Assistant Vice President/Vice President, Back Office Operations

Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking is a leading global financial institution that provides advisory, investment banking, financing, corporate banking and capital markets services to corporations, financial institutions, financial sponsors and sovereign and supranational organizations worldwide.

Our teams of experts in close to 30 countries advise clients on their strategic development, helping them to grow and transform their businesses, and maximize their positive impact. Natixis CIB is committed to aligning its financing portfolio with a carbon neutrality path by 2050 while helping its clients reduce the environmental impact of their business.

As part of Groupe BPCE, the second largest banking group in France through the Banque Populaire and Caisse d’Epargne retail networks, Natixis CIB benefits from the Group’s financial strength and solid financial ratings (Standard & Poor's: A+, Moody's: A2, Fitch: A+, R&I: A+).

Role Summary

An experienced Back Office professional at the AVP to VP level to provide senior support for our Equity, Fixed Income, Money Market, and banking businesses. This role is responsible for the end-to-end settlement and processing of a wide range of financial products, ensuring operational efficiency and alignment with global standards. The successful candidate will act as a key point of contact for both internal and external stakeholders, contributing to daily operations, risk management, and process improvement initiatives.

Main Responsibilities:

• Manage and execute all Back Office settlement processes for a diverse range of Japanese and non-Japanese financial products.
• Ensure timely and accurate handling of daily transactions, reconciliations, and corporate actions.
• Serve as a subject matter expert for operations, addressing inquiries from clients, Front Office, and other internal teams.
• Contribute to regulatory reporting, ensuring compliance with local requirements (BOJ, FSA, JSDA).
• Participate in and initiate projects aimed at enhancing operational efficiency, system functionality, and alignment with global operational frameworks.

Client & Stakeholder Engagement

• Act as a primary point of contact for clients on settlement-related topics and other Back Office matters, providing clear and professional communication.
• • Liaise with internal stakeholders, including Front Office, Treasury, and Compliance, to resolve operational issues and support business activities.
• • Engage with external counterparties including asset managers (investment funds), and clearing houses (JSCC, JDCC, JASDEC, OSE, TSE) to facilitate smooth transaction processing.

Operational Duties / Business-as-Usual (BAU)

• Settlement & Clearing: Execute day-to-day settlement processes for equities, bonds, derivatives, and investment funds. Manage clearing with various domestic counterparties and triparty agents
• Treasury Operations: Manage treasury settlements and cash movements via Zengin, BOJ-NET, and SWIFT.
• Reconciliation: Perform daily cash and securities position reconciliations to ensure accuracy and mitigate risk.
• Exception Management: Proactively manage settlement fails and resolve discrepancies in a timely manner.
• Corporate Actions: Oversee the coupon and dividend claim process.
• Collateral Management: Handle collateral management activities for relevant transactions.

Governance, Compliance and Risk Management

• Regulatory Reporting: Create and submit regulatory reports to key authorities, including BOJ, FSA, and JSDA.
• Fail Management: Identify, investigate, and resolve settlement fails to minimize financial and reputational risk.
• Global Alignment: Ensure all local processes and solutions consider and align with the firm's global operational setup and best practices.

Continuous Improvement & Innovation

• Take initiative to lead or participate in projects aimed at exploring more efficient processes or implementing new solutions.
• Actively participate in UAT for system enhancements and new platform rollouts.
• Continuously seek opportunities to streamline workflows and enhance operational controls.

Strategic Oversight & Execution

• Provide leadership and direction for all Global Markets and Treasury operational activities, ensuring adherence to global standards and local regulations with a focus on achieving zero defaults and zero delays.

Team Development & Mentorship

• Mentor and guide junior team members, fostering a culture of continuous learning, operational excellence, and proactive problem-solving.

Qualifications and Education Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in relevant field • Equivalent professional experience in a similar operations role will be strongly considered

Required Skills:

Functional Skills (Role-Critical)

• Product Knowledge: In-depth understanding of the settlement lifecycle for:

• Japanese Equities
• Fixed Income: JGBs, Non-Yen Bonds (Repo, Outright, Primary/Secondary Structured)
• Investment Funds (Japan domestic)
• Banking Products: Loans (Structured), Deposits (Term, Structured), FX/MM
• Derivatives: OTC Derivatives (Cross Currency Repo, IRS, FX Swap)

•Process Expertise: Proficient in back-office operations including trade settlement, treasury management, reconciliation, fail management, collateral management, and corporate actions.

•Systems Proficiency: Experience with clearing systems (JSCC, JDCC, JASDEC) and market infrastructure is highly desirable.

• Proficiency in designing and implementing effective reconciliation strategies
• Comprehensive knowledge of payment systems and international payment flows

Leadership & Behavioral Skills

• Communication: Excellent verbal and written communication skills to deal effectively with clients and internal stakeholders.
• Problem-Solving: Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities to handle ad-hoc queries and resolve complex operational issues.
• Ownership & Accountability: A proactive and responsible approach to managing daily tasks and seeing issues through to resolution.

Specific Skills

• Language: Business-level proficiency in both Japanese and English is required to liaise with local and global stakeholders.
• Regulatory Knowledge: Familiarity with Japanese financial regulations and reporting requirements (BOJ, FSA, JSDA).

Transformative Skills

• Project Management: Ability to participate in and contribute effectively to projects, including planning, testing, and implementation phases.
• Process Improvement Mindset: A natural curiosity and drive to identify inefficiencies and propose practical, innovative solutions.
• Global Perspective: The ability to think beyond local requirements and consider the broader impact of decisions on the global operational framework.