Education programmes of job
Banking and Insurance MSc Banking
Financial Economics and Banking MSc
Financial Markets MSc
Nature of work
An operational investment banker covers a wide range of activities. Following the buying and selling of financial products and services by the bank, operations staff ensure that each transaction is: Cleared - funds and financial products moved between buyer and seller.
settled - ownership confirmed efficiently and accurately.
reconciled - correctly documented and reported.
The structure of departments varies from bank to bank, but the tasks of operations practitioners typically involve:
Running processes to clear and settle transactions.
reconciling systems by checking that the data flows from the revenue-generating front office to the operations systems (operations control).
Monitoring the activity and reports of daily transactions.
Investigating breaks in the cash account within an investment bank.
Liaising with clients regarding transaction settlements, as and when required.
Troubleshooting systems problems.
Managers of operations teams will:
Act as an interface with other divisions of the bank. For example,he/she liaise with traders and ensures all issues are resolved in an extremely timely and efficient manner.
Recruit, train and coach team members.
Organise team meetings, manage team members and have responsibility for individual and team appraisals.
Ensure client protection rules are commited to.
Make sure that processes are constantly incrementally improving, and participate in step-change improvement projects.
Manage projects, such as analysing a system, identifying and specifying developments and improvements and coordinating the testing and implementation of new systems.
Environment of work
Investment banks have a reputation for long working hours ; while this is true for divisions, such as corporate finance. Working hours in operations tend to be more regular typically from 8.300am to between 5.30 and 6.00pm and from Sunday to Thursday. However, when working on projects or towards the end of the month, longer hours and some weekend work may be necessary to meet deadlines. The job is mostly office based.
Flexible or part-time working is becoming more common. There are no opportunities for self-employment though consultants may be used for major improvement projects. Many banks have career break schemes, but they are often restricted to long-serving members of staff and are only approved by senior management on a case-by-case basis.
Many banks have a 'business casual' dress code though some maintain to the requirement of smart business dress. The working environment may be demanding and stressful, with tight deadlines, but the role offers variety and challenge. It is sometimes necessary to adjust home and social life to meet the priorities of the job.
There may be some travel involved to some of the bank's other sites overseas, but travel opportunities are limited in operations and will depend on the department or product.
Professional life
Operational bankers’ careers can progress in a linear way - performing consistently well, leading to promotions that encompass more responsibility, such as people, project and budgetary responsibility.Continued success can lead to promotion into senior management roles although competition for these roles in high and progression is likely to be slow.
It is often possible to move either temporarily or permanently into project management or into a specialist role, such as IT or HR. Moving into these areas temporarily can provide a breadth and balance to a career, but may affect career progression in the short term.
Movement from operations into client-facing roles has become more common though still fairly rare as the skills sets required for these roles are very different.
Typical starting salaries range from xxxxx to xxxxxx plus benefits and a bonus.
Getting the job
The entry into operations tends to be either as an administrator, who will need prior administration experience, but no specific educational background, or as a graduate trainee, who are normally known as analysts.Typically, the banks will accept applications from graduates of any discipline. Applicants from non-related disciplines will not be at a disadvantage, but they will need to show an understanding and keen interest in the business.
Applications from people with postgraduate degrees are welcomed though they are not likely to receive any preferential treatment. Those with MBAs and certain other postgraduate degrees plus two to five years of relevant work experience may be able to apply for a higher level training programme as associates, but it’s worth noting that these programmes are usually aligned to front office roles.
Skills
candidates for graduate programmes will need to show evidence of the following: The potential to achieve a leadership position.
The ability to work well in a team.
Good communication skills especially the ability to persuade and influence others.
A strong customer service ability.
Strong numeracy and analytical skills.
A creative and innovative approach to problem-solving.
Attention to detail plus excellent organisational and time management skills.
Sources and references
www.investopedia.com www.investment-jobs.com
careers.jpmorgan.com
www.prospects.ac.uk
Arab Standard Classification of Occupations, 2008, Ed. Arab Labor Organization.
Summary
The operations division of an investment bank is often described as the 'engine room' of the organisation.Operations also known as 'back office', and sometimes 'middle office' provide support to the client facing departments, such as trading, corporate finance, and corporate banking - sometimes known as the 'front office'.
The front office generates business for the bank and operations ensure that the business is administered in an efficient, controlled, risk-free and timely manner. They ensure that products, services and money change hands how they are supposed to.
The exact definition of operations is sometimes extended to business services functions, such as human resources, IT and public relations.
Operations professionals run and manage day-to-day processes and develop new systems in order to maximise efficiency and profitability for the bank. They deal with incoming queries from their internal clients, resolve incorrect payments and ensure that client details are correct for the payment of funds.