Working as a Product Controller
Securing a job in investment banking
Role: Product Controller Salary: £50-58k
Typical job description:
Working in this large multinational investment bank, you will sit in the product control team. Your tasks will include profit and loss reporting and explanation – including reporting of Flash P&L, actual P&L and variance analysis – and dealing with ad hoc management reporting queries from the trading desk. You will also be required to carry out data integrity and balance sheet verification procedures, as well as contributing to process improvements in the product control function.
Product controller roles immediately attract interest and are very popular with recently qualified accountants, primarily because they are often the first step into an investment bank and provide an excellent grounding for a career in the sector.
The role offers interaction with front office, risk and valuation units, and exposure to investment banking products (whether vanilla / flow products or more complex structured / exotic products), allowing you to understand why and how a bank trades these instruments.
Product control skills in demand
The product control function is incredibly important at the moment as banks seek to scrutinise trading activity and mitigate risks - as a result, the number of roles in this area has increased recently and it is now a skill set very much in demand. See our accountancy jobs forecast for other in-demand skill sets.
Key interactions
Your key interactions are typically with the trading desk head and traders within the bank, the central product control team, and the middle office, operations and technology divisions. So, the role provides a real insight into how a bank operates on a day-to-day basis. These interactions include a whole range of daily, weekly and monthly reporting communications, various project work and specific ad hoc queries.
What are banks looking for?
But with popularity comes strong competition for the best positions, employers are still being very specific in their requirements and CIMAs will need to work hard to secure their preferred role.
Banks will typically consider a wide range of accounting professionals, but the fact CIMAs generally have slightly more hands-on accounting experience can work to your advantage. At more junior levels, prospective employers tend to place more of an emphasis on understanding of the investment banking environment, motivations for securing a product control role, attitude and team working capabilities, as well as basic product knowledge. Most importantly, banks want people who have made an effort to understand exactly what the product control function is and the qualities required to be successful in the position. With this in mind, doing your research prior to interview is absolutely crucial.
What type of accountants succeed?
Banks also look for accountants who are confident, proactive, logical and have a keen eye for detail. You will need to be able to partner with the business in order to achieve buy-in, trust and the respect of very demanding stakeholders in the front office. This can be one of the main challenges of the role, as people working in this area typically want things done quickly and to a high standard.
You’ll also need to be flexible and able to cope with the ever-changing market conditions that banks are required to react to, amending your working methods accordingly. For example, more recently a number of banks have outsourced their P&L production functions, often associated with product control, which has left product controllers getting actively involved with more value-add work of an analytical nature (ie explaining market moves to front office, getting involved with ad hoc project work associated with the product control function, and other risk / valuation work).
Career prospects
The product control role offers excellent career prospects for the future. The knowledge you build up in the job is extremely transferable within an investment banking environment, meaning there are various lines of work you can progress into afterwards. You’ll be in high demand within the sector if you manage to secure one of these roles.
Magic CV words: business partnering, controls, proactive, logical and attention to detail