Associate Director - Distribution Sales - Trade Finance Startup

Associate Director - Distribution Sales

One of our clients, is a Singapore Based Startup - Global fully digitized trade finance platform is looking for an ambitious individual with an entrepreneurial spirit to join their Commercial / Distribution team. The individual will have a positive and friendly attitude with three primary areas of responsibilities: (1) prospecting, onboarding new funders (primarily banks but also others including asset management companies) to distribute supply chain finance ("SCF") assets originated by the organization; (2) driving end-to-end execution of these distribution opportunities working closely with organization's Origination Structuring & Solutioning team ("S&S); and (3) leading distribution-related business enablement initiatives.

Responsibilities:

Prospecting and managing funders:

- Contribute to organization's funders acquisition strategy. The focus will be on banks including foreign branches in Asia.

- Prospect new funders and manage funders relationships thereafter in accordance with this strategy and relevant organization policies/ processes

- Close financing facilities for organization which will give the platform access to committed liquidity

- Build marketing materials to engage funders with insightful conversations

- Negotiate NDAs in close consultancy with our Legal team

- Synthesize and relay investor feedback to the Origination team to ensure more targeted deals

- Record investor data and engagement diligently on organization's systems

- Service funders, by rallying relevant organization teams where necessary, through the post-transaction cycle including programme modifications, investment events, complaints handling, etc.

Driving end-to-end execution of distribution opportunities:

- Lead and coordinate all aspects of deal execution from due diligence, commercial negotiation, and legal documentation to tech/ operational setup, including mutual onboarding

- Work closely with the Structuring & Solutions team to ensure investor materials/ investment theses are high quality and funder-ready

- Manage funders' due diligence processes and respond to questionnaires by delivering knowledge from various organization teams

- Drive legal documentation and negotiation in consultation with the Origination, S&S team, Legal, and Management teams `

Leading distribution-related business enablement initiatives:

- Project manage execution of initiatives to further organization's distribution capabilities

- Actively participate in product development in close collaboration with Origination, Legal, and Risk teams

- Collaborate with internal teams such as Digital Solutions, Risk & Compliance, Data & Technology, and others to deliver these initiatives

- Drive continuous improvement of organization's systems and tools e.g., MIS, CRM, Funder Portal

- Contribute to improving organization's commercial and control/ governance framework especially as it relates to investors and distribution

Role specific technical competencies:

- Expert-level technical knowledge in Trade Finance, especially in SCF and open account trade

- Successful track record in distributing, syndicating trade assets, in particular with regards to Open Account transactions

- Successful track record in securing financing facilities from funders

- Excellent knowledge of active funders in the trade finance assets space, especially bank funder(s) and specialist asset managers. Deep understanding of their investment criteria, decision making processes & internal and important stakeholders

- Excellent institutional sales, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills

- Interested/motivated to join a FINTECH & able to work in a fast paced environment

- Growth mindset, appetite for innovation

- Highly articulate in verbal and written communication and to-the-point presentations

- Strong track record of cross-functional project management

Qualifications (training, licences, memberships, and certifications):

- Bachelor or master's degree in Business, Finance or equivalent is required

- At least 5-7 years of experience in a similar capacity i.e., trade finance distribution/ syndication/platform partnerships

- Experience in the commercial department of a bank trade finance department or with a leading tech enabled platform would be preferred