Director, Emerging Markets

Job Purpose The Director, Emerging Markets will provide program management and support for the development and implementation of ISDA’s emerging market strategy, including analysis of local markets and assessment using the ISDA EM Diagnostic Framework. The individual will spend a significant proportion of their time coordinating dialogue with market participants, regulators, central banks and multilateral development bank counterparts to assist in analysis of impediments and challenges in local markets and how these can be remediated. The role holder must work closely with ISDA subject matter experts supporting emerging markets and should be confident in hands on project management framework administration. The role holder should be capable of working in a fast-paced and autonomous environment. Duties And Responsibilities Industry and Stakeholder Engagement Engage substantively with local and international regulators, central banks and financial supervisors on how derivatives market frameworks can be designed or reformed to support market depth, risk management capacity and financial stability.Engage with banks, buy-side institutions, infrastructure providers and industry bodies in priority Emerging Market Developing Economy “EMDE” jurisdictions, building trusted relationships that position ISDA as the credible partner for derivatives market development.Represent ISDA in working groups, roundtables, conferences and bilateral meetings with market participants and policymakers, drawing on direct experience of how developed markets work to inform and advance the conversation.Collaborate with MDB partners — including the World Bank, IFC, EBRD, ADB and IDB — on country-level engagement and capacity building, contributing the market practitioner perspective to their technical assistance programmes. Market Diagnostic, Education and Advisory Work Contribute to the design and delivery of ISDA’s derivatives market diagnostic framework, identifying structural, regulatory and operational bottlenecks in priority markets and helping to sequence practical recommendations to removing these bottlenecks.Contribute to the assessment of market conditions in priority jurisdictions across derivative product landscape.Articulate clearly which features of mature markets — in product design, trading conventions, clearing and settlement infrastructure, margin practice and legal/regulatory treatment — that are most consequential for market development, and how those features might be adapted or sequenced in local contexts.Participate in training and educational sessions, including designing agendas, for EMDEs, MDBs and other stakeholders.Contribute to briefing materials, discussion papers, consultation responses and policy submissions that convey ISDA’s position on market development priorities in EMDE jurisdictions. Internal Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing Work closely with Senior Counsel Emerging Markets and Law Reform leading the EMDE strategy and implementing the workplan as well as others involved throughout ISDA to ensure coherence across ISDA’s engagement.Contribute EMDE market insights to ISDA’s broader Policy, Research and Market Infrastructure teams, ensuring that perspectives from developing markets inform association-wide thinking.Support the development of educational and capacity building content all relevant audiences in priority EMDE jurisdictions. Program Management and Delivery Own the EM strategy workplan across the three workstreams — direct market engagement, MDB partnerships and capacity building — setting milestones, deliverables and timelines for each priority jurisdiction.Track progress against the workplan and report regularly to the Senior Counsel, Europe and senior leadership, flagging risks, dependencies and resourcing needs early.Coordinate the ISDA subject matter experts and cross-functional teams contributing to EM activity, ensuring clear ownership, consistent messaging and no duplication of effort.Administer the program management framework, including governance processes, meeting cadences, action logs and documentation supporting ISDA EM Diagnostic Framework assessments.Plan and manage the delivery of jurisdiction assessments, training sessions and MDB-partnered engagements from scoping through to follow-up.Define and monitor KPIs and success measures for the EM strategy, and support budgeting and resource planning for the program.Maintain a stakeholder map and engagement tracker covering regulators, central banks, market participants and MDB partners. Qualifications Minimum 10 experience in derivatives markets (products, infrastructure, sales, legal or regulation) with strong exposure to market structure and developmentFurther financial qualifications an advantage Essential Relevant Experience/ Skills / Abilities Substantial/hand’s on and direct experience in derivatives markets gained in a financial institution, regulatory body, market infrastructure provider or industry.Deep, practical knowledge of how a mature derivatives market functions across the full value chain: product structuring and conventions, trading and execution, clearing and settlement, collateral and margin management, and regulatory treatment.Demonstrated ability to engage credibly and influence senior stakeholders — regulators, central bankers, senior bankers or institutional investors — on substantive questions of market structure and practice.Proven program or project management experience, including building and running workplans, governance and reporting across multiple stakeholders and workstreams.Strong communication skills, written and oral, with the ability to translate complex market concepts into clear, accessible language for audiences with varying levels of technical familiarity.The intellectual agility to move between technical product mechanics and the broader policy and development narrative — and to make that connection vivid and persuasive in stakeholder dialogue.Genuine interest in the role that well-functioning derivatives markets play in economic growth, risk management capacity and financial stability in emerging economies. Preferred Not Essential Direct professional experience in one or more EMDE markets — whether in a banking, regulatory, MDB or advisory capacity — providing first-hand understanding of the constraints and dynamics that shape derivatives market development in these contexts.Familiarity with the regulatory landscape and market microstructure of one or more priority jurisdictions: Brazil, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, UAE and/or Thailand.Prior experience working with or for a multilateral development bank, international financial institution or global regulatory body on market development or technical assistance programmes.Experience in an industry association, standard-setting body or public policy role, with exposure to regulatory consultation processes and stakeholder coalition-building.