Executive: Technology Strategy at Absa Group Limited (Absa)

Job Summary

• Identify, develop, and apply specialist strategic IT knowledge and guidance to large business and functional teams through contextualising and translating the enterprise strategy of the bank, ensuring it filters down to IT. Through analysing compelling, evocative questions, to identify needs, capabilities, and suitable systems focused on profitability, sustainability, and business value ensuring that the IT strategic needs are delivered

Job Description

Strategy Formulation and Execution

• Guide and support the implementation of reporting tools that enable a higher quality of management decision making.
• Provide expert advice and support in terms of operating model, strategy and value chain formulation and alignment.
• Provide expert advice in the identification of practises/technologies which could provide a competitive advantage to the organisation.
• Contribute to the development of the strategy for the business line by providing a view of the profitability of business units through analysis and performance forecasts.
• Accountable for enabling information technology management to achieve the desired optimised state by enabling strategic initiatives that drive the functional strategy.

Customer Primacy

• Plan and deliver services that create a culture which aims to exceed customer expectations in all aspects of the business.
• Provide expert advice and support with the integration of service excellence culture, which enables exceptional service to customers that meet or exceed customer needs and expectations.
• Provide expertise, advice, and support with the formulation of integrated frameworks to ensure exceptional customer service.

Sustainable Growth

• Formulate and develop a multi-function operating framework that positively contributes to the achievement of sustainable growth.

Client-Driven Innovation and Change

• Drive change management activities across a single value chain to ensure optimal adoption for change.
• Influence and communicate across all levels of the business to minimise resistance to change and ensure on-boarding of target audiences.
• Scan the external environment, investigate alternative operating plans or models, and offer innovative advice to deliver a competitive advantage.

Leading Talent

• Provide expertise and advice to minimise resistance to change and ensure on-boarding of target audiences.
• Provide expertise, advice and support in the development and implementation of human capability and accountability frameworks across functions in support of people management strategies achievement.

Operational Effectiveness

• Identify problems in the functional area and formulate alternate solutions to resolve value chain conflicts.
• Provide expert advice and support in the development of operational and profitability models.
• Facilitate the adoption of an agile way of working and be able to react fast and bring meaningful solutions to developments within the business line.
• Provide expertise and advice in the implementation and monitoring of controls, governance, and compliance protocols.
• Develop, identify and provide strategic IT specialist knowledge to processes and systems, these include IT systems, reporting and analytics.
• Accountable for enabling information technology management to achieve the desired optimised state by enabling strategic initiatives that drive the functional strategy, business architecture and shared service capabilities.
• Embed the business operating model by aligning and integrating business architectures i.e., process, technology, information and people.
• Leverage architecture as a vehicle for strategic execution.
• Provide data and emerging technology leadership, e.g. generative Artificial Intelligence, direction and innovation to the Absa Technology function aligned to the business strategy.
• Advise the business line on the business performance of all IT strategic goals against the strategic objectives and financials. Facilitate the discussions on the way forward.
• Assess the overall IT requirements and performance versus strategic ambition.

Digital Adoption

• Deliberately identify opportunities to digitise, automate and implement solutions for customer primacy, innovation, and operational effectiveness
• Drive technology enablement focusing on streamlining internal operations through the implementation of digital platforms and solutions.

Good Governance Risk and Compliance

• Define and consolidate the risk profile for the business unit, manage critical risks and ensure resolution feedback to all relevant stakeholders.
• Enable the development and implementation of integrated corporate governance and compliance frameworks in areas of functional specialisation.
• Provide oversight of the management of operational risks across organisational functional areas including oversight on the resolution of risk events.

Data Monetisation

• Oversee the explicit use of data and its inherent value to explore opportunities that plan and guide all decisions for execution.

Minimum Requirements

• 5 - 12 years’ experience in a specific capability of importance to the bank, including a track record of 3 years in a senior information technology position.

Education

• Postgraduate Degrees and Professional Qualifications: Business, Commerce and Management Studies (Required)