Senior Data Analytics Specialist at Nedbank

Job Purpose

• To provide strategic leadership and guidance to teams by providing independent assurance of the control environment to the Nedbank Group Audit Committee and ensuring effective risk management practices are implemented across Nedbank. In addition, in the role of business partner, engage with stakeholders in respect of industry best practice and changing landscape, emerging risks and large, complex digital initiatives.

Job Responsibilities

• Strategic insights & Client Centricity
• Stay abreast of developments in field of expertise, emerging risks, and industry trends (including competitors and digital trends) and impart knowledge to the team.
• Understand current business strategy, reality, impact of transformation, digital initiatives, risks and expectations and consider key and/or emerging risks to guide team and update the annual risk-based annual audit plan, in order to support relevant GIA reporting.
• Remain commercially minded with a Nedbank client centric approach and understand the broader business strategy in the auditing approach. 

Transformational Assurance

• Provide assurance on large and complex programmes and assess risks which could impede the achievement of objectives and benefits. 
• Provide guidance to the audit team and where necessary execute audit assignment planning, fieldwork and reporting in line with the Group Internal Audit (GIA) methodology and Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), including file completion.
• Seek opportunities to improve business processes, models, and systems through agile thinking.
• Understand and assess the design adequacy and operational effectiveness of manual and automated controls within audit scope and utilising data analytics.
• Understand and ensure compliance with relevant laws, regulations, and guidelines in line with audit scope.
• Influence stakeholders to address inefficiencies in resolving audit findings through utilising professional experience in demonstrating benefits of best audit practice.
• Accountable for continuous improvement of the quality of audits through providing professional insights.
• Ensure improved productivity and efficiency and the delivery of projects within agreed timelines.
• Achieve operational excellence and support the implementation of business optimisation improvement in GIA.
• Apply professional judgement in all audit interactions.
• Deal with complex verbal and documented information and data in the audit process.
• Manage capacity and resource planning and co-sourcing requirements.
• Manage, monitor and report budgetary information (including planned and actual hours, transfer pricing, forecast of hours to be billed). 

Digital Platform & Data Driven Audits

• Apply knowledge of banking sector, digital transformation, and emerging risks to assess and engage with stakeholders on large-scale and complex changing   environments, data, IT infrastructure and technology and determine best approach and testing strategy to provide insightful reporting.
• Develop and build continuous monitoring capability.
• Provide guidance and transfer skill to the team

Job Responsibilities Continue

• Integrated Risk and Control Environment 
• Engage with the risk and compliance community to ensure coordinated assurance approach and assessment of risk and control to ensure audit plan coverage and scope is appropriately assessment and defined. 
• Ensure inefficiencies and duplication of efforts are limited and minimize disruption to stakeholders. 

Impactful Reporting 

• Review and prepare quality, relevant and commercially astute assignment and reports that provide intelligence and meaningful insights that enable the management of risk to be a strategic and competitive differentiator for Nedbank. 
• The ability of story-telling and writing reports in a succinct and concise manner which is visually appealing and at an appropriate level for various stakeholders and governance forums, including Group Audit Committee. 

Innovative solutions 

• Able to problem solve and find solutions when blockages occur. 
• Provide innovative solutions and recommendations which are leading edge, competitive considering emerging risk, changing landscape (including digital and technology initiatives). 

Business Partner Relationships 

• Build and maintain an open and constructive relationship during and outside of scheduled audits with senior internal and external stakeholders including External Audit and Business Executives and the risk and compliance community. 
• Build trusting relationships and improve credibility and quality of audit outputs by achieving team objectives through engaging with staff, peers, and other departments for reporting purposes. 
• Manage stakeholder expectations and provide stakeholder awareness and education on audit best practices, methodology and audit issues policy. 

Effective Leadership 

• Create an environment of teamwork that contributes to Group Internal Audit (GIA). 
• Collaborate with all teams within GIA, create awareness and demonstrate best practice. 
• Ensure personal growth and enable effectiveness in performance of roles and responsibilities. 
• Contribute to the Nedbank Culture building initiatives (e.g. staff surveys etc.) and address team issues raised in culture surveys and improve results year on year. 
• Contribute to the achievement of GIA targets and ensure transformational targets are met for own team. 

Essential Qualifications - NQF Level

• Advanced Diplomas/National 1st Degrees

Preferred Qualification

• Minimum required qualification: Commercial, Informatics, Statistics, Computer Science or related degree.  
• Preferably a B.Sc. / B. Com Honours with focus on Quantitative skills, financial engineering, mathematical modelling, data modelling, IT. 
• Relevant Professional Qualifications or Certification: SQL, SAS Certification, Data Science Certification, Certified Data Management Professional (DAMA), R, Python, RPA, Machine Learning, Big Data, DBMS, ACL

Essential Certifications

• Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) or Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) or Certified Financial Services Auditor (CFSA)

Minimum Experience Level

• Minimum 10 years experience (minimum 5 years with the financial services industry). 
• Internal auditing/risk management/compliance experience is preferable. 
• Minimum of 4 years must include people management experience. 
• 4 - 5 years of experience in managing and leading teams in executing on Analytical reviews and relevant level of experience in data analysis / query development / data warehousing / data mining / data quality / data migration / data visualization / Programming or Software Development. 
• Experience with relevant data analytical foundation tools in SQL, SAS, Denodo, Netezza, R, Python, SAP, ACL, IDEA, virtualisation tools such as SAS VA, Microsoft Power BI, R Shinny, R ggplot, Tableau or similar. 
• Knowledge of database design structures and query languages.
• Experience with advance analytics such as Predictive and Prescriptive analytics, development and/or execution of software robots (RPA) 
• Knowledge about emerging data analytic technologies