Transformational Project Manager - Vice President - #1781695

BNP Paribas is the European Union’s leading bank and a key player in international banking. We operate in 65 countries and employ 190,000 people, including nearly 145,000 in Europe. Our Group holds key positions in its three main fields of activity: Commercial, Personal Banking & Services; Investment & Protection Services; and Corporate & Institutional Banking (CIB) for corporate and institutional clients.

Our Securities Services business, which forms part of CIB, is a leading global custodian providing specialist post-trade and asset servicing solutions to buy and sell-side market participants, corporates and issuers. Based in 35 locations around the world, our award-winning Securities Services teams have built one of the most extensive custody network in the industry, giving clients the connectivity and local knowledge they need to navigate change in a fast-changing world.

Company Purpose:

Our company purpose is to contribute to a responsible and sustainable economy by financing and advising clients according to the highest ethical standards.

Our Employer Promise Is Built Around Three Pillars:

• Being a great place to work
• Committed to sustainability and having a positive impact
• Being dedicated to the development of our people
  
  

Business area

Securities Services is a leading global custodian and securities services specialist that provides multi-asset post-trade and asset servicing solutions for buy and sell-side market participants, corporates and issuers.

BI&T Vision: To be the best implementation and transformation experts, that deliver service excellence and empower innovation and people.

BI&T Mission: Understand and embrace the changing world, to uplift the client experience, by driving collaboration through an empowered and motivated team, utilising best practice tools and processes.

This role sits within our Business Implementation & Transformation department, which covers the implementation of projects and change that impact UK MESA. This role will cover the delivery of projects across all local products and services bought or booked in the UK MESA regions (MOPK, FA, IRP, GC, LC, CTS,DFS). A Project Manager will manage projects of varying sizes and complexity.

We are aiming to create an environment that thrives to transform our business. Our Project Managers will successfully deliver new business and projects (regulatory projects / strategic projects) for our clients, as well as delivering internal strategic projects as approved by the Senior Management of BNP Paribas. We will strive to exceed our stakeholders’ expectations, using formal project principles to deliver a professional service on time and to budget, whilst protecting our existing business commitments through effective scope and risk management. Through a collaborative approach with operational and functional teams, implementation will land smoothly into business as usual.

Job Purpose

To act as a project manager in support of the change culture that enables and empowers improvement. The post holder will be required to deliver assigned projects for the client implementation/transformation agenda for both internal and client led activity for UK MESA, including those where client delivery deliverables are a component part of a more transversal/global programmes.. The role ensures the smooth and efficient delivery of all assigned projects within client delivery, maximising benefits whilst minimising risk. Projects will be delivered following the BI&T best practice approach, utilising the standard documents and adhering to the BI&T control environment. The post holder will need to build positive relationships with all key stakeholders, raising the profile of the BI&T team, ensuring the team is a highly respected both internally and externally. This must be delivered within the boundaries of the project managers responsibilities. By delivering a first class implementation track record for all project activity we will build a positive reputation to support future new business wins.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead, manage and deliver assigned projects within the portfolio, ensuring adherence to group and local standards, following the BI&T best practice approach and control environment.
• Mobilise projects by supporting the sponsor in completing business cases to be presented at the relevant internal forums (e.g. PPB) for approval. Interact with all key contributors (Ops. IT etc.) to secure required resource. Ensure all internal approvals (BAC etc.) have been obtained.
• Define the projects scope, objectives and deliverables for approval by all internal and external stakeholders.
• Set and implement the projects governance, relevant to its size and complexity. Lead the working group and steering group meetings.
• Lead the project jointly with clients, developing and maintaining productive working relationships and managing the communication with day to day client contacts, and other stakeholders.
• Preparing realistic project and quality plans and tracking activities against the plans, providing regular and accurate reports to stakeholders as appropriate.
• Set and track the project budget and resource allocation and flag any variances for attention.
• Co-ordinate due diligence, liaising with the SMEs to complete Q&A / workshops as required and define solutions and gap analysis.
• Lead production of the due diligence report, liaising with SMEs to define the scope and operating models proposed
• Support identification and tracking of project risks, actions, issues and dependencies
• Managing the scope of a project via a defined change control process to ensure project deliverables are realised within planned cost, timescale and resource budgets
• Ensuring that projects are formally closed, subsequently reviewed via PIR (where appropriate) and that lessons learned are recorded and related actions closed.
• Co-ordinate the completion of the required IT set ups and releases (including any derogations required), following BPSS IT protocols.
• Support local / global BI&T initiatives, as required.
  
  

The role holder will be expected to lead projects of a small/medium size/complexity, covering multi-product / multi-location deals/events, utilising high levels of experience built up in the industry and the role, facing off to the project team and senior managers at the client.

Key Internal Stakeholders:

• Project Sponsors
• Operation & Engineering colleagues across local products and services (IFSO, BSO, CTO, DFS, MFS)
• All SSUK business lines
• Colleagues in different offices / locations Operations
• PMO Team
  
  

Key External Key Stakeholders:

• Non UK Operation & Engineering colleagues across local products and services (IFSO, BSO, CTO, DFS, MFS)
• Clients both locally and globally
• Vendors/suppliers/3rd Party providers/Counterparties
  
  

Requirements

Essential:

• Proven history of project experience, prefereablly successfully leading small/medium transformational/implementation/regulatory projects
• Proven understanding of project management disciplines, gained through practical experience.
• Proven ability to successfully participate and deliver small/medium sized transformational/implementation projects in a matrix environment.
• Is able to use initiative to accurately assess new situations and potential solutions that have no precedent.
• Able to influence others not under their direct control.
• Cultural awareness and able to see things from others point of view.
• Strong integrity to deal with conflicting interest from multiple stakeholders.
• Prioritisation skills – able to assess multiple scenarios and present pros and cons of each and propose most appropriate course of action.
• Ability to plan and organise workload, taking into account relative and conflicting priorities, seeking win/win solutions where possible and mitigating negative impacts where not.
• Ability to work consistently and accurately under pressure to tight deadlines.
• Proven client facing skills.
• Good at building strong working relationships, across all levels of the company and with clients.
• Strong stakeholder management skills.
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, and a demonstrable track record of successfully interacting, influencing and communicating at all levels with due regard to the nature of the intended audience.
• Strong presentation skills.
• Good negotiation and conflict resolution skills with the ability to drive and champion change.
• Excellent attention to detail with high levels of accuracy.
• Tenacious and pro-active.
• Team player but able to work independently where required.
• Commercial acumen.
  
  

Desirable:

• A strong knowledge of our organisation, our products and our people.
• Exposure to asset management, asset owner and/or financial intermediaries segments.
• Experience of regulatory projects.
• Experience or awareness of a range of banking products, such as; middle office, fund accounting, client reporting, performance measurement, corporate trusts solutions, global custody, local custody, forex.
• Broad understanding of different markets, asset classes and instruments typically used within investment banking and fund administration, such as equities, commodities, FX, bonds, swaps, options etc.
• Experience working with offshore centres
  
  

Essential:

Qualifications required for the role:

• A high level of pragmatism and common sense are key.
  
  

Desirable:

• First Degree or equivalent.
• Professional qualification relevant to the role.
• Formal certification from a recognised professional body (e.g. Prince & or PMI) preferable.
  
  

And of course, we expect all our colleagues to embody and practice the Group values (alignment with the Bank’s strategy, commitment, work ethic, integrity and Code of Conduct).

A Bit More About Why You Should Join Us

• We’re a great place to work
  
  

We aim for optimal work/life balance (depending on role, this includes hybrid working, flexible working and agile)

We are proud of our award-winning flexible benefits and health & wellbeing strategy. Our flexible benefits include:

• Generous holiday allowance of at least 26 days (plus bank holidays) – with option to buy and sell holidays.
• Valuable financial plans – a 12% non-contributory pension which has been moved to sustainable investments*, life assurance*, income protection and personal accident insurance.
• Extensive wellbeing and mental health offering – one of the most advanced private medical schemes in the UK, dental cover, wellbeing app, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy support, subsidised gym memberships, bespoke health assessments including genetic testing, Private GP (including digital GP services to parents of employees), Employee Assistance Programme, menopause & fertility support (we are an accredited Menopause Friendly Employer), neurodiversity assessment and support.
• Key onsite services and facilities in Scotland – include free monthly massage and yoga, mental health first aiders and seasonal flu vouchers.
• Plus, emergency back-up care for dependants, green car leasing, season ticket loan, and a range of other benefits.
• Subject to relevant caps
• As the eurozone’s largest bank, we are committed to having a positive impact in the world.
  
  

For example, we are committed to Net Zero in all of our financing and investment portfolios by 2050. By 2030, 80% of our energy production financing will be low carbon.

But impact for us means more than climate. It means empowering our people every day. Everyone gets four volunteering days each year - in 2023, we achieved over 18,000 hours of volunteering across the UK and reaching over 4,500 young people.

• We believe in our people
  
  

We support our people to develop skills to adapt to the ever-evolving world of work and to prepare for the jobs of today and tomorrow. We do this through a comprehensive training offering, talent programmes, mentoring, career days and inhouse career tools.

We are proud of the number of our people who progress and secure new roles internally. In fact, in 2023, nearly half of our positions in UK CIB were filled internally.

Investing in our people also means we have a collaborative and inclusive culture:

• Direct feedback from our people shows that our internal culture sets us apart from our industry peers.
• Each year, nearly 30,000 employees globally are involved in professional networks that play an active role in promoting Diversity and Inclusion within the Group. These include our:
  
  

Pride Network, Ability Network (which supports disabled employees), MixCity (gender equality network), Women in Global Markets, Women in Global Banking, Women in IT, Diversity Equity & Inclusion in Technology, Early Careers Network, Multicultural Network and Parents & Carers Network.

Equal opportunities

BNP Paribas is committed to providing a work environment that fosters diversity, inclusion, and equal employment opportunity without regard to age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation, or any other legally protected status.

Adjustments

We don’t want anyone to be disadvantaged in our recruitment processes, so if you have a disability or health condition which may mean that you’d benefit from some adjustments or additional support, please let us know as early in the process as possible.