Lead Business Analyst - Trade Finance

Unison Group; Dubai; On-site; AED 240,000 - 420,000; Full time

Job summary

Unison Group seeks a senior Business Analyst to lead end-to-end trade finance digitisation initiatives. You will bring deep domain expertise across Letters of Credit, Collections, Open Account Financing, Export Finance and Islamic Trade Finance, translating business needs into functional specifications and designing end-to-end workflows.

You will collaborate with Product, Operations, Compliance, Risk, IT and external vendors, defining system requirements and integrations with core banking

Qualifications

• 10+ years in banking or financial services with strong Trade Finance exposure.
• Hands-on experience translating business requirements into functional specs.

Responsibilities

• Lead requirements gathering and documentation for Trade Finance products and processes.
• Define end-to-end workflows from initiation to closure including financing and settlement.
• Prepare BRDs and FSDs, process flows, use cases and user stories.
• Collaborate with Product, Operations, Compliance, Risk and IT to deliver functional solutions.
• Define system integration points with core banking systems (T24) and SWIFT; ensure controls and audit trails.
• Support design and implementation of Conventional and Islamic Trade Finance products and ensure regulatory compliance.
• Review designs for alignment with business requirements and lead defect prioritisation during testing.
• Drive SIT, UAT, test scenario prep and business sign-off.
• Identify process gaps and opportunities for workflow automation and digital transformation.
• Leverage AI-enabled tools for requirements analysis and indicative wireframes.

Skills

Business analysis

Trade finance domain

Requirements gathering

Regulatory compliance

UAT/SIT

Stakeholder management

AI in BA tools

Tools

Temenos T24

SWIFT

Sanctions screening

Document management

Job description

We are looking for someone who lead end-to-end business analysis for Trade Finance digitisation initiatives, leveraging strong domain expertise across Letters of Credit, Collections, Open Account Financing, Export Financing and Islamic Trade Finance. Responsible for translating business requirements into functional specifications, designing end-to-end trade workflows, defining system integrations with core banking platforms such as T24, SWIFT and other banking applications, and ensuring operational controls, regulatory compliance and successful implementation through SIT, UAT and Go-Live.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead requirements gathering, analysis and documentation for Trade Finance products and business processes.
• Define end-to-end workflows covering transaction initiation, validation, approvals, processing, financing, settlement and closure.
• Prepare Business Requirement Documents (BRDs), Functional Specification Documents (FSDs), process flows, use cases and user stories.
• Work closely with Trade Finance Product, Operations, Compliance, Risk, IT and technology vendors to translate business needs into functional solutions.
• Define system requirements and integration points with core banking systems (T24), SWIFT, sanctions screening, limits, collateral and document management platforms.
• Ensure appropriate controls for transaction processing, document verification, four-eyes approvals, duplicate financing prevention and audit trails.
• Support the design and implementation of Conventional and Islamic Trade Finance products, ensuring adherence to Sharia principles wherever applicable.
• Review functional designs and specifications to ensure alignment with approved business requirements.
• Lead functional discussions, resolve business queries and support defect prioritisation during development and testing.
• Drive SIT, UAT, test scenario preparation, defect management and business sign-off.
• Identify process gaps, operational inefficiencies and opportunities for workflow automation and digital transformation.
• Leverage AI-enabled tools for requirements analysis, process mapping and indicative UI/UX wireframe development.
• Support implementation partners throughout delivery, deployment and post-Go-Live stabilisation.

• 110+ years of overall experience in banking or financial services, primarily in business analysis, including at least 6 years in the trade finance space – letters of credit, documentary collections and trade financing programmes.
• Islamic trade finance experience is essential: hands-on delivery of Islamic trade products such as Murabaha-based LCs or trade financing, including working with a Sharia supervisory board or committee on product structures and controls.
• Experience leading business analysis on at least two end-to-end trade finance implementations – trade portals, trade workflow or core banking trade modules – taken from requirements through Go-Live.
• Awareness of Temenos T24 trade finance modules is preferred, though not essential.
• A track record of crafting digital journeys and shaping product backlogs in a product owner or proxy product owner capacity.
• Hands-on use of generative AI tools in business analysis – drafting requirements, process flows and indicative wireframes – within appropriate data and control boundaries.
• Experience specifying SWIFT trade messaging, sanctions screening and trade-based money laundering controls.
• UAE or wider GCC banking experience is strongly preferred, with working familiarity with CBUAE regulatory expectations.