Trade Finance Advisory

Role: Trade Finance Advisory (TFA) Professional, South Asia

Reporting to: Head – Trade Finance Advisory (TFA), South Asia

Location: Worli, Mumbai

Coverage

Product line: Guarantees, Letters of Credit, Project Exports under PEM, FEMA compliance, RBI

liasioning

Geography: Siemens business in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal & Bhutan

Legal entities: Siemens Ltd, India & Siemens group companies in India & Bangladesh – engaged in the following businesses: Digital industries, Smart Infrastructure, Mobility, Software, Global business services etc

Mission:

The incumbent will be responsible for the following:

1. Review and advise, incl. drafting & mark-ups on standby letters of credit (SLCs), bank guarantees, surety bonds and other guaranties and corporate guarantees (collectively Guarantees)
2. Ensure timely and accurate issuance and amendment of Guarantees
3. Review of guarantee forecast for Siemens Entities
4. Manage information within the guarantee database for reporting and controlling, including engagement with management, accounting, and other Siemens stakeholders
5. Assist with guarantee charges from banks and surety companies as well as internal billings
6. Advise concerning corporate finance circulars and external rules/regulations (e.g. UCP 600, …) and on standard practice as well as apply this knowledge to drafting and negotiating guarantee terms and relevant contract sections
7. Building & maintaining trust-based co-operation and highest level of transparency in dealings with all internal stakeholders – Businesses, other functions, shared service center, group companies and head quarters
8. Ensuring utmost professionalism and fairness in dealings with all external stakeholders including RBI and banks

Key Areas of Responsibility:

As the member for the Trade Finance Advisory function for South Asia Region,

• Providing risk advisory to businesses with reference to guarantees and stand-by/commercial letters of credit - including risk mitigation strategies to reduce the financial risk for Siemens
• Managing outward Guarantees & LCs issuance and inward LCs advising & negotiation and ensuring oversight with reference to inward Guarantees
• Ensuring approvals, monitoring & reporting for Project Exports under the RBI Project Export Memorandum (PEM) guidelines
• Providing regular trade finance trainings to businesses to increase risk awareness and drive risk mitigation
• Overseeing adherence to export and merchanting trade related FEMA guidelines prescribed by RBI
• Liasioning with RBI and obtaining exception approvals from RBI
• Transforming the existing trade finance landscape by designing and implementing e2e automated, straight through processing
• Fostering win-win partnerships with banks and fintech players

Qualifications / Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in business administration, finance, accounting, or in a related field, ideally supplemented by additional finance-related qualifications (e.g. MBA etc).
• Minimum 10-15 years of relevant experience in a Corporate Treasury or a Bank with consistent professional accomplishments
• In-depth knowledge of trade finance including ICC guidelines, central bank guidelines, trade finance cum banking practices & processes
• Rich experience in RBI liasioning, handling Project Export Memorandum (PEM) projects and structuring compliant cross border current account transactions to support business requirements
• Proficiency in MS Office suite and understanding of SWIFT for Corporates

Competencies:

1. Highly independent, persuasive, self-starter with strong sense of ownership at work & speed in execution
2. Team up with all stakeholders in businesses and headquarters to win; Good communication & inter-personal skills are must to have
3. Ability to think globally & act locally – Being consistent with global processes/practices/standards; but, having the ability to take all stakeholders along and do what is right for the business in the country, in line with local situation
4. Skills & vision to build the future - Ability to look ahead in terms of potential / opportunities and drive change to capture 'early mover' advantage
5. Passion to drive digital transformation & automation