Role of Specialist Officers in Banks – 

In today’s highly competitive times, Specialist
Officers play a critical role in ensuring that a bank works at the optimum
level of efficiency.

As most of you probably know already, IBPS
conducts the written exam for the recruitment of Specialist Officers once a
year. But, many of you would be curious about the role of Specialist Officers
in Banks. So let us take a quick look at the kind of work that Specialist
Officers do.

Specialist Officers in a bank are
appointed for specialized roles in various departments, according to their
expertise and educational background.

Some of the Specialist Officer positions
in Banks are:

– Information Technology Officer

– Agricultural Field Officer

– Law Officer

– HR/Personnel Officer

– Marketing Officer

Role of IT Officer –

An IT Officer in a bank plays a vital
role as IT is the backbone of banking technology. The role and responsibilities
of an IT Officer depends upon the section where he/she is deployed. IT Officers
are required by every bank nowadays in order to take care of its software systems as these days almost
everything is automated through IT tools. IT Officers look into the maintenance of servers, databases and other
networking aspects.

Responsibilities of IT Officers:

Normally Banks have 5 sections in the IT Department:-

1) Data Center : This section is the
heart of the bank where all the data and core banking application lies. The
work of the IT Officer is maintenance and support. Shift duty systems are followed
for this section in order to ensure that it is manned 24 hours a day.

2. ATM Section:  This section looks after all ATM related
activity. Shift duty systems are followed in this section too.

3. Project Office:  In this section, all IT support for branch banking
is handled. Shift duty systems are followed in this section too.

4. Security Section:  In this section, IT officers are responsible
for looking after the Bank Network Security and Anti-Virus updation. In cases
of fraud or any incidence of a breach in the Bank’s internal security, IT
officers are called for important enquiries.

5. MIS and Application section: In
this section, in-house software development and MIS related activity happens. IT
Officers in this section are engaged in developing new software or modifying
the Bank’s existing software.

Role of Law
Officers in Banks – A Law Officer in a bank deals with the legal work of the bank. He/she
provides effective legal assistance in the preparation of legal opinions,
studies, reports and correspondence, as required from time to time by various departments
of the bank.

Role of Personnel
Managers/HR Officers – An HR manager/officer develops, advises on and implements
policies relating to the effective use of personnel within the organisation.

HR/personnel
work comprises a number of different but related policies, all of which are
required by organisations that employ people, irrespective of the size of the
organization or the nature of business. These policies cover areas such as
working practices, recruitment, pay, conditions of employment and diversity.

Role of Marketing
Officers – A Marketing Officer plays an important role in a bank as he/she
deals with the marketing department of a bank. It is the responsibility of
Marketing Officers to increase the sales of the Banks’ products and brings
profits for the bank.

Marketing
Officers work with various departments of a bank and implementing marketing
strategies and plans. They manage various marketing material/tools such as leaflets,
posters, advertisements in television, magazines and newspapers, etc.

They
plan and prepare the advertising budget and negotiate with ad agencies and procure
additional services from them.

Marketing
Officers strive to create a good image of a bank and also try to ensure that
customers have adequate information about the different products of the bank.

Role of Agricultural
Officers: An
Agricultural Officer works mainly in rural branches of banks. He/she is
responsible for giving information about different products, schemes and
policies of the bank which can be helpful for the bank’s rural customers.

The
officer also promotes loans (related to general and agricultural purposes) in
rural areas under the various schemes framed by the government and by other
financial institutions.