Business Development Manager – Trade Finance

About

The Business Development Manager – Trade Finance reports to the Head – Trade Finance and will develop and drive trade finance products and market high-value trade finance business with business segments and product houses. The role focuses on growing trade finance volumes, managing trade-product risk and compliance, building relationships, and supporting sales and customer service. Reference: BDMTF/CIBD/2026

How to apply

Please forward your application letter enclosing a detailed Curriculum Vitae to jobs@co-opbank.co.ke, indicating the job reference number BDMTF/CIBD/2026 in the subject line.

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Responsibilities

• Innovate and develop new Trade Finance products to grow the Bank’s contingent book and non-funded income streams.
• Develop a sales strategy for Trade Finance products to meet sales targets in line with the overall Bank strategy.
• Align product process flows and the operations manual to achieve quality and efficient standards.
• Identify and translate market trends into new Trade Finance opportunities, or re-engineer existing products, to generate profitable business.
• Originate and structure business deals through appropriate use of term sheets and capture the end-to-end sequence of events to mitigate inherent risks.
• Develop and maintain working relationships with local and international financial institutions with the aim of deriving Trade Finance business.
• Identify general and specific opportunities and threats to position Trade Finance products for the Bank’s overall competitive advantage within the stipulated service level agreements.
• Collaborate with other business teams in structuring Trade Finance transactions to ensure customer needs are attended to efficiently and promptly while safeguarding against potential transactional risks.
• Benchmark against the market to keep abreast of competition, product offerings and service developments.
• Assess threats to the business and plan remedial action to maintain a competitive edge for trade products throughout the country.
• Champion risk approvals for trade deals, provide risk management of the trade portfolio and develop structured solutions to mitigate risk.
• Provide Relationship Managers, Business Bankers and customers with continuous trade product knowledge through training, workshops and forums to maximise trade opportunity identification and solutions.
• Drive overall client satisfaction and service benchmarks for the trade offering and build customer loyalty.
• Continually drive and ensure a consistent, superior client-oriented culture and high-quality service delivery to trade customers.
• Implement and monitor KYC and ALM measures in line with the Bank’s and regulatory requirements.

Qualifications

• A university degree with ACIB or equivalent.
• Knowledge of UCP 600, URDG 758, URC 458 and Incoterms 2010.
• Knowledge of international trade rules.
• Good negotiating skills and strong analytical skills.
• Ability to package solutions that fit emerging customer needs.
• Ability to drive sales and uptake of Trade Finance products.
• Knowledge of Trade Finance products and services.
• Ability to drive revenue from all revenue streams, including LC commissions, guarantee commissions, interest revenue and structuring fees.
• Capacity to ensure compliance with the product credit policy and operational requirements.
• Ability to monitor product performance against targets.
• A team player who can work with business segments to identify client potential and follow through to closure on approved lines.