Project Finance Portfolio Management - Vice President (Latin America)

SMBC Group is a top-tier global financial group headquartered in Tokyo with a 400-year history, offering a diverse range of financial services including banking, leasing, securities, credit cards, and consumer finance. The Group operates over 130 offices and employs 80,000 people across nearly 40 countries. In the Americas, SMBC Group serves corporate, institutional, and municipal clients with commercial and investment banking services, connecting them to local markets and an extensive global network.

About the role

SMBC is seeking a Vice President to join its Project Finance (PF) Latin America Team within the Credit Portfolio Management group. The team manages all aspects of the Latin American project finance portfolio, which includes power, energy, and PPP/PFI (infrastructure) transactions. The role involves credit monitoring, control, and administration of a borrower portfolio to identify potential credit issues proactively. A significant portion of the role includes analyzing amendment, consent, and waiver requests, evaluating their credit impact, and preparing applications with recommended actions for credit approval.

Responsibilities

• Perform effective credit and risk management, ensuring adherence to credit policy and requirements, financial analysis/modeling, risk evaluation, and ongoing portfolio maintenance activities.
• Oversee the creditworthiness of an assigned portfolio of obligors across complex Project Finance and Corporate transactions, ensuring their ability to meet financial obligations.
• Proactively monitor the portfolio to identify potential deterioration at an early stage.
• Monitor and report on portfolio quality against established criteria, recommending adjustments in risk ratings for existing credit facilities as appropriate.
• Prepare periodic credit reviews for borrowers within the assigned portfolio.
• Analyze borrower requests (e.g., amendments, waivers, consents) and seek credit approval where appropriate, ensuring submissions clearly demonstrate the request’s impact on credit risk, relevant mitigants, and rationale for approval.
• Coordinate with borrowers, legal counsel, independent engineers, and other consultants to structure and manage consent processes, including waivers and amendments to financing documents.
• Respond to ad hoc information requests in a timely manner.

Requirements

• Minimum of 5 years of experience covering project finance transactions within a portfolio management team or credit department at a lending institution.
• Strong background in accounting, financial analysis, financial modeling, and legal documents is preferred.
• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree (MA/MS/MBA) preferred.
• Spanish fluency is preferred.

Skills

• Broad knowledge of the Project Finance market and other asset-based credit structures, with the ability to manage risk within a complex and diverse portfolio involving multiple stakeholders.
• Deep understanding of legal documentation and financial analysis.
• Experience proposing and negotiating consents, waivers, and amendments both internally and externally, and managing execution within tight timelines.
• Self-driven and motivated, with a strong sense of ownership for specific assignments.
• High degree of attention to detail and ability to complete work accurately and on time against strict deadlines.
• Strong communication and presentation skills (both written and verbal) and a solid understanding of regulatory and compliance frameworks.

Schedule

SMBC’s employees participate in a hybrid workforce model, requiring employees to live within a reasonable commuting distance of their office location. Hybrid work may not be permitted for certain roles, including FINRA-registered positions requiring full-time in-office attendance.

Pay

The anticipated salary range for this role is $225,000. The specific salary offered will be based on individual qualifications, experience, and an analysis of current compensation in the applicant’s geography and market for similar roles. The role may also be eligible for an annual discretionary incentive award.

Benefits

In addition to cash compensation, SMBC offers a competitive portfolio of benefits to its employees.