.

What we offer:

Competitive base salary. A suite of holistic, flexible benefits to suit every lifestyle. Community initiatives. Industry-leading learning and professional development opportunities. Your wellbeing, growth and aspirations are every bit as cared for as the needs of our customers.