You are a P&L Product Control Analyst. What does your job entail?
I analyze the value of a trader’s portfolio to calculate its profit and loss (P&L) from day to day. In practical terms, traders record a deal in the front office system, which is then relayed to the back office system, and all that data falls under the scope of P&L monitoring! My role is to analyze P&L, identify its drivers, investigate and reconcile any discrepancies between the different systems, and then generate official revenue figures. Fortunately, BNP Paribas CIB provides us with ultra-high-performance software to make our job easier!
What does a typical day include?
Every morning, after investigating and reconciling discrepancies, I generate the official P&L figure for the previous day’s trades, which I then send to the trader for approval before communicating the figure to management. My afternoons are dedicated first to P&L analysis, and then to P&L predictions for the current day’s trades, which are analyzed the next day.
What qualities does it take to do this job?
An analytical mind and extremely high concentration. It also takes a level of diplomacy whenever traders do not agree with the official results. Traders can be an eccentric bunch, so it can be a tall order to make the right case in the right words to defend your reasoning and make yourself understood!
You first joined BNP Paribas in October 2012, and then again in February 2015. What brought you back to the Group?
The first time, I was on a work-study program in customer relations in Paris. After that, I got a job at a private American bank in Switzerland doing investment analysis. But the systems available to us were archaic, and the company’s human resources approach was not right for me. So when a headhunter contacted me about a trade support job with BNP Paribas in London, I jumped at the opportunity. As it happened, on the same day I interviewed for that job, I also interviewed for my current job, which is a more senior position. And that’s the job I was offered! What I like most here is the healthy work environment focused on people and full of opportunities.
Tell us about the Junior Board at BNP Paribas in London.
It’s an entity that enables young employees to submit their ideas for the future of banking, while promoting these ideas among top management during an annual meeting. I represent the board’s IT & Operations service. Our latest initiative involved creating a welcome packet for new recruits.
“ Make sure to prepare, but be natural. Don’t try too hard to impress your recruiter! ”
P&L Product Control Analyst
