QNB-Vice President Merchant Risk; Acquiring

Job Summary

The incumbent will be responsible for driving the strategic direction of the organization's risk management practices for Merchant Risk (Acquiring). The role will work closely with the executive leadership team, risk management teams, and key stakeholders to establish a comprehensive risk management framework that balances financial stability, compliance, and innovation.

• Serve as a trusted advisor to the executive leadership team, providing strategic guidance on risk management issues and initiatives.
• Lead the development and implementation of a comprehensive risk management strategy that aligns with the organization's overall business goals and objectives.
• Foster a culture of risk management and awareness, promoting the integration of risk management practices into all aspects of the organization's operations.
• Monitor and report on the performance of risk management practices and systems, making recommendations for improvements and driving the implementation of best practices.
• Act within the limits of the powers delegated to the incumbent and delegate authority to the respective staff and monitor exercise of the same.
• Demonstrate clear understanding of the important factors behind the bank's financial & non-financial performance.
• Implement KPIs and best practices for Merchant Risk (Acquiring).

• Establish and maintain strong relationships with key internal and external stakeholders, including merchants, issuers, regulators, and industry partners.
• Ensure that customer needs and expectations are considered in the development and implementation of risk management strategies.
• Lead the development and implementation of effective communication and engagement strategies to educate customers, stakeholders, and industry partners on risk management practices and procedures.
• Provide expert guidance and support to customers and stakeholders on risk management issues and initiatives.
• Liaise with domestic Group divisions, departments, zone and branch management, and International branches and subsidiaries in identifying potential fraud risk exposure within existing systems, procedures and people, with end objective to minimize, prevent and remediate any losses incurred to the customer (Fraud Risk Self-Assessment process linked to OpRisk RCSA’s).
• Support relevant Group divisions / departments in maintaining and enhancing procedural knowledge and card network compliance of fraud-reporting and chargeback processing requirements.
• Assist customers in all their queries on Bank’s product and seek solution to their requests.
• Maintain activities in accordance with Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with internal departments/units to achieve improvements in turn‑around time.
• Build and maintain strong/effective relationships with related departments/units to achieve the Group’s objectives.
• Provide timely/accurate data to external/internal Auditors, Compliance, Financial Control and Risk when required.

• Oversee successful implementation and maintenance of end-to-end Fraud Risk Self‑Assessment process, including roll‑out scheduling, response review and control gap identification, working in close unison with Head of Risk Control Self‑Assessment (RCSA).
• Ensure timely, effective and complete resolution of internal audit points, through effective coordination between relevant Fraud Risk functions and other internal entities – i.e. Group ITD, Group Operations etc.
• Coordinate with Retail processing departments to establish sound knowledge and best practice of card‑network chargeback rules in order to best protect cardholders and the Bank pertaining to liability rights and re‑presentment opportunity.
• Coordinate with Compliance function on the overall fraud risk awareness training for Group‑wide divisions & departments, and maintain training content as appropriate for specific audience level (management, general staff etc.).
• Set examples by leading improvement initiatives through cross‑functional teams ensuring successes.
• Identify and encourage people to adopt practices better than the industry standard.
• Continuously…