Senior Manager – Export Credit Agency (ECA) Risk

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BBVA is a global company with more than 160 years of history that operates in more than 25 countries where we serve more than 80 million customers. We are more than 121,000 professionals working in multidisciplinary teams with profiles as diverse as financiers, legal experts, data scientists, developers, engineers and designers.

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The Global Transactional Banking Product Risk team is responsible for the underwriting, approval and monitoring of specialised financing products, including Structured Trade Finance, Export Credit Agency and Officially Supported Finance transactions, Securitisation and Asset-Backed Finance solutions.

As part of this team, you will play a key role in supporting the sustainable growth of the business while maintaining strong risk discipline and independent credit judgement across a global portfolio.

About the job:

We are seeking a Senior Manager to join our specialised Product Risk team within Corporate & Investment Banking. The role will be responsible for the independent underwriting, approval and ongoing monitoring of Export Credit Agency (ECA) and Officially Supported Finance transactions globally.

The successful candidate will act as a senior risk partner to the Export Finance business, providing independent credit assessment, transaction structuring challenge and portfolio oversight across a range of ECA-supported financing solutions. The role requires strong expertise in export finance, sovereign and country risk, political risk assessment and complex cross-border financing structures.

Key Responsibilities

• Independently assess and approve Export Credit Agency (ECA) and Officially Supported Finance transactions, including Buyer's Credit, Untied Loans, Direct Lending and multi-ECA structures.

• Evaluate obligor, sovereign, country and political risks, and determine appropriate risk appetite, ratings and transaction conditions.
• Provide independent challenge on transaction structures, ECA cover, repayment mechanisms, security packages and key documentation.
• Exercise delegated credit authority and prepare recommendations for transactions requiring higher-level approval.
• Monitor the ECA portfolio, identifying emerging risks, concentrations and early warning signals through regular portfolio reviews and stress testing.
• Partner with Origination, Structuring and Coverage teams to support sustainable business growth while maintaining sound risk discipline.
• Contribute to risk policies, underwriting standards and governance frameworks relating to Export Finance and Officially Supported Finance activities.
• Present and defend risk recommendations at credit committees and senior management forums.

Experience & Knowledge Required

• 8+ years of significant experience in Export Credit Agency (ECA) financing and Export Finance.
• Strong understanding of Buyer's Credit, Untied Loans, sovereign risk, country risk and political risk.
• Experience underwriting complex cross-border financing transactions and operating under delegated credit authority.
• Knowledge of OECD export credit frameworks and major ECAs (CESCE, UKEF, SACE, Allianz Trade, Bpifrance, EXIM, JBIC/NEXI, SERV and EKN).
• Strong credit analysis, structuring and documentation review capabilities.
• Experience interacting with senior stakeholders and presenting recommendations to credit committees.

Qualifications

• University degree in Finance, Economics, Business Administration, Engineering, Law or a related discipline.
• Professional qualifications such as CFA, FRM or equivalent would be advantageous.

• Fluent English, both written and verbal.
• Spanish language skills are desirable.

Competencies

• Strong credit judgement and analytical capability.
• Ability to challenge constructively and influence senior stakeholders.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.
• Strong organisational skills and ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Collaborative approach and ability to work effectively across international teams.
• High standards of integrity, professionalism and risk culture.

Skills: