Head of Traded Market Risk at Absa Group Limited (Absa)

Job Description

Accountability: Principal Risk Officer for Traded Market Risk

• Manage the aggregate risk of the group, concentration, limits, and breaches.
• Develop and maintain the principal risk framework for Traded Market Risk (incl. strategy, policies, limits framework, minimum controls, and delegations of authority).
• Assist businesses with the development of business specific policies, standards and governance as required, ensuring that an integrated and effective risk management framework is implemented and embedded in all the business areas/countries.
• Develop the Group-wide and Business Risk Appetite for the Principal Risk.
• Escalate to the Group CRO, suspend while investigating and if necessary, stop any decision or activity where they have concerns that risks to Absa are not being adequately addressed.
• In consultation with the Group CRO, escalate any unresolved risk concerns directly to the Chairman of the Group Risk and Capital Management Committee (GRCMC) and/or other Board Committees.
• Approve, together with the Group CRO, as appropriate any request from in-country or Business Area.
• CROs for Dispensations, Waivers, or Breaches of the Framework and/or related policies.
• Establish, aggregate, and manage risk appetite and facilitate cross functional engagement across the Group; and oversee risk management capabilities of the Group. This includes conformance reviews and assurance activities covering qualitative and quantitative aspects.

Accountability: Strategy and Insight to inform business decision making

• Set and communicate a long-term strategy that clearly articulates strategic targets and metrics to align delivery against the Bank’s strategic objectives and targets and shareholder expectations.
• Stay abreast of industry trends, future challenges, regulatory changes to ensure that the function is well positioned to provide competitive and industry leading services, driving sustainable cost, and processing efficiencies through continuous innovation, industry benchmarking and alignment to best practices.
• Proactively identify business opportunities which drive performance in line with strategy. Implement and embed strategic performance management tools.
• Drive senior leaders to make risk informed key business and strategy decisions through their understanding of the business and their role in the governance of the business.
• Provide superior thought leadership and insightful analysis, interpretation of risks and pragmatic solutions based on a thorough technical understanding of all elements, robust and relevant knowledge of the business and a deep and broad external market view on risk theories and current best practice.
• Drive strategic system architecture for Traded Market Risk, ensuring an integrated landscape with the bank’s Front Office systems and ensuring that the function benefits from a holistic architectural approach.

Accountability: Risk Management

• Work with business risk owners to determine market risk appetite demand and direct market risk taken through financial volatility, mandate, and scale limits, in line with approved risk appetite.
• Provide technical, quantitative, implementation and training support to market risk owners in the businesses in respect of required risk models, measurement, systems, and processes, to ensure consistent and effective implementation and operation of the framework.
• Ensure central maintenance of tools and parameterizations are shared across multiple businesses.
• Drive market risk related projects and initiatives to achieve change and enhancements.
• Support the new product approval process with risk opinions and control requirements.
• Conduct periodic peer group and best practices comparisons (strategy, profiles, and disclosure practices) and onboard appropriate practices for Absa Group.
• Establish and maintain selective daily / monthly / quarterly risk and capital measurement and forecasting processes and SARB banks’ act reports where economies of scale are achieved or where there are barriers to decentralization and embedding in business.
• Effectively challenge the Business Units on their strategy and risk shape/profile in the context of the macro-economic and regulatory environment and incorporating risk adjusted returns.
• Report to the Group Chief Risk Officer, CIB Chief Risk Officer, and the Business Area Executive Risk Committee (Business Area ExCo) and relevant committees, regulators and other stakeholders on the business area’s risk positions, adherence to Risk Appetite and control environment for traded market risk.

Accountability: Governance and Control

• Manage a scalable and well controlled risk environment, continuously improving the control environment which could include better efficiencies, process simplification, and automation.
• Review, challenge, monitor and report on compliance with the market risk management framework. Design and embed tools to achieve this: compliance attestations, control framework conformance testing, data quality testing, business reviews, independent monitoring etc.
• Establish appropriate systems and controls including assurance to identify, assess, measure, report, control and manage key risks within the control environment.
• Establish and implement appropriate risk and performance reporting/monitoring standards. Monitor/challenge reported profiles and appropriate management action against limits, risk concentrations and exceptions/issues.
• Ensure timely escalation of risk issues identified to enable effective mitigation and ensure timely response and remediation of any issues identified by external parties (i.e. regulatory, conformance, audit).
• Ensure that all activities and duties are carried out in full compliance with regulatory requirements, Enterprise Risk Management Framework and internal Policies and Standards.
• Ensure proactive engagement with Internal and External Audit and Operational Risk with respect to audit scoping, findings, Risk and Control Self Assessments, Conformance Testing and Reviews.
• Ensure effective operation of all Traded Market Risk related committees.
• Serve on various Absa Group and business-level committees in the capacity stated in their latest terms of reference.

Accountability: People Management

• Determine the people management strategy for the area with a focus on talent management, development, resourcing, and retention, ensuring resource allocations are commensurate with growth/focus areas.
• Review and sense check succession plans in place for key roles, and that these are delivered against.
• Participate in leadership development activities across functions with a particular focus on the attraction, development, and progression of transformation candidates.
• Lead a team of risk professionals, setting objectives and expectations of delivery and behaviors to achieve excellence both individually and collectively in providing business insight and risk management expertise.
• Review the overall performance curve for the function and ensure that there is direct alignment between the function performance and the employee performance ratings.
• Drive and lead the diversity and inclusion (D&I) agenda across the function. Ensure all relevant D&I activity is conducted within the function and contribute to the Absa D&I strategy and enable and drive the transformation agenda in the business unit by implementing strategies and addressing barriers.
• Role model the Absa values and embed them through the function, enabling colleagues to operate and demonstrate the values at all times.

Preferred Education & Experience

• Honours/Master’s Degree in (Financial Mathematics OR Statistics OR Accounting OR Actuarial Science)
• 15+ years’ experience in Investment Banking (Global Markets)
• 5+ years’ experience in risk management or related field in a senior management/leadership role
• Advanced statistical software and quantitative tool knowledge
• Advanced risk systems knowledge
• Proven track record of successful leadership of change and networking
• Experience at engagement at a Board level (Preferable)

Education

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