Strategy Transformation & Oversight Lead

In addition to providing strategic leadership for Barclays' sanctions governance and oversight framework, the successful candidate will be expected to:

• Lead the team responsible for second line oversight of First Line of Defence (1LOD) sanctions activities, including governance, effectiveness and performance oversight of customer and transaction screening controls and associated filtering technologies.
• Provide leadership and direction to a team of sanctions subject matter experts covering specialist areas including Trade Finance, Securities Services and emerging products such as Digital Assets and tokenised deposits, ensuring sanctions risks are appropriately assessed, managed and governed.
• Act as a key support to the Global Head of Sanctions, providing leadership across the Sanctions Strategy, Transformation and Oversight function and helping to shape the overall sanctions agenda, operating model and governance framework.
• Drive oversight of sanctions risk management frameworks, policies, standards and controls, ensuring they remain aligned with evolving regulatory expectations, geopolitical developments and industry best practice.
• Lead engagement with senior stakeholders across Compliance, Financial Crime, Operations, Technology and Business leadership teams to deliver effective sanctions governance and risk management outcomes.
• Identify, prioritise and deliver strategic transformation initiatives to enhance the effectiveness, efficiency and scalability of the sanctions control environment, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and innovation.
• Support the evolution of screening methodologies, control design and data quality standards to improve risk coverage, reduce operational inefficiencies and strengthen sanctions detection capabilities.

The successful candidate is likely to bring:

• Deep technical expertise in sanctions screening systems, filtering technologies and customer and transaction screening controls.
• Strong knowledge of sanctions risk management frameworks, governance, controls and regulatory expectations across global financial institutions.
• Demonstrated experience leading large, complex sanctions or financial crime teams and developing high-performing specialist functions.
• Strong strategic, analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate regulatory requirements into practical and sustainable operating models.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing capabilities, with experience engaging effectively at Executive Committee and senior leadership level.
• Proven experience leading transformation, change management and control enhancement programmes within a regulated financial services environment.
• A collaborative leadership style with the ability to build strong partnerships across Compliance, Financial Crime, Operations, Technology and Front Office functions.

Purpose of the role

To identify and conduct the appropriate analysis and due diligence on Sanctions alerts to ensure the appropriate action is taken against customers and payment activity as defined by the Sanctions Standards and Restricted Activity Matrix, ensuring that the organisation adheres to all applicable sanction’s laws and regulations and internal governance, such that client accounts are not held and transactions are not processed in breach of application laws and regulations. 

Accountabilities

• Understanding the objectives of the Global Sanctions Function and the control frameworks and embed a culture of compliance with sanctions.
• Revision of escalated cases and confirm a True Match in line with regulations/policy accurately and in a timely manner, feeding back on instances of incorrect escalation.
• Management and provision of guidance in the completion of complex sanctions investigations, ensuring that matters are correctly managed and follow appropriate escalation routes, while involving the relevant stakeholders early and fully.
• Due diligence on Payment Screening alerts to determine the appropriate treatment and next steps for the payment in line with documented procedures following the defined governance process and approvals as required.
• Escalation of Customer Screening True Matches to appropriate Business Aligned Sanctions Team for assessment.
• Identification of opportunities to drive efficiencies in the alert management process and feed these back to the appropriate team(s) to implement.

Director Expectations

• To manage a business function, providing significant input to function wide strategic initiatives. Contribute to and influence policy and procedures for the function and plan, manage and consult on multiple complex and critical strategic projects, which may be business wide..
• They manage the direction of a large team or sub-function, leading other people managers and embedding a performance culture aligned to the values of the business. Or for an individual contributor, they lead organisation wide projects and act as deep technical expert and thought leader, identifying new ways of working and collaborating cross functionally. They will train, guide and coach less experienced specialists and provide information affecting long term profits, organisational risks and strategic decisions..
• Provide expert advice to senior functional management and committees to influence decisions made outside of own function, offering significant input to function wide strategic initiatives.
• Manage, coordinate and enable resourcing, budgeting and policy creation for a significant sub-function.
• Escalates breaches of policies / procedure appropriately.
• Foster and guide compliance, ensure regulations are observed that relevant processes in place to facilitate adherence.
• Focus on the external environment, regulators, or advocacy groups to both monitor and influence on behalf of Barclays, when appropriate.
• Demonstrate extensive knowledge of how the function integrates with the business division / Group to achieve the overall business objectives.
• Maintain broad and comprehensive knowledge of industry theories and practices within own discipline alongside up-to-date relevant sector / functional knowledge, and insight into external market developments / initiatives.
• Use interpretative thinking and advanced analytical skills to solve problems and design solutions in often complex/ sensitive situations.
• Exercise management authority to make significant decisions and certain strategic decisions or recommendations within own area.
• Negotiate with and influence stakeholders at a senior level both internally and externally.
• Act as principal contact point for key clients and counterparts in other functions/ businesses divisions.
• Mandated as a spokesperson for the function and business division.

All Senior Leaders are expected to demonstrate a clear set of leadership behaviours to create an environment for colleagues to thrive and deliver to a consistently excellent standard. The four LEAD behaviours are: L – Listen and be authentic, E – Energise and inspire, A – Align across the enterprise, D – Develop others.

All colleagues will be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Values of Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence and Stewardship – our moral compass, helping us do what we believe is right. They will also be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Mindset – to Empower, Challenge and Drive – the operating manual for how we behave.