Head of Trade and Working Capital Italy, Greece, CEE (m|f|x) Milan

Tasks

Are you a commercially driven Trade & Working Capital leader who can build a business, generate complex opportunities, and manage senior client relationships across diverse European markets?

Role Purpose

: We are seeking a strategic, entrepreneurial, and client-focused Director to lead our Trade & Working Capital business across Italy and Greece. Based in Milan, the successful candidate will lead the regional team of TWC Sales Specialists and Client Managers, with senior responsibility for developing and executing the regional strategy, growing revenue and returns, deepening relationships with priority clients, and ensuring high-quality delivery across the full Trade & Working Capital product suite.

The role combines regional business and people leadership with hands-on senior origination. The successful candidate will set the commercial direction for the region, lead and develop the team, personally originate and oversee complex opportunities, and ensure strong management of the existing client portfolio. They will work closely with Coverage and specialist partners across Barclays to deliver the full capabilities of TWC to clients across Italy and Greece.

Key Responsibilities

Regional franchise leadership and strategy
Lead the TWC franchise across Italy and Greece, with overall responsibility for the region’s commercial strategy, people leadership, client portfolio, and business performance.
Translate European and country priorities into a focused regional plan covering origination, portfolio growth, client management, income, returns, and disciplined execution.
Identify priority clients, sectors, and opportunities, using market intelligence, external networks, and existing Barclays relationships to create sustainable origination momentum.
Monitor market trends and competitor activity, using insights to identify strategic opportunities and inform regional priorities.
Represent the region and TWC in senior country, European, and product forums, providing clear insight into performance, opportunities, barriers, risks, and required decisions.
Contribute regional market insights to the broader European TWC strategy and to priorities regarding products, platforms, credit appetite, and execution.
Client Origination and Transaction Execution
: Originate and close complex Trade & Working Capital opportunities with both existing and new-to-bank corporate clients, working closely with Corporate and Investment Bank Coverage teams and specialist product partners.
Lead senior client discussions on working capital, trade flows, and risk mitigation, developing solutions across bonds, guarantees and indemnities, documentary trade, trade loans, receivables finance, supplier finance, and other relevant structured trade solutions.
Take senior ownership of material opportunities from initial client engagement through structuring, pricing, credit approval, documentation, implementation, and income realization.

Lead commercial negotiations and coordinate deal teams, ensuring that client outcomes, pricing, risk, returns, legal terms, operational feasibility, and execution timelines remain appropriately aligned.

Build senior-level relationships with clients, prospects, and relevant market participants to strengthen Barclays’ visibility and generate actionable deal flow.

Identify cross-sell opportunities across Global Transaction Banking and the broader Corporate and Investment Bank, while ensuring that all activities are conducted in accordance with applicable cross-border and client coverage requirements.

Represent Barclays at relevant industry events, conferences, and networking forums.

Portfolio, Risk, and Controls
Maintain senior-level accountability for the regional TWC client portfolio, including portfolio performance, client retention, revenue generation, and escalation of complex client or execution issues.
Apply strong credit judgment and product expertise to identify, assess, and mitigate transaction, legal, operational, conduct, and reputational risks.
Ensure opportunities are appropriately prioritized based on expected income, returns, strategic relevance, execution effort, and resource requirements.
Maintain a robust pipeline and performance discipline, with accurate and timely recording of client activity, opportunities, expected income, milestones, and risks in the required systems.
Ensure that all activities and duties are carried out in full compliance with applicable regulatory requirements, the Enterprise Risk Management Framework, and Barclays policies and standards.
Drive improvements in origination, governance, and execution, sharing best practices across the region and the broader European TWC business.
People leadership and collaboration
: Lead, motivate, and develop the regional team of TWC Sales Specialists and Client Managers, fostering a high-performing, collaborative, and client-focused culture.
Set clear commercial priorities and individual accountabilities across origination and client management, aligned with the broader European TWC strategy.
Provide active coaching, technical guidance, and senior support on client strategy, opportunity development, structuring, pricing, and execution of complex transactions.
Provide senior oversight of the regional client portfolio, ensuring strong service delivery, portfolio discipline, client retention, and the identification of opportunities to deepen client relationships.
Allocate resources effectively across clients, markets, and opportunities, balancing new-business origination with the management and growth of the existing portfolio.
Develop talent and succession within the team, supporting colleagues’ professional development and building broader TWC capabilities.
Build trusted relationships with Country Management, Coverage, Credit, Product, Structuring, Legal, Operations, Client Management, and other partners necessary to deliver results for clients.

Accountabilities

• Development of strategic direction for sales, including the implementation of up-to-date methodologies and processes.
• Management of sales, including oversight of colleagues and their performance, implementation of departmental goals and objectives, and oversight of departmental efficiency and effectiveness.  .
• Managing relationships with sales stakeholders, including identifying relevant stakeholders and ensuring the quality of external third-party services.
• Development and implementation of policies and procedures for sales.
• Management of sales risk, including the identification of potential risks, the development of strategies to mitigate those risks, and ensuring alignment between the bank’s sales and compliance functions.  .
• Monitoring the financial performance of the sales department, including revenue, profitability, and cost control.
• Conducting thorough market research to understand market trends, the competitive landscape, and regulatory changes in order to identify market opportunities.

Director Expectations

• To manage a business function, providing significant input to function-wide strategic initiatives. Contribute to and influence policies and procedures for the function, and plan, manage, and consult on multiple complex and critical strategic projects, which may be business-wide.
• They set the direction for a large team or sub-function, leading other people managers and fostering a performance culture aligned with the company’s values. Or, as an individual contributor, they lead organization-wide projects and serve as a deep technical expert and thought leader, identifying new ways of working and collaborating across functions. They will train, guide, and coach less experienced specialists and provide insights that impact long-term profits, organizational risks, and strategic decisions.
• Provide expert advice to senior functional management and committees to influence decisions made outside their own function, offering significant input to function-wide strategic initiatives.
• Manage, coordinate, and facilitate resourcing, budgeting, and policy development for a significant sub-function.
• Escalate breaches of policies or procedures appropriately.
• Foster and guide compliance, ensure regulations are followed, and verify that relevant processes are in place to facilitate adherence.
• Focus on the external environment, regulators, or advocacy groups to both monitor and influence on behalf of Barclays, when appropriate.
• Demonstrate extensive knowledge of how the function integrates with the business division or the Group to achieve overall business objectives.
• Maintain broad and comprehensive knowledge of industry theories and practices within one’s own discipline, along with up-to-date, relevant sector- and function-specific knowledge, and insight into external market developments and initiatives.
• Use interpretive thinking and advanced analytical skills to solve problems and design solutions in often complex or sensitive situations.
• Exercise managerial authority to make significant decisions and certain strategic decisions or recommendations within one’s own area.
• Negotiate with and influence senior-level stakeholders both internally and externally.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for key clients and counterparts in other functions and business divisions.
• Serve as the designated spokesperson for the function and business division.

Profile / Your qualification / Your personality

Essential Experience and Capabilities

: Proven people and business leadership experience, with the ability to set strategy and commercial priorities, lead and develop an experienced team, manage performance, and ensure accountability for results.

Significant relevant experience in Trade & Working Capital, transaction banking, structured trade finance, or corporate banking, with a strong track record of senior client origination and transaction execution.

Broad technical knowledge across core Trade Finance and Open Account solutions, with the ability to match clients’ working capital requirements to appropriate structures.

Proven experience leading complex deal teams and transactions involving multiple internal and external stakeholders, credit approval, legal negotiations, and operational implementation.

Strong credit, financial, and commercial judgment, including the ability to assess structure, pricing, returns, risk mitigants, and execution feasibility.

Demonstrable success in building senior internal and external networks and influencing decisions across organizational and geographic boundaries.

Excellent influencing, negotiation, communication, and presentation skills, with the presence to engage C-suite clients and senior decision-makers.

Fluency in Italian and English, both written and spoken.

A client-first mindset combined with high standards of risk management, control, conduct, and execution quality.

Desirable Experience

: Experience working with Italian corporations and a strong network across the Italian corporate and transaction banking market.

Cross-border origination or leadership experience in Greece.

Experience with bonds, guarantees and indemnities, documentary trade finance, receivables finance, supplier finance, trade loans, and structured trade or export finance solutions.

Knowledge of credit insurance, risk distribution, ECA-supported finance, or syndicated trade transactions.

Broader lending or Corporate and Investment Banking experience.

Proficiency with digital productivity and analytical tools, including Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and AI-enabled tools such as Microsoft Copilot.

That awaits you

This position is subject to the applicable provisions of the Banking Sector Collective Bargaining Agreement in Italy
. Salary range: 145,000 EUR to 190,000 EUR

The opportunity to lead and shape a key TWC franchise across a diverse group of European markets.
A platform to develop and execute sophisticated client solutions in partnership with senior coverage and specialist product teams.
A collaborative European leadership environment with the opportunity to influence the broader TWC franchise.
Meaningful responsibility for leading and developing people within a client-focused business.

Application

Assessment

: You may be assessed on the key critical skills relevant to success in the role, such as risk and controls, change and transformation, business acumen, strategic thinking, and digital and technology, as well as job-specific technical skills.

Barclays’ purpose, values, and work environment

: Barclays is an equal opportunity employer. Our values are Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence, and Stewardship. Dynamic working provides colleagues with the opportunity to balance their professional and personal lives; any need for flexibility should be discussed with the hiring manager.

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Location

Via Broletto, 4, IT-20121 Milan