Controller Finance Policy Gov and Cntrl at Absa

Job Summary

Overall Job Purpose

• Financial Control is responsible for ensuring that Absa Africa fulfils its financial, statutory and regulatory reporting requirements, while ensuring compliance with accounting, regulatory and balance sheet control policy. Financial Control comprises the following areas: Accounting Control, Reporting & Analytics, Governance & Controls, Technology Enablement and Technical Accounting. Financial Control serves as the Group’s primary interface with the auditors and regulators.
• The Governance and controls team is responsible for providing finance management with assurance on the implementation and adherence to the governance and control framework over external financial reporting key risk.
• This role involves the implementation and monitoring of controls that ensure the integrity of the Balance Sheet across RBB, identify and report risk items in the Balance Sheet across these areas to enable management to make decisions and take actions where necessary. 
• This role assumes responsibility for execution, change and embedment of risk assessment, testing and monitoring processes. It requires analysing key risk information, identifying financial reporting risk, and providing information to support the assessment of the control environment as well as escalation, via the appropriate governance forums, of significant findings to finance management and the business. Monitors Finance business remediation.

Job Description
The RBB Balance Sheet Control team is recruiting for an AVP to join the team.

Each team member is assigned to a specific segment within the RBB businesses;
•    Review of the balance sheets to identify errors that require correcting before ledger close
•    Providing commentary on the movements in the balance sheets for RBB to numerous stakeholders, including Reporting and Analytics, and for commentary provided to the SARB on the BA100 and BA110.
•    Review and challenge of appropriate substantiation of balance sheet accounts in General Ledger Reconciliation and Substantiation meetings
•    Review and challenge of financial reporting risk items (including the completeness thereof) such as Items at Risk, Balances not Reconciled and Misclassifications, to ensure appropriate reporting of financial reporting risk to Management

Key Accountabilities

Accountability: Understand Absa Africa Financial Reporting processes, systems, controls, policies and frameworks (10%)

• Develop an appropriate knowledge of the financial reporting systems and processes that operate across businesses within Absa Africa
• Develop a working understanding of Absa Africa Financial Reporting policies and risk management frameworks in order to assess compliance in relevant areas
• Provide support for and deliver training on Financial Reporting policies and risk management frameworks
• Input into the operational planning of assurance and conformance testing plans to support risk assessments
• Assist business to document action plans for risk mitigation identified during Analytical review, GLRS’s, conformance testing or in the KRI process

Accountability: Coordination of External Financial Reporting Key Risk (FRKR) Governance and ownership of the Balance Sheet Attestation Tool (i.e. Consigno) across the Group (70%)

• Ensure the operation of a robust FRKR Governance process, including the review and consolidation of information and the production of management information required for FC attestation, AFRC and other forums (e.g. GLRS’s) across all clusters, countries and entities in Africa
• Provide appropriate management information to process owners for consideration before communication to Finance Management on the assessment of FRKR, ensuring accurate and validity of information and high quality and appropriate commentary
• Support Business owner for Consigno and other Financial Reporting attestation processes. This includes ensuring maintenance of required static data (in own or other teams), monitoring of system performance, and co-ordination of remedial actions for system failures and other issues
• Full understanding of the allocated business or cluster Balance sheet through performing monthly variance analysis and discussions with business. Provide output of analysis to stakeholders including process owners
• Adhoc projects that require timely and sustainable resolution
• Produce management information packs and presentations to support the risk assessment of FRKR to Operational Risk Committees, including Risk Scenario’s and other
• Produce and communicate appropriate Key Risk Indicators (KRI’s) to monitor the level of financial reporting risk and effectiveness of controls, to ensure that the Key Controls are appropriately implemented and understood by stakeholders
• Ensuring appropriate risk identification and reporting
• Monitoring and tracking remediation plans resulting from the above
• Contact point for external and internal audit, documentation of findings and remedial actions, including documentation of remediation
• Maintain policy training materials and co-ordination of training programs

Accountability: Provide support to other process executors through motivation and employee engagement (5%)

• Understanding and managing team dynamics to maximise performance
• Escalate issues around allocation of resources to process architects tasks to ensure delivery of team objectives
• Ensure continued development of resources, through couching and mentoring, to empower value added delivery of tasks

Accountability: Process Execution: Provide inputs and execution of quality control and process improvements (15%)

• Execution of processes as designed
• Constantly review, improve and maintain own activities to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of processes
• Recommend areas for improvement in order to reduce cycle times, improve productivity, create capacity and improve process reliability and customer satisfaction
• Assist in the implementation of new and/or enhanced processes
• Identify activity-specific risks and work with Process Owner / Process Architect to mitigate risks
• Maintain awareness of own activities and the impact thereof on related / inter-dependent activities
• Actively supports the operational effectiveness of the Consigno system.

Education and Experience Required

• CA : 3 to 5 years Post Qualification / Non CA: 5 to 7 years relevant experience

Knowledge & Skills:

• Exceptional academic track record
• Understanding of financial reporting processes and related controls (Expert)
• Ability to identify control gaps and weaknesses (Expert)
• Ability to analyse and interpret financial data (Expert)
• Ability to write concise effective reports (Expert)

Competencies:

• Deciding and initiating action
• Entrepreneurial and commercial thinking
• Relating and networking
• Adapting and responding to change
• Persuading and influencing
• Creating and innovating

Education

• Bachelors Degree and Professional Qualifications: Financial Sciences (Required)

Absa Bank Limited is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer. In compliance with the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998, preference will be given to suitable candidates from designated groups whose appointments will contribute towards achievement of equitable demographic representation of our workforce profile and add to the diversity of the Bank.

Absa Bank Limited reserves the right not to make an appointment to the post as advertised