Hassan Karahamo

As the Manager of Governance, Risk, Compliance, and Resilience at Sharjah Islamic Bank, I lead strategic initiatives to ensure the bank’s IT governance, risk management, resilience, and compliance frameworks are aligned with industry best practices, regulatory requirements, and organizational goals. My key responsibilities include:

•Governance & Compliance: Developing and maintaining IT policies, procedures, and governance frameworks. Ensuring compliance with regulations, standards (ISO, PCI), and internal policies, as well as overseeing the Sharia compliance framework and meeting CBUAE requirements.

•Risk Management: Leading the identification, assessment, and management of IT risks. Developing and maintaining the IT risk register, conducting Risk and Control Self-Assessments (RCSA), and establishing Key Risk Indicators (KRIs). Managing incident response and ensuring alignment with ORM (Operational Risk Management) protocols.

•Business Continuity & Resilience: Overseeing the development and testing of the bank’s Disaster Recovery (DR) and Business Continuity (BCP) plans. Coordinating training and awareness programs for IT teams, ensuring preparedness for crisis scenarios, and maintaining resilience against emerging risks.

•Cross-functional Collaboration: Collaborating with stakeholders across various departments, ensuring seamless communication and compliance adherence across business units. Driving initiatives to integrate resilience into strategic decision-making at the executive level.

•ESG Integration: Leading the integration of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles into technology operations, aligning IT practices with the bank’s sustainability objectives.

•Strategy Development: Contributing to the bank’s overall IT strategy and vision by advising on risk and governance priorities, ensuring robust processes are in place to support organizational growth and resilience.

Implement robust Business Continuity and Resiliency measures, ensure uninterrupted operations and secure customer transactions in our digital bank, safeguarding trust and maintaining seamless financial services.

Through my role as a Business Continuity Manager, I contribute to the trust and confidence of our customers by implementing the following measures:

1. Business Continuity Planning: I develop and execute comprehensive plans to ensure the continuity of critical business functions. This involves conducting risk assessments, identifying vulnerabilities, and allocating resources to mitigate potential risks.

2. Resilience Measures: I implement proactive measures to enhance the resilience of our digital bank. This includes establishing redundant systems, implementing backup and recovery solutions, and creating alternate work arrangements to minimize downtime during disruptions.

3. Incident Response and Crisis Management: I lead response efforts during incidents or crises to minimize their impact on our operations and customers. This involves activating response plans, coordinating cross-functional teams, and providing timely communication to stakeholders.

4. Testing and Training: I regularly conduct tests and simulations to evaluate the effectiveness of our business continuity plans. This helps identify areas for improvement and ensures preparedness through tabletop exercises, scenario-based simulations, and full-scale drills. I also provide training and awareness programs to educate employees on their roles in maintaining continuity.

5. Compliance and Regulatory Requirements: I stay updated on regulatory requirements and industry standards related to business continuity. I ensure our practices align with guidelines, collaborating with internal audit and compliance teams to meet regulatory obligations.

• Learned and adapted quickly to new technology and software applications.
• Strengthened communication skills through regular interactions with others.
• Organized and detail-oriented with strong work ethic.
• Used strong analytical and problem-solving skills to develop effective solutions for challenging situations.
• Assist and participate in strategic direction, tactical management, emergency planning and disaster recovery strategies
• Supervising and supporting Business Continuity plans and Procedures.
• Develop and manage Business Continuity Plans and Procedures, providing regular status updates to Business Continuity Steering Committees.
• Participate as stakeholder in Cloud Migration project
• Conduct annual testing of technical components of Business Continuity Plans and coordinate at least one simulation exercise per year involving all critical business units.
• Provide 24/7 on-call support for any emergency that may require activation of Business Continuity Plans and serve as liaison between Crisis Management Team.
• Liaise with ITD BCM Manager for service continuity and disaster recovery strategies, business impact analyses, and documentation of procedures.
• Maintain IT Disaster Recovery Operational Plans and related documentations.
• Manage IT Disaster Recovery Rehearsals, planning, communication, scheduling, execution, and reporting.
• Contribute to Business Continuity Planning program and ensure maintenance of ITD Business Continuity document information.
• Review existing disaster recovery, crisis management, or business continuity plans.
• Establish, maintain, and test call trees to ensure appropriate communication during disaster.
• Prepare training and awareness presentations or materials for service continuity.
• Monitor and prepare Technology Average Service Availability
• Stay informed about technological developments in industry and ensure team is up to date.

I worked as project engineer 3rd party contractor for ADIB through Raqmiyat LLC and below was my main responsibilities:

• Develop and implement technology governance policies and procedures to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and industry best practices.
• Conduct risk assessments and identify potential threats to organization's technology infrastructure and data.
• Monitor and report on technology-related risks and compliance issues to senior management and stakeholders.
• Collaborate with internal teams to implement controls and mitigation strategies to reduce technology-related risks.
• Stay up-to-date with emerging technologies and evolving regulatory requirements to ensure organization is prepared to adapt and comply.

Role Purpose:
My primary duty was to evaluate all sorts of risks associated with the credit proposals submitted by branches exceeding their delegated limits and make recommendations for approval or rejection to the Head of Department.

Major Responsibilities:
Checking applications and supporting documents such as balance sheets statements of accounts and customer details
Renewal of customer’s credit facilities, completing the customer’s file by preparing necessary draft memo to be presented to the Department Manager.
Persisting review of Bank’s credit strategy, recommendations for changes to develope products, credit limits and levels of exposure to particular market segments or customers
Facilitate branch wise reporting and performance analysis
Assist the department manager in segment wise profitability analysis
Dealing with listed evaluation company to value properties for home finance and under-construction finance cases
Issueing pre-approval letter for home finance and construction cases
Preparing payments schedule for construction finance cases.
Preparing tranche release for construction case due to payments schedule

Working in Islamic financial leading bank with delivering neutral, competent and problem-free service were the keystones of this position as well as providing constructive and ongoing feedback on improvement of products, services and processes which may either reduce cycle time or costs or enhance customer satisfaction.