Director, Sanctions, UK & Europe

Job Summary

• Act as a senior sanctions subject matter expert for UK and European Union sanctions, providing high-quality, timely and practical advice to first- and second-line stakeholders on complex clients, transactions and business activity.
• Support effective identification, assessment and management of sanctions risk by interpreting legal and regulatory requirements, applying Group policies and standards, and contributing to proportionate control design and business decisions.
• Serve as a primary escalation point and, when required, represent or deputise for the Head of Sanctions, UK & Europe in governance forums, regulatory and audit engagements, industry discussions and sanctions-related projects.

Key Responsibilities

Core accountabilities (individual contributor)
• Provide strategic and transactional advice on UK and EU sanctions, relevant regulatory permissions, exceptions and licences, and the application of Group Sanctions Policy and Standards.
• Assess the impact of sanctions-related legal and regulatory developments on businesses and operations, and support timely implementation of required changes.
• Advise on high-risk clients and KYC matters, including client retention, risk-mitigation or ringfencing strategies, permitted activity and required escalations or approvals.
• Support regulatory reporting and engagement, including the OFSI Annual Frozen Assets Report, sanctions breach reports and other communications with UK and EU sanctions authorities.
• Contribute to sanctions policies, standards, control frameworks, management information and the annual review of dispensations, using data and analytics to strengthen risk insight and control effectiveness.
• Provide sanctions input to transaction screening, name screening, sanctions risk events and potential circumvention cases, including emerging typologies and client-specific intelligence.
• Represent UK & Europe at relevant risk, client and programme forums and contribute to regulatory, audit, change and business projects; deputise for the Head of Sanctions, UK & Europe when required.
• Promote high standards of conduct, constructive challenge, risk awareness and effective collaboration, and develop sanctions capability through targeted training and communications.

Skills and Experience

Must-have Skills
• Sanctions Laws & Regulations
• Sanctions Risk Management & Controls
• Communication (Written & Verbal)
Other Skills
• Business Awareness
• Geopolitical Awareness
• Stakeholder Management & Presentation
• Organisation & Prioritisation

Motivations

• Solving complex, high-impact sanctions issues where legal requirements, regulatory expectations and practical business considerations must be reconciled.
• Providing clear, credible advice that enables well-governed decisions and strengthens the Bank's management of sanctions risk.
• Working collaboratively across businesses, functions and jurisdictions while constructively challenging established approaches and continuously improving controls.

Qualifications

Key Experiences
• Substantial experience advising on UK and EU sanctions and applying sanctions laws, regulations, policy and standards to complex client, transaction and business scenarios.
• Experience in sanctions risk assessment, screening or investigations, high-risk client review, control design and the identification of circumvention risks and typologies.
• Experience preparing senior-management information and regulatory, audit or breach-reporting materials, and engaging credibly with senior internal and external stakeholders.
• Ability to manage competing priorities, exercise sound judgement under ambiguity and deliver clear, timely and defensible outcomes.
Certifications / Qualifications
• Degree, ideally in law or economics.
• ACAMS or equivalent professional qualification.
Languages
• English

About Standard Chartered

We're an international bank, nimble enough to act, big enough for impact. For more than 170 years, we've worked to make a positive difference for our clients, communities, and each other. We question the status quo, love a challenge and enjoy finding new opportunities to grow and do better than before. If you're looking for a career with purpose and you want to work for a bank making a difference, we want to hear from you. You can count on us to celebrate your unique talents and we can't wait to see the talents you can bring us.

Our purpose, to drive commerce and prosperity through our unique diversity, together with our brand promise, to be here for good are achieved by how we each live our valued behaviours. When you work with us, you'll see how we value difference and advocate inclusion.

Together we:

• Do the right thing and are assertive, challenge one another, and live with integrity, while putting the client at the heart of what we do
• Never settle, continuously striving to improve and innovate, keeping things simple and learning from doing well, and not so well
• Are better together, we can be ourselves, be inclusive,

What we offer

In line with our Fair Pay Charter, we offer a competitive salary and benefits to support your mental, physical, financial and social wellbeing.

• Core bank funding for retirement savings, medical and life insurance, with flexible and voluntary benefits available in some locations.
• Time-off including annual leave, parental/maternity (20 weeks), sabbatical (12 months maximum) and volunteering leave (3 days), along with minimum global standards for annual and public holiday, which is combined to 30 days minimum.
• Flexible working options based around home and office locations, with flexible working patterns.
• Proactive wellbeing support through Unmind, a market-leading digital wellbeing platform, development courses for resilience and other human skills, global Employee Assistance Programme, sick leave, mental health first-aiders and all sorts of self-help toolkits
• A continuous learning culture to support your growth, with opportunities to reskill and upskill and access to physical, virtual and digital learning.
• Being part of an inclusive and values driven organisation, one that embraces and celebrates our unique diversity, across our teams, business functions and geographies - everyone feels respected and can realise their full potential.