Head of Institutional Credit Management- ICM
Executive Summary and Role Purpose
The Head of Institutional Credit Management (ICM) is a critical Managing Director (C16) level executive role reporting directly to the Chief Client Officer, who is a memberof Citi's Executive Management Team. This pivotal leadership position is responsible forcompetitively positioning Citi by driving the development, execution, and continuous optimisationof an end-to-end wholesale credit underwriting and management platform. The incumbent will serve as an execution-oriented leader, ensuring that the highest quality control standards for wholesale credit analysis and portfolio monitoring are consistently met across the enterprise. By establishingand monitoring critical production and control metrics, the Head of ICM will drive credit and portfolio actions,andsafeguardthe firm's capital while enabling business growth.
OrganisationalContext and Mission
Operating within Citi’s Client Organisation, Institutional Credit Management consistsof a global workforce of approximately 3,000 professionals. The Client Organisationis dedicated to empowering client growth through a deep, anticipatory understanding of client needs, using the full breadth of Citi's globalproduct capabilities. Within this framework, ICM serves as a best-in-class, first-line-of-defence(in-business) organisation. The mission of ICM is to deliver a seamless, end-to-end wholesale credit management platform in close, collaborative partnership with Citi's lines of business, independent risk management, and key corporate functions. This ensures a unified, firmwide approach to client strategy, segmentation, and coverage, delivering consistent, high-quality services in all geographies.
Strategic Leadership and Transformation
As a global leader, the Head of ICM must possessa sophisticated global perspective and a strategic mindset capable of translating future market possibilities into breakthrough organisationalstrategies. The role demands the ability to lead large-scale, cross-border teams, taking a holistic and broad view when addressing systemic issues. The incumbent will drive growth and lead transformation by anticipatingfuture shifts in financial markets, navigating evolving regulatory landscapes with agility, and guiding the organisationthrough rapid technological advancements. This includes nurturing a culture of adaptability and continuous innovation, actively identifyingfuture skill gaps, and providingrobust reskilling opportunities to ensure the workforce remainscompetitive and future ready. A key aspect of this leadership will involve effectively managing a largeteam, fostering a high-performance culture, and ensuring alignment with the strategic objectivesand growth aspirations of Citi's wholesale businesses.
Stakeholder Management and Collaboration
Effective stakeholder management and deep collaboration are central to the success of this role. The Head of ICM is also responsible for managing interactionswith external stakeholders, including government bodies, regulatory agencies, and clients. Internally, the incumbent must build strong partnerships and interact regularly on complex credit and risk issues with the Board of Directors, the Chief Executive Officer, the Executive Management Team (EMT), and cross-franchise leaders. By instilling trust through honesty, integrity, and authenticity, the Head of ICM will balance the competing needs of multiple stakeholders, lead senior-level client relationships,and negotiations, and foster significant cross-business and cross-functional alignment to meet shared corporate objectives.
Risk Management, Regulatory Compliance and Crisis Response
A primary responsibility of the Head of ICM is the rigorous management of credit risk and the adherence to firm policies and regulatory standards. The incumbent will be personally responsible for addressing, managing, and successfully discharging material regulatory requirements. This requires maintaininga high levelof constructive engagement with global regulators and demonstrating a proven ability to collaborate effectively with internal control functions, such as Internal Audit and Fundamental Credit Risk (FCR), as well as external auditors. Furthermore, the Head of ICM must possessdeep event and crisis management expertiseto guide the organisationthrough complex geopolitical events, business continuity disruptions, cybersecurity threats, and data privacy challenges, ensuring operational resilience under pressure. The Head of ICM will also work closely with the second line of defenceRisk function to ensure all operations are in accordance withwholesale credit policies, thereby driving consistency and robustness in the credit management framework.
Functional Expertise, Technology and Credit Workflow Systems
Effectively toleada modern credit management platform, the Head of ICM must possessexcellent technology skills and a deep, practical understanding of credit workflow systems. The role requires a sophisticated grasp of evolving technology trends, including the integration of real-time data feeds for dynamic risk monitoring and the implementation of predictive modeling for risk forecasting. Under the incumbent's leadership, ICM will drive innovation in credit management processes and systems, offering credit capabilitiespowered by artificial intelligence and machine learning. By collaborating with business and technology partners to implement solutions, using advanced analytics for predictive credit insights, and enhancing cybersecurity measures, the Head of ICM will capitaliseon opportunities for disruptive change to maintainCiti's competitive advantage. Furthermore, a critical focus will be on driving operational efficiencies and achieving operational leverage, ensuring the ICM platform can effectively support increasing business volumes and evolving wholesale lending activities.
The ideal candidate will be a highly effective and distinguished business leader with a minimum of 15 years of risk or risk-related credit work experience within major global banking or financial institutions. This extensive background must reflect deep knowledge of wholesale credit portfolios, credit workflow systems, and a proven track recordof executing monitoring strategies and priorities across diverse lines of business and geographies. The candidate must demonstratestrong ethics, unwavering integrity, and the courage to address difficult issues transparently and in a timely manner. Exceptional decision-making capabilities under pressure and tight timelines are essential, complemented by outstanding verbal and written communication skills and the ability to deliver compelling presentations to senior executives, board members, and regulatory authorities.
Candidates applying for this role must be aware that it is a Certified Role, subject to the FCA and PRA Certification Regime.
The Certification Regime is one element of the Individual Accountability Regime which came into effect on 7 March 2016.
Under the Certification Regime, Citi UK regulated entities (Citi entities) must ensure that employees working in certain roles categorised as specified significant harm functions (Certified Roles) are assessed as fit and proper to carry out their role.
Under the guidance provided by the FCA and PRA, firms should have regard to the following when assessing fitness and propriety:
- Honesty, integrity and reputation
- Financial soundness
- Competence and capability
In order to comply with the requirements of the Certification Regime, Citi entities must take reasonable care to ensure that an employee does not perform a Certified Role without first being certified as Fit and Proper. For this reason, you will be assessed for this role against the Fit and Proper requirements, as described above.
This assessment will be carried out through extensive interviews, self-disclosures, permitted criminal record checks, regulated reference checks, credit checks and other background screening checks.’
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Job Family Group:
Business Strategy, Management & Administration------------------------------------------------------
Job Family:
Business Management------------------------------------------------------
Time Type:
Full time------------------------------------------------------
Most Relevant Skills
Please see the requirements listed above.------------------------------------------------------
Other Relevant Skills
For complementary skills, please see above and/or contact the recruiter.------------------------------------------------------
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