Head Technology: CIB Risk and Finance - Sandton at Absa Group Limited (Absa)

Job Summary

• Manage the CIB Credit Risk and Finance Technology department

Job Description

CIB Credit Risk and Finance Technology manage a combination of vendor-based applications and in-house-developed applications. The Credit and Finance processes require data from numerous systems across the bank, hence managing data processes, marts and data lakes is integral to the department.

The team composition comprises 70+/- permanent staff and 55 +/- consultants. The number of consultants varies depending on the number and size of projects approved each year.

Key critical skills and experience required:

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology or appropriate Business degree
• 15 years of Information Technology experience leading large teams and delivering complex projects
• 10 years of Investment Banking exposure
• 10 years of Project, Programme and People Management (Leadership) experience
• Vendor and Stakeholder management (5 years)
• Finance and Credit experience (10 to 15 years)
• Cyber Security Incidents
• Sound Business domain knowledge and experience within Credit Risk, Finance, Business Intelligence and Marts
• Technical experience and knowledge of Business Risk, Regulatory & BI applications, data, process, and integration architecture
• Financial knowledge across all asset classes and the full trade lifecycle
• Pre-emptive and strategic thinker with the capability to implement
• Financial markets experience advantageous

The department supports the following business areas:

Credit Risk

• Credit Origination
• Limits, Exposure and Excess Management
• Spreading and Ratings
• Credit Models (LGD and PD)
• IFRS9 - Impairments
• Regulatory Reporting (Basel III and Basel IV)

Finance

• Finance Product Control Group
• Financial Disclosures
• PnL reporting
• Profitability Reporting

Business Intelligence and Marts

• Providing the BI infrastructure for the department and the broader CIB community
• BI and Mart development and support.

Key Accountabilities:

Leadership and People Management

• Create and maintain a high-performing team
• Manage, motivate, and ensure the development of the team leaders and ensure that the team leads in turn do the same with their respective teams
• Set and manage metrics i.e., OKR’s and Performance Objectives that ensure ongoing improvement
• Ensuring that there is an appropriately resourced team and a pipeline of talent
• Building, managing, sustaining, and leading the team
• Department performance (OKR’s, & KPI’s,) (People: Succession planning, Talent Development, Team and Individual Performance Objectives)

Risk & Finance: Change Management

• Plan and manage the delivery of all change initiatives
• Coordinate the planning and oversee the execution of all change initiatives, this includes large complete bank wide projects, regulatory projects, department specific projects and business as usual change
• Manage PI planning sessions, liaising with stakeholders to proactively address project contention or constraints
• Ensuring  project governance and controls are adhered too across the portfolio
• Utilizing domain knowledge (Risk, Finance and Technology) provide guidance and mentorship
• Drive innovation and adoption of leading technology

Finance & Contract Management

• Manage Opex department finances
• Project finance management – ensure that all change initiatives are delivered within budget
• Vendor contract negotiations – for both new contracts and renewals. In conjunctions with the sourcing and legal departments

Stakeholder and Vendor Management

• Build and sustain meaningful and mutually beneficial relationships with stakeholders, partners, and vendors
  • Credit and Finance Heads and Leads
  • CIB and Group Finance, Group Risk, Procurement, Legal etc.
  • Vendors
• Representing the department at business and Information Technology communities by serving on relevant forums
• Vendor negotiation and contract agreement

Strategy and Architecture

• In conjunction with stakeholders define a technology strategy aligned with both business objectives and the technology direction of the bank and industry trends
• Ensure that Change Initiatives are aligned with the Business, Technology and Architectural Boards or Councils
• Drive continual improvement and evolution of the Technology estate and the services offered by the department
• Steerco representation of the department activities and involvement
• Direction and strategy (Technology, People, Department, Finances)

Education

• Postgraduate Degrees and Professional Qualifications: Physical, Mathematical, Computer and Life Sciences (Required)