Senior CTL Financial Controller - Finance - London, United Kingdom

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Responsibilities
Description of the Business Line or Department

At SG Group level, DFIN//CTL (ConTroL) is the 2nd Level Control function within Finance. This team is responsible for Leading level 2 permanent control mission on the completeness, effectiveness (quality of design and execution of controls) and relevance of the 1st Level Control framework within the Finance function (DFIN UK).

DFIN UK covers the three UK entities - SG London Branch (Investment banking), SG International Limited (Brokerage) and SG Kleinwort Hambros (Private banking and wealth management) offering in turn an excellent exposure to a range of business lines.

DFIN/CTL team is comprised of individuals with strong audit and controls background and is also well suited for a candidate with a good understanding of regulatory reporting and financial production wishing to transition to a controls-based role.

The scope of DFIN/CTL team includes financial processes across finance and other departments such as operations (GBSU). Financial processes include accounting & reporting, regulatory reporting (e.g. liquidity and solvency missions), management accounting (e.g. budgets and forecasts), P2P (Procure to Pay) and structural risk related (e.g. ALM & Treasury) missions. This activity is performed based on a yearly roadmap allowing prioritizations and resource allocation.

In addition, the team provides guidance and support in the control framework definition, for example in the Normative Control Referential deployment or in the event of operational team request.

DFIN/CTL reports its assessment in Internal Control Instances both at Group and Entity level.

Summary of the key purposes of the role

DFIN/CTL is a transversal function in finance and works across all legal entities in the UK and Ireland. DFIN/CTL key responsibilities for are:

• Performance of CTL control missions to provide assurance to the CFOs on the effectiveness and relevance of 1st Level Control framework. This includes the completion of missions covering the production of regulatory reports sent to regulators or published internal control indicators.
• Focus on regulatory reporting quality improvement areas and the correct application of group norms and regulatory requirements.
• Prepare and present in governance meetings (risk committee, group reporting packs) and help in active and clear communication to the CTL Group and Local management for timely deliverables
• Liaise with external audit, internal audit, and other Level 2 control functions.
• Follow-up of action plans
• Annual roadmap exercise
• Appetite and aptitude for developing digitalization solutions (Alteryx, Business Intelligence) as this is a key mandate for this team over the next year.
• Active and clear communication to the CTL Group, Local management, and governance forums in term of CTL deliverables.
• Contribute to the international and subsidiary deployment of the SG Group's Permanent Control
• Key responsibilities include:
  • Perform 2nd level reviews: Independently perform reviews, de-brief with the managers, document the report. Reviews include a range of topics across a range of financial topics:

  - Accounting: topics (technical topics such as IFRS 9.1 & 9.2, IFRS 16, process reviews on topics such as accounts payable, intercompany, cash breaks, intangibles etc) and regular spot checks on account certification (substantiation of balance sheet and P&L accounts with supporting documentation).

  - Regulatory reporting: the local UK entities report their regulatory returns to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA), Bank of England and the European Central Bank (ECB), where applicable. This includes ICAAP, ILAAP, Solvency, Liquidity and other regulatory reports.

  - Management accounting (budgets, forecasts etc),

  - Structural risk related (e.g. ALM & Treasury)

  • Various types of reviews are performed in line with Group L2C methodology i) Architectural reviews involve a wholistic assessment of an activity, process, and their associated risks and controls. These reviews also challenge the Blueprints and RCSAs; ii) Extensive reviews consist in assessing the design and execution of Level 1 controls to ensure these are adequately designed and executed to cover the risks and meet the objective of the Control Needs, and iii) Closing reviews are performed during accounting close on specific accounting topics. The report on the design and effectiveness of control framework is presented in standardised group formats.
  • Annual roadmap preparation: Preparation of the annual roadmap follows Group Instructions and is completed through gathering and analysing data from various sources. This includes key risks as identified by Level 1 RCSA (risk and control self-assessment) and feedback from entity CFOs and Sr stakeholders, operational incidents, audit and regulatory findings, balance-sheet and P&L data, new regulatory requirements, new NPC or significant changes to processes, transformation projects etc.
  • Identifying closing review topics and performing closing reviews: On a quarterly basis, gather and analyse data related to closing cycle. This includes pre-close (zone-de-risk) exercise, review of KPIs, study of internal control certification results (SOX-lite approach) etc. Assess the risks and perform timely closing reviews where required. These are provided to the external auditors globally.

  Remedial action plan follow-up on:

  - Action plans raised during reviews and closing cycles

  - Residual risks still on-going.

  Anomalies identification and improvement: coordination with Group Central/Regional/Local Team in charge of level 2 mission to have a global view on our processes.

  Committees and governance: Preparation and participation in group quarterly synthesis for the CTL activities/reviews, and preparation of risk-committee and internal control committee packs, and various other local and Group committees. The CTL Controller will also participate, when required, to the quarterly meetings with internal and external auditors, compliance and risk professionals.

  • Take ownership of data quality of own perimeter of the L2C tools and act as a liaison with group team for data quality queries for the L2C tools (E-control and My Actions) where questions are raised regarding missing fields or inconsistent data. Training on these tools will be provided.
  • Ad-hoc projects related to digitalisation - Digitalization developments and improvement projects. Digitalisation is a key focus area for the team this year (e.g. solutions using Alteryx and Business Intelligence, python).

Profile required
Competencies

Experience and skills in audit, accounting, and regulatory reporting.

Degree in Finance, accounting or similar. ACA/ACCA/CIA or equivalent qualifications.

Relevant experience in a financial services institution or professional services firm, in a control function (Internal audit, LOD2/Level 2 finance controls, etc).

Excellent knowledge of regulatory production/reporting (ICAAP, ILAAP, COREP, Recovery Resolution, Liquidity metrics etc).

Demonstrated experience working in a regulated environment [Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA), Bank of England and the European Central Bank (ECB)].

Knowledge of modelling and/or data analytics tools.

Strong verbal and written communication skills with demonstrated experience in report writing.

Ability to liaise with stakeholders at all management levels and work with various teams.

Ability to identify and take ownership of complex issues and conflict resolution.

Ability to manage multiple priorities and drive deadlines.
Why join us
People join for the impact they can have on us. They stay for the impact we have on them. A flatter structure offers visibility and exposure beyond that of our competitors, so you know our names, and we know yours. It's personable, human, and inspires success through passion. By encouraging open mindedness and a willingness to share ideas, we have adapted to market changes and thrived through innovation. Bringing words like "hard work" and "dedication" together with "community" and "respect" has enabled us to work collaboratively and build our future together. We call this Team Spirit and it's what makes us different. It's what makes you different.
Business insight
If you feel you have the required experience and qualifications, then please apply to the SG Resourcing Team, and we will manage your application. At Société Générale, we believe our people are our strength and are core to the success of our business. As such, we search for, recruit and appoint the best available person on the basis of aptitude and ability, regardless of sex, marital or civil partnership status, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origins, pregnancy, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion, belief or gender identity.