KYC Front Office Operations Team Lead/PE & CMA - Vice President

Core Information:

Position: FO KYC Operations Team Lead – PE & CMA (VP)

Department: KYC Americas - Sectors

Line Manager: Head of KYC for Sectors

Status: Full Time

Location: New York

About ING:

Ranked #8 on LinkedIn Top Companies in Financial Services

Crain’s 100 Best Places to Work

Ragan’s Top Places to Work in 2023

In Americas, ING’s Wholesale Banking division offers a broad range of innovative financial products and services to domestic and international corporate and institutional clients. 

 
When you come to work at ING, you’re joining a team where individuality isn’t just accepted, it’s encouraged. We’ve built a culture that’s fun, friendly and supportive – it’s the kind of place where you can be yourself and make the most of whatever you have to offer.

We give people the freedom to take risks, think differently, take ownership of their work, and make great things happen. We’re here to help you get ahead. And with our global network, there’s plenty of scope to take your career in new directions, perhaps even ones you’ve never considered. ING Americas follows a hybrid work model, allowing for in-office / work from home flexibility. Hybrid work arrangements vary based on business area.

Sound like the kind of place you’d feel at home? We’d love to hear from you.

About the department:

ING provides banking services and complex financing solutions to companies globally.

To provide a safe banking environment for society and our customers, ING must comply with global Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations including maintaining robust Know Your Customer (KYC) controls. As such, we are actively fighting human trafficking, smuggling of drugs and weapons and do make sure international sanctions against countries and regimes are correctly executed within ING.

The KYC team in North America is offering a position in New York for a professional who enjoys working in an international banking environment. The KYC (Know Your Client) department coordinates all KYC related activities across different ING business sectors, both with external clients and internal stakeholders.

The KYC team is crucial in the onboarding of new customers and plays a key role in managing the non-financial risk of the current client portfolio.

About the position:

The KYC team in North America is offering an Operations Team Lead position to an individual with a passion for leading teams and the skillset to ensure ING’s continued compliance with its KYC obligations. 

The Portfolio Management & Client Outreach Team is part of the KYC Americas organization and coordinates all front office related KYC activities across different ING business lines, both with clients and internal stakeholders. The team is crucial in the onboarding of new customers by managing the collection of KYC requirements and plays a key role in managing the AML related risk of the current client portfolio by being the primary point of contact for the customer during time driven and event driven reviews.

The PE & CMA cluster is servicing primarily private equity customers, asset managers and supports these clients that do contact ING for their strategic (lending) transaction needs.

As a KYC Operations Team Lead, you will manage a team of KYC Experts and will work closely together with front office colleagues, KYC analysts, the 2nd line of defence and 3rd party service providers to maximize customer experience during the onboarding and review process while keeping ING’s portfolio safe & compliant.

Your role and work environment:

• Lead a team of minimum 3 and maximum 10 KYC experts ensuring optimal performance with respect to their day-to-day responsibilities as well as overall success of the Portfolio Management and Client Outreach team.
• Partner with your front office colleagues in the collection of KYC requirements during the onboarding of new customers and make sure time driven/ event driven reviews are performed in an efficient and commercially friendly manner.
• Act as point of contact for other stakeholders involved in the onboarding and KYC process such as the client services departments, customer data teams, Compliance & Risk colleagues, and Audit.

Your key responsibilities:

Operations Management

• Manage day to day activities of KYC Experts ensuring staff adhere to workplace instructions, meet operational services levels and KPI’s and contribute to the achievement of team and organizational goals.
• Get the best out of your people: help individuals and your team to be successful. Provide coaching, training and share feedback while aiming for a high-performing, self-steering team.
• Proactively plan and divide workload across your team and monitor/ensure completion of reviews against target timelines
• Drive yearly commercial assessment, monthly drop planning scope and weekly/daily specific meetings such as portfolio meetings, tollgate, SPOCs stand-ups, etc.
• Ensure collection of customer KYC requirements through desktop research and client outreach is performed in an efficient, timely and commercially friendly manner by close follow-up and constant interaction with front office colleagues and other key process stakeholders.
• Take active ownership and step in for the most complex files that risk going off track and remove impediments if needed (incl. client outreach escalation, waivers negotiations, commercial offboarding initiation, outgoing transfers approval…),
• Be on the look-out for continuous improvement initiatives identifying portfolio management and client outreach processes bottlenecks and pain points
• Track individual and team level performance against operational service levels and other KPIs. Identify areas of non-performance and intervene with appropriate corrective actions.
• Play a crucial role in the remediation of KYC Front Office QA findings

Stakeholder Management

• Play an active role in building strong relationships with the various stakeholders involved in the overall ING Onboarding & KYC process including front office sales staff, Risk & Compliance Teams, Audit Teams, Tech Teams, 3rd Party service providers and various experts.

Change Implementation

• Show leadership and actively support the implementation of change related to policy, team set-up, process, tooling in your team while ensuring all of us remain focused on the client.
• Maintain flexibility and ability to adapt in a fast-paced environment. Stay calm under stress and make sure the team keeps the overview, even in difficult situations.
• Understand all Office Due Diligence and Compliance changes and take responsibility for the implementation of these changes in your team.

Candidate Profile:

Qualifications / Education:

• BA/BS in Finance, Economics, Accounting, Management, Business or other similar field of study.
• (A)CAMs or other similar certification a strong plus.

Experience / Knowledge:

• 7+ years of experience working in a KYC and/ or client onboarding environment with a proven people manager experience.
• Extensive experience with Lending products and Financial Markets is considered a plus.
• Sound knowledge of AML regulations and best practices.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to interact with different ING stakeholders to drive customer centricity and operational excellence.
• Ability to use tools, such as Microsoft 365 suite, to create insights and actionable plans utilizing process data and other relevant information.

Competencies:

• A proactive ‘take it on and make it happen’ mentality.
• Ability to work independently, prioritize tasks and take ownership.
• Organized with high attention to detail.
• Comfortable working in a regulated environment.
• Positive attitude towards changes and ability to adjust to a dynamic business environment.
• Collaborative focus and team player attitude.
• Fluent in English, both verbally and written.

Base Salary Range: $150K - $195K

In addition to comprehensive health benefits, a generous 401k savings plan, and competitive PTO, ING provides a broad array of benefits including adoption, surrogacy, and fertility services; student debt assistance; and subsidies for expenses associated with working from home, commuting, and fitness.

ING Bank does not have a commercial banking license in the U.S. and therefore not permitted to conduct a commercial banking business in the U.S. Through its wholly owned subsidiary ING Financial Services LLC, and its affiliates, it offers a full array of wholesale products such as commercial lending and a full range of FM products and services.

ING is a committed equal opportunity employer. We welcome applicants of diverse backgrounds and hire without regard to color, gender, religion, national origin, citizenship, disability, age, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by law. We celebrate these differences and rely upon your unique perspective to innovate and seize