Junior Ops Specialist at Absa Group Limited (Absa)

Job Summary

• The IBD Fulfilment team is currently looking for a junior Ops specialist who will manage all elements of operations.
• They will ensure that department policies and procedures are always followed and that corrective actions are taken in respect of reported events, discrepancies or inaccuracies. They will also be responsible for the delivery of a range of business-critical processes, optimizing the use of resources to successfully meet and exceed challenging SLAs.

This person will also be accountable for:

• Meeting targets relating to service quality and overall productivity of the department
• Accountable for all aggregate impacts of daily BAU volume demand and resource management to achieve success, whilst also expected to support change requirements as required
• Accountable for developing a culture of continuous improvement within the department
• Responsible for placing the Client at the heart of the operating model, ensuring that only value add services are provided
• Responsible for developing scalability and volume insensitivity, aligning the department to both the
• Business strategy and Clients needs
• Accountable for the production and maintenance of process documentation
• Manage technology performance and continuously improve inefficiencies 
• Develop and implement strategic change initiatives to improve Client service and/or reduce operating costs
• Be key point of contact for operational responsibilities

Job Description

Accountability: Supervising Operations (30%)

• Supervise all transactions and administration of STCF, Debt and Agency products and services
• Track the systematic allocation of work to team members and make adjustments to the workload when there are capability gaps or absence issues to ensure smooth and timeous workflow
• Verify all transactions processed by team members to ensure that the required standards of work are met during execution.
• Instruct team members to make corrections as a result of queries and ensure that they understand their mistakes to prevent them in future.
• Ensure that instructions/transactions received are authenticated, and completed within turnaround times.
• Ensure adherence to defined quality standards and standard processes to avoid risks to the bank through effective and efficient monitoring of transactions.
• Escalate all issues that cannot be resolved to the line manager immediately. eg: potential losses, client claims.
• Coach team members on how to improve their skills, competencies, productivity, and accuracy.
• Ensure adherence to service level agreements by regularly informing team members of the required turnaround times and checking the production queues for overdue items, report overdue items to the Line Manager and make plans to bring production back on track.
• Ensure adherence to the filing, archival and retrieval polices in terms of documentation
• Read Absa and departmental circulars daily and where necessary clarify the content of these with Line Manager to ensure understanding and implementation
• Collate operational information e.g. volumes processed, book reports, commissions recovered, etc.
• Compile, review and communicate production statistics to team members to ensure adherence to standards for productivity and turn-around times.
• Monitor the effective drawing of End of Day reports to control workflow and ensure that all items have been actioned and entries are cleared, escalate unresolved items to line manager
• Review and authorize the release of trade documentation prepared by customers to analyze and interpret content through effective application of International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) guidelines:
• Uniform rules for demand guarantees applied to guarantees bond and other payment undertakings
• International Standard Banking Practice
• Uniform customs & practice for doc credits (UCP 600)
• Rules on international standby practices (ISP 98)
• Uniform rules for bank-to-bank reimbursement under documentary credits
• Uniform rules for documentary collections (URC 522)
• ICC official rules for interpretation of trade terms (INCO terms 2000)

Accountability:  People Management (30%)

• Ensure team discipline in terms of professionalism & business etiquette, HR policies and procedures.
• Execute EOS (Employee Opinion Survey) action items as assigned by the line manager.
• Ensure that the PD process is vigorously implemented and tracked.
• Based on training plans agreed with the line manager of the area, monitor team members to ensure that planned training is undertaken.
• Keep record of team performance for input in performance development process
• Identify employees that are not meeting short-term productivity or control targets and make recommendations to the line manager to place employees on the Performance Accelerator Program   

Accountability:   Compliance & Risk Control (15%)

• Ensure that team members adhere to filing policies and procedures and comply to archiving and retrieval mechanisms that are in place for documentation.
• Ensure correct balance of payment (BOP) reporting for exchange control purposes.
• Coach team members on all the processes and controls in terms of what they need to execute in their daily work and ensure that they understand the reasons for the controls and the consequences for failing to adhere to prescribed processes.
• Test a sample of activities on a monthly basis by reviewing documentation and checking work completed by team members to see if control requirements are being adhered to.
• Coach the team members on areas for improvement and highlight major failures to the manager of the area.
• Provide evidence/supporting documents to auditors or management assurance consultants during formal reviews.
• Identify losses due to processing errors or internal fraud in the department. Escalate to the Manager and provide all the required information to allow logging of the Risk and Loss events and participate in the investigations.
• Explain the requirements for Business Continuity to team members and nominate team members to participate in BCM tests.
• Explain to team members all changes to policies, processes and procedures that are being planned for the area and ensure that they can incorporate the changes on the effective date.
• Ensure that team members read circulars that are relevant to the area and answer questions they may have.
• Ensure compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements, by ensuring that clients are FICA compliant
• and by adhering to BOP, Exchange Control Regulations, Trade Based Money Laundering and Absa
• Sanctions Screening Policy.
• Complete all relevant compliance training and be conversant with the relevant regulations that impact on day to day functions.

Accountability: Customer Service (25%)

• Ensure that the team delivers Excellent Service to all clients within agreed SLAs, by monitoring performance and tracking daily queues
• Ensure high quality communication to internal and external clients, both verbal and written
• Satisfy customer needs through the effective and efficient resolution of customer queries escalated from the team, customers or the Bank.
• Ensure that resolutions are documented and follow up with internal and external customers to ensure that the issues have been resolved to their satisfaction.
• Assist direct reports with complex queries (e.g. interbank claims, documentary disputes) by explaining to them how to investigate and resolve the issues and checking for their understanding.
• Maintain quality standards in respect of client service by ensuring team members are trained and aware of standards.
• Based on observations made when interacting with clients, make suggestions for improvements to transaction flows.
• Suggest improvement to client solutions based on knowledge of the Trade and Working Capital value chain.
• Highlight issues and make suggestions to product teams to improve customer service.
• Ensure that all compliments and complaints are immediately logged on the required system

Preferred experience: 

• 5 years experience in Trade and Working Capital product suite
• 2 years supervisory experience in Trade and Working Capital
• A good understanding of the products and product life-cycles
• People Management skillset, with a proven ability to lead and inspire the team
• Effective management of team performance
• Operational Risk Management experience
• Experience in working in a high-pressure environment

Education

• Bachelor`s Degrees and Advanced Diplomas: Business, Commerce and Management Studies (Required)