Team Leader - Financial Data Integrity

Company Description

Natixis in Portugal is a Centre of Expertise whose mission is to transform traditional banking by developing innovative solutions for the business, operations and work culture of Groupe BPCE worldwide.

Natixis in Portugal is part of the Global Financial Services division, where it applies technology for the development of financial expertise in its two global business lines – Corporate & Investment Banking and Asset & Wealth Management – and, transversally, for the entities of Groupe BPCE.

The Centre of Expertise, based in Porto, currently has more than 2,400 employees from over 30 nationalities, organised in three main departments: Information Technology, Banking Support Activities and Compliance. These teams work in an integrated, inclusive and transversal way, supporting and creating value for all the business lines and platforms of the group. The project in Porto is one of the biggest investments in Human Resources ever made by Groupe BPCE worldwide.

A disruptive mindset and a culture of proximity and agility identify Natixis in Portugal Team and reflect the company's mission to transform traditional banking at a global scale: a perfect match in the Portuguese dynamics and entrepreneurial ecosystem.

In 2024, Top Employers Institute has awarded Natixis in Portugal the Top Employer Portugal accreditation for the second time. This certification recognizes excellence in people practices, following the example of our head office, in France, who was certified Top Employer France for the eight year in a row.

Job Description

Team presentation and main goal:

As part of the Finance Direction, you will integrate the Financial Data Integrity department which is in charge of the production and the justification of accounts for CIB activities of Natixis.

This department counts about 100 people with a target to be bilocated.

You will join a team of 30 people in Porto.

As a Team Leader CC&C Fixed Income ALM & Treasury, you will be in charge of the certification of financial statements, i.e. producing, analyzing, making any corrections, and validating the accounting results and exposures as part of the monthly and quarterly closings of the activities in one area of the CIB (Fixed Income activities). 

Perimeter: 

Within this division, you will be part of the team responsible for monitoring Global Market (Fixed Income, ALM & Treasury).

Your future mission in FDI/ Closing controls & certification (loD1.1):

Finance Accounting Controls - Analysis & Reporting Task:

• Certification of financial statements, including Balance Sheet, Off-Balance Sheet, and identifying, substantiating, and explaining any discrepancies. (SUMMIT (TCI, OTC, BONDS), MUREX …);
• Certification of the Accounting P&L through the reconciliation of Economic P&L vs Accounting P&L on a monthly and quarterly basis. Identification and substantiation in detail of any gaps in methodology for Fixed Income, ALM &Treasury products (such as Forex, swaps, bonds, Money Market, Options, etc);
• Investigate the necessity to post accounting/financial adjustments to render the data accurately;
• Contribute with quarterly closing controls to ensure the quality of data;
• Contact with the Market Risk teams (in charge of the controls on economic P&L), the Support departments (middle and back offices), and the other Finance departments (Financial Permanent Control (LoD2), Norms, Statutory and Social Accounting);
• Justification of the accounting standard differences (between French GAAP and IFRS GAAP);
• Control of internal P&L;
• Justification of all the accounts of the perimeter under your responsibility.

Development and Optimization:

• Spearheaded the implementation of automated reporting, increasing department efficiency and reducing associate workloads;
• Technical support for the local team while creating links with Paris HO and Porto;
• Addressed data patterns and anomalies to certify the accounting data, evaluate financial risk, and reduce problems of data quality;
• Ensuring a system of complementary manual entries in the event of disqualification of the monthly closing processes, such as late entries and adjustments of BO entries;
• Regularly updating operational procedures to reflect improvements and best practices in data management and control.

As the Team Leader of the CC&C FI, ALM & TR team in Porto, you will manage a team of 10 people.

• You will oversee:
  • The recruitment process to staff the team linked to your functional manager in Paris and the local Head of Finance;
  • The training of the recruits: scheduling, development, and evaluation;
  • The organization of the teams, ensuring that appropriate resources are allocated to the tasks for closing tasks and ad-hoc missions;
  • The monitoring and performance of the control framework during the monthly closing;
  • In addition to your team management responsibilities, you will also be involved in production, with a desk perimeter to certify on a monthly basis.

Additional information:

• The manager must have frequent interactions with the Paris teams and will play a central role in:
  • The training of the team.
  • Performing controls.
• Work is carried out at the end of each month according to a shared schedule with other departments of Finance. For quarterly closings, calendars are more compressed, requiring flexibility and coordination;
• You will be part of a bilocalized team with a local manager and a functional manager based in Paris, necessitating regular interactions with the Paris team through daily quick points and weekly team meetings;
• Given the dual responsibility of managing the team and engaging in production tasks, effective time management is essential to balance team leadership and production deadlines. The ability to prioritize tasks and manage time efficiently is crucial for success in this role;
• Support the development of Natixis' internal Finance tools (such as Matisse accounting tool, eMatch reconciliation tool) and management tools (i.e., Summit, MUREX, UBIX) or internal repository tools.

Qualifications

• Higher education in a Finance (Master´s degree Finance, Accounting or Economics), with a first professional experience in banking or audit;
• Prerequisite: knowledge of accounting and ideally bank accounting;
• Financial products (bonds and repos, Forex operations, IRS, CCYIRS,...);
• Knowledge of CIB products and activities would be appreciated;
• Good knowledge of database management;
• Good level of expertise in excel and word, Access is a plus;
• Some expertise in Power BI also a plus;
• Previous experience in accounting expert and/or external audit preferably in business area;
• Some expertise in Power BI also a plus;
• Require quickly logical thinking to Control the data acquisition & treatment on the financial chain inputs, along the flow, plus Detecting anomalies & analyzing the root causes;
• Fluency in English and French as a plus.

Soft Skills:

• Rigor;
• Analytical skills & Critical thinking;
• Autonomy;
• Availability;
• Team spirit;
• Problem-solving skills;
• Attention to detail and strong organization skills. 

Only CV´s in English will be considered.

Additional Information

#MuchMoreThanJustAJob

Early morning. Campo 24 de Agosto. In 4 minutes, you are clocking in at the office. After grabbing a cup of coffee and fresh fruit, pick up your laptop and choose your spot for the day. It's going to be a busy one: French class before lunch and, just after, quick medical appointment at Natixis doctor's office.

Lunch break. Outside in the big terrace (look at your crops at the Urban Garden; ready to harvest!) or, if you feel like stretching your legs, walk downtown to grab lunch.

Back inside. Quick sprint review (working together anywhere means virtual happy birthday to that colleague in Paris that just turned 35). The afternoon went flying (tasks, reports, calls, some jokes with your teammates). End it on a high note: just one PlayStation game or the final match for that ping-pong tournament.

Tomorrow, you complete that certified technical training and the day after, you will work from home, taking advantage to finally do that online course on Udemy. Once you are done with your tasks for the day, you can visit the office for a board games session or show up at the rehearsal of one of Natixis bands. If that is too steady for you, meet your colleagues to surf some waves or join them in a football match.