BNP Paribas is the European Union’s leading bank and a key player in international banking. We operate in 65 countries and employ 190,000 people, including nearly 145,000 in Europe. Our Group holds key positions in its three main fields of activity: Commercial, Personal Banking & Services; Investment & Protection Services; and Corporate & Institutional Banking (CIB) for corporate and institutional clients.

Company purpose:

Our company purpose is to contribute to a responsible and sustainable economy by financing and advising clients according to the highest ethical standards.

Our employer promise is built around three pillars:

• Being a great place to work
• Committed to sustainability and having a positive impact
• Being dedicated to the development of our people

Business area

It comprises of around 150 people across London, Paris, Hong Kong, New York, Mumbai and Chennai. Amongst other things, this group is responsible for the development of the award-winning Cortex application and for electronic connectivity to customers and exchanges throughout the world.

Within this department there are multiple teams developing internally and externally facing applications for pricing and trading cash and structured products across the different global business lines product lines. The applications are delivered via a mix of .Net and HTML5 UI technologies and Java server side components to manage downstream service interaction and orchestration from pricing through to booking.

FX Plus is a worldwide platform that provides FX rates for international payments. The FX products include live rates, guaranteed rates, pre-negotiated rates etc. FX Plus feature rich and real-time pricing capabilities create a win-win situation for BNP Paribas and its corporate and retail clients with more FX choices at better rates.

Job purpose 

The Head of FX Plus Development is accountable and responsible for the IT delivery of the Cortex platform, comprising of several sub-applications but primarily being Cortex FX and Cortex Rates.

The Head of Cortex Development will be responsible for technical, functional and resource management of a number of teams that together implement the Cortex platform.

Scope: Global

Key responsibilities

• Development head responsible for the delivery of the Cortex suite of applications
• To establish a collaborative working relationship with senior stakeholders:
  • ensure that a corresponding IT strategy is developed and implemented
  • ensure that corresponding IT needs are properly documented to allow for estimation and planning
  • fully understand the business needs
• Partner with related IT teams (e.g. application support, infrastructure, front to back) to ensure a fully coordinated approach to development, deployment and support of the platform.
• To provide regular feedback to their Head of Department on performance of individuals and participate where appropriate in appraisals and performance management.
• To provide regular and direct communication on key topics: overall project status, risk/issues, and changes in business drivers to all stakeholders.
• To manage, motivate and drive specified project team/s to maximise available resources and ensure delivery meets deadlines within budget.
• To provide oversight and validation of the technical and functional architecture of the platform
• To ensure the team is developing high performant, scalable and usable applications and challenge the business where necessary to ensure this is the case
• To drive both functional and technical projects, being accountable for the success of large projects of work
• To mentor and coach direct reports as appropriate to maximise potential of the team
• To work with remote teams across multiple regions

To participate in strategic IT topics across the larger organisation as required

Requirements

Experience

• Experience of managing multiple teams within an investment banking environment
• Extensive software development experience in an investment banking environment
• Extensive development experience with real time trading systems
• Extensive development experience on Client (Internet) Facing platforms in a banking environment
• Experience of managing remote teams in multiple regions
• Knowledge of front-to-back workflows and processes across FX Sales and Trading
• Financial product knowledge across FX, FX Options, Credit and Rates products
• A technical background with an ability to contribute to technical strategy and architecture
• Good understanding of agile development practices
• Program and project management experience of large projects
• Experience of architecting Front Office trading solutions within an investment banking environment

Qualifications

• Solid academic background in engineering, sciences and/or economics Competencies
• Highly autonomous approach
• Excellent problem-solving abilities
• Excellent business communication skills
• Excellent influencing skills – ability to influence senior members of the organisation Ability to influence senior members of the organisation across trading, sales and IT

And of course, we expect all our colleagues to embody and practice the Group values (alignment with the Bank’s strategy, commitment, work ethic, integrity and Code of Conduct).

A bit more about why you should join us

1. We’re a great place to work

We aim for optimal work/life balance (depending on role, this includes hybrid working, flexible working and agile)

We are proud of our award-winning flexible benefits and health & wellbeing strategy. Our flexible benefits include:

• Generous holiday allowance of at least 26 days (plus bank holidays) – with option to buy and sell holidays.
• Valuable financial plans – a 12% non-contributory pension which has been moved to sustainable investments*, life assurance*, income protection and personal accident insurance.
• Extensive wellbeing and mental health offering – one of the most advanced private medical schemes in the UK, dental cover, wellbeing app, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy support, subsidised gym memberships, bespoke health assessments including genetic testing, Private GP (including digital GP services to parents of employees), Employee Assistance Programme, menopause & fertility support (we are an accredited Menopause Friendly Employer), neurodiversity assessment and support.
• Key onsite services and facilities in London – include physiotherapy, nutrition, massage therapy, physiology, mental health first aiders, seasonal flu vaccinations and free onsite fitness centre.
• Plus, emergency back-up care for dependants, green car leasing, season ticket loan, and a range of other benefits.

* Subject to relevant caps

2. As the eurozone’s largest bank, we are committed to having a positive impact in the world.  

For example, we are committed to Net Zero in all of our financing and investment portfolios by 2050. By 2030, 80% of our energy production financing will be low carbon.

But impact for us means more than climate. It means empowering our people every day. Everyone gets four volunteering days each year - in 2023, we achieved over 18,000 hours of volunteering across the UK and reaching over 4,500 young people.

3. We believe in our people

We support our people to develop skills to adapt to the ever-evolving world of work and to prepare for the jobs of today and tomorrow. We do this through a comprehensive training offering, talent programmes, mentoring, career days and inhouse career tools.

We are proud of the number of our people who progress and secure new roles internally. In fact, in 2023, nearly half of our positions in UK CIB were filled internally. 

Investing in our people also means we have a collaborative and inclusive culture:

• Direct feedback from our people shows that our internal culture sets us apart from our industry peers.
• Each year, nearly 30,000 employees globally are involved in professional networks that play an active role in promoting Diversity and Inclusion within the Group. These include our:

Pride Network, Ability Network (which supports disabled employees), MixCity (gender equality network), Women in Global Markets, Women in Global Banking, Women in IT, Diversity Equity & Inclusion in Technology, Early Careers Network, Multicultural Network and Parents & Carers Network.

Equal opportunities 

BNP Paribas is committed to providing a work environment that fosters diversity, inclusion, and equal employment opportunity without regard to age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation, or any other legally protected status.

Adjustments

We don’t want anyone to be disadvantaged in our recruitment processes, so if you have a disability or health condition which may mean that you’d benefit from some adjustments or additional support, please let us know as early in the process as possible.

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