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notion of hard work paying off that
spurred him on in part two of his
professional journey.
After leaving the Parachute
Regiment, he completed an MBA
in 2009 and subsequently earnt a
role at Barclays to work in FX sales.
No stranger to a challenge, this one
came in three parts: firstly, the new
job; secondly, moving to Singapore;
and finally, welcoming his first
child into the world.
It was fair to say McGrath was
experiencing a wholesale change in
his life and once again being forced
to tap into his military-grade mind-
set to not only adapt, but thrive in
this new domain.
After almost three years, he was
headhunted by RBS in Singapore
for a similar FX sales role, before
the opportunity at Standard Char-
tered arose and McGrath became
executive director, head of bank
sales in June 2014. A promotion
then elevated him to managing di-
rector in 2016. McGrath was rising
through the ranks again, this time
in the corporate world.
“I feel deeply privileged from my
training, time and association with
the British Army; precious few
institutions instil that same level of
trust. I’m also in no doubt that my
military career has helped secure
the confidence of hiring managers
and clients alike, opened doors
and created opportunities that
otherwise wouldn’t have existed,”
McGrath explains. “But equally,
I’m clear there’s a higher expecta-
tion to perform that goes with it as
well as moral obligation to other
veterans to live up to this.”
Now working in the front-office
for Standard Chartered’s invest-
ment banking arm, McGrath is
leading teams and advising C-level
executives within the firm on
how best to optimise all business
models across the division. He de-
scribes the role as “challenging and
56 // TheTRADE // Spring 2020
M C G R AT H ]