Director General - Finance Directorate (FI)

The EIB, the European Union's bank, is seeking to recruit, at its headquarters in Luxembourg, a Director General (DG)* for its Finance Directorate (FI).  As DG FI, you will create and implement the vision and overarching strategy for the Directorate, leading a team of c 280 staff, and contributing to the success and sustainability of the Bank through your management of our funding (capital markets), treasury and ALM activities, and related middle and back-office functions.  This is a full-time position at grade 8/9.

Purpose

As DG FI, you will provide leadership to your Directorate and, in cooperation with your peers in other Directorates, to the wider Bank, and will support the Bank in the realisation of its mission, through the delivery of cost-efficient and reliable (i) funding, treasury and ALM management, (ii) middle-office tools and controls, and (iii) state of the art back-office processes and transaction settlements

Post-specific environment

The Finance Directorate is organised in 3 Departments plus a Coordination Division, and is responsible for the following activities:

• Treasury: ensuring that the Bank disposes at all times of sufficient liquidity buffers and securing the resilience of the Bank’s activities and of its balance sheet
• Funding: ensuring that the Bank raises the necessary long-term sustainable finance from the financial markets to perform its lending and investment activities
• ALM: ensuring the management of the Bank’s balance sheet and related interest, basis, and currency risk, in a sustainable way and in conformity with the Risk Appetite Framework
• Financial intermediation: ensuring and providing the appropriate pricing of lending operations in all authorised currencies, delivering advisory and financial engineering services to the lending and investment teams
• First Line of Defence risk management: developing and maintaining the tools, procedures and policies required for the assessment, measurement, mitigation and reporting of all risks involved in the transactions performed in the Directorate
• Back-office: ensuring the correct and timely settlement and execution of all back-office operations linked to the lending, treasury and borrowing activities of the Bank
• Ensuring EIB’s perfect standing in the financial markets: maintaining appropriate relationships with credit rating agencies, investors, financial intermediaries, market authorities and all other counterparties necessary for the execution of financial transactions on the international capital markets; ensuring the appropriate legal correctness and documentation of all transactions.

Operating Network

Reporting to the EIB President, you will represent your Directorate throughout the Bank, collaborating closely with your peers in other Directorates.  You will also preside on the EIB’s Asset Liability Committee (ALCO).  

Externally, you will identify and develop strategic long term relationships with other EU and public financial institutions as well with other financial intermediaries (such as banks, investment funds and capital market infrastructures), rating agencies and regulators. You will also promote the EIB image at external events and toward investors, staying abreast of best practice in the market, and participating as required in conferences, panels and roadshows.

Accountabilities

• Define, develop and implement a vision and strategy, for the short, medium, and long term, to ensure fulfilment of the specific objectives assigned to the different business areas of the Finance Directorate, in support of the EIB mission
• Align and embed the Directorate’s strategy with(in) the global Bank-wide strategy and its further development
• Ensure that the business and needs of the Directorate are fully understood and supported within the Bank through appropriate reporting, communication, and engagement with stakeholders
• Design and maintain an appropriate organisational structure and key performance indicators to ensure the realisation of the Directorate’s qualitative and quantitative objectives
• Establish, allocate and monitor the Directorate’s budget, taking into account the financial sustainability of the Bank, and balance the effective use of budget against actual business delivery and the achievement of business objectives; embed capacity planning and cost management in all decision making within the Directorate
• Ensure that the Directorate is appropriately staffed in terms of number and organisation and that tasks are allocated appropriately, to achieve business objectives and efficiency
• Ensure that staff have the right competencies, objectives, and motivation to deliver the Directorate’s strategy and operational plan; oversee their key capabilities, skills and knowledge to cope with both current and future challenges and the requirements of the different business lines
• Foster a development culture that supports all staff to grow in their current positions and prepare for future positions
• Ensure the appropriate risk culture among staff
• Organise, empower, manage and lead decision-making in critical phases of key area processes to deliver strategic results and objectives, in compliance with EIB policies and governance, and with applicable laws, regulations, and best banking practices (BBP)
• Delegate and empower the execution of key area processes to the appropriate managerial or executive level. Ensure the follow-up of the realised objectives and pro-actively adapt if need be
• Represent the Directorate towards, and maintain constructive relationships with, the different governing bodies (Board of Directors, Management Committee, Audit Committee, ALCO etc) for matters pertaining to your Directorate
• Bring in additional external views on BBP, funding and treasury strategies etc to keep the Bank aligned with European and global standards for international financial institutions
• Maintain and enhance the reputation of the Bank as a whole and your Directorate in particular, building and maintaining constructive relations with key stakeholders and counterparts internally and externally.

Qualifications

• University degree, preferably complemented by a business-oriented post graduate education
• At least 15 years of relevant professional experience, including in-depth experience of Treasury, ALM and/or Funding activities, ideally gained in a large public or private financial institution and in a multi-currency environment
• A demonstrable interest in/strategic perspective on operational/back-office activities and challenges
• Experience in a public/non-profit institution with policy objectives would be a strong asset
• A very strong understanding of the financial markets and the prevailing European regulatory landscape is a prerequisite, with a broad interest in economic and social development and the EIB’s role therein
• At least 10 years of managerial experience, at senior level, preferably for international or multidisciplinary teams
• Excellent knowledge of English and/or French (*) with a good command of the other.

Competencies

Find out more about EIB core and managerial competencies https://www.eib.org/en/about/careers/careers-competencies/index.htm here

As a complement to the above competencies, you should demonstrate:

• Strategic thinking capacity and clarity of vision, sensitivity to business and political issues, analytical skills, and sound judgement
• Excellent communication skills, including the capacity to communicate complex/technical matters to a non-expert audience
• Empathy, gravitas, excellent interpersonal, leadership, political and diplomatic skills, and the ability to handle diverging interests, conflict, and ambiguity
• Resilience in business and people management issues
• Creativity, openness to innovation and the ability to support and manage change.

(*) Unless stated explicitly as a required qualification, a good command of French is not a pre-requisite for hire.  As both English and French are however official working languages of the EIB, proficiency in both languages is a pre-requisite for your future career development.  Any language clause in your contract must be fulfilled in order for you to be eligible for a promotion (either via the annual appraisal cycle or via an internal selection process).  Proficiency is understood to mean the attainment of level 5 of the Inter Institutional language courses, corresponding to B1.2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL).  The Bank offers appropriate training support.

We are an equal opportunities employer, who believes that diversity is good for our people and our business.  We encourage all suitably qualified and eligible candidates to apply regardless of their gender identity/expression, age, racial, ethnic, and cultural background, religion and beliefs, sexual orientation/identity, disability, or neurodiversity.

Applicants with specific needs are encouraged to request reasonable accommodations at any stage during the recruitment process. Please contact the EIB Recruitment team Jobs@eib.org who will ensure that your request is handled.

By applying for this position, you acknowledge the importance of maintaining the security and integrity of the Information of the EIB Group. In case of selection for the position you agree to comply with all measures (policies, controls, document classification and management) implemented by the EIB Group to prevent unauthorised disclosure of any information or any damage to the EIB Group reputation.

Deadline for applications: 31st March 2023.  Applicants will receive initial feedback in mid-April 2023.

The successful candidate will be offered a definitive duration contract (CDD) of 5 years which may be renewed or converted in accordance with applicable policies and rules.

*internal benchmark: Directorate Head