Director General – Operations Directorate (OPS) - based in Luxembourg

The Director General role provides strategic leadership and operational oversight for the Operations Directorate at the European Investment Bank (EIB) headquarters in Luxembourg. The role involves defining and delivering the directorate’s contribution to the EIB Group’s mission and Corporate Objectives, ensuring alignment with EU policy priorities, and leading a large, complex, multi-disciplinary Directorate.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic direction, defining, developing and implementing the short, medium and long-term operational strategy for OPS, ensuring alignment with EU policy priorities, EIB Group Corporate Objectives, the Operational Plan, the Bank’s risk appetite and the evolving needs of clients, shareholders and mandators.
• Ensure effective planning, execution and monitoring of the OPS business plan, balancing quantitative delivery with qualitative objectives, operational quality, country coverage, policy impact and client needs.
• Champion OPS’s role as first line of defence, promoting strong credit and risk analysis, compliance culture, internal controls, Best Banking Practices and timely escalation of issues across the Directorate.
• Lead the continued development of the client-segment organisational model, ensuring that it ensures market follow-up, knowledge pooling, innovation, product development, business responsiveness and sound operational execution.
• Safeguard balanced delivery across Member States by reinforcing country coordination, ensuring coherent information flows, regular reporting and effective interaction with Heads of Office, Country Coordination Teams, EIF and relevant EIB Services.
• Ensure that advisory activities and mandate management are effectively connected to lending and business planning, supporting the “lending, blending, advising” model and maximising value-added for clients, mandators and EU policy objectives.
• Oversee the translation of policies, planning and risk appetite into operational procedures, systems and applications, supporting simplification, automation, data quality, process efficiency and digital transformation.
• Represent OPS and the Bank in interactions with Governing Bodies, EU institutions, Member States, clients, mandators, IFIs and other public and private stakeholders, protecting the Bank’s reputation and promoting trusted relationships.
• Ensure that OPS staff and management teams have the competencies, objectives, motivation and support required to deliver.
• Establish and manage the structures, resources, KPIs and governance needed to implement the strategy efficiently, including capacity planning, cost-conscious resource management, organisational design and performance assessment and monitoring.
• Chair the Project Committee, consisting in a multi-directorate forum where complicated and possibly conflictual individual operations are debated with a view to preparing decisions by the Management Committee and the Board.
• Lead organisational change in a complex, consensus-driven and multicultural environment, ensuring continuity of service, and practical implementation of decisions.
• Ensure an excellent working atmosphere, building an environment of trust, transparency, that fosters staff engagement, motivation and wellbeing.
• Foster a culture of respect, openness and transparency, accountability, compliance with applicable regulatory, ethics and integrity rules, collaboration, inclusion, learning, creativity, collaboration and knowledge sharing, innovation and continuous improvement of processes and working methods.

Requirements

• University degree, preferably at Master’s level, in economics, finance, business administration, engineering, law, public policy or another discipline relevant to the Bank’s operational activity.
• At least 15 years of relevant professional experience, including substantial experience in banking, long-term lending, structured/project finance, advisory, mandate management, policy implementation, risk management or other areas directly relevant to OPS.
• At least 10 years in a managerial function, including leadership of large, multidisciplinary teams and senior managers in a complex, multicultural and multi-stakeholder environment.
• Strong understanding of the EIB Group’s objectives, strategies, priorities and role within the EU policy and institutional framework.
• Strong understanding of operational delivery, credit risk culture, first-line of defence responsibilities, internal controls, Best Banking Practices, business planning and the interaction between lending activity, advisory, mandates and risk appetite.
• Proven ability to define and implement strategy, steer complex organisational transformation, manage competing priorities and make sound decisions in institutionally and politically sensitive contexts.
• Excellent stakeholder management and representation skills, with the ability to build trusted relationships internally and externally, including with EU institutions, Member States, clients, mandators, IFIs and EIB Group Services.
• Strong track record in leading, motivating and developing highly qualified staff, building collaborative leadership teams and fostering a culture of respect, accountability, inclusion, learning and operational excellence.
• Openness to innovation and digital transformation, with the ability to support process simplification, system evolution, data-driven management and operational effectiveness across a large Directorate.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including public speaking and the ability to communicate complex matters with clarity, concision and judgement.
• Fluency in English, both written and spoken. Knowledge of French and/or other EU languages would be an advantage.

Skills

• Banking Operations
• Long-term Lending
• Structured Finance
• Project Financing
• Mandate Management
• Policy Implementation
• Risk Management
• Credit Risk Culture
• Internal Controls
• Best Banking Practices
• Business Planning
• Strategy Definition
• Organizational Transformation
• Stakeholder Management
• Representation Skills
• Multi-disciplinary Team Leadership
• Staff Development
• Digital Transformation
• Process Simplification
• Data-driven Management
• Operational Efficiency
• Public Speaking
• Written Communication

Languages

English, French