Lead Process Design Engineer at Absa Group Limited (Absa)

Job Description

• The Lead Process Design Engineer is responsible for leading a portfolio of process/product/service design projects across a business area or channel in Absa. She/he acts as a thought partner to senior business leadership, providing specialist advice and guidance. 
• The Lead Process Design Engineer coordinates teams in a matrix structure simultaneously in multiple projects and ensures that they deliver coherent, world-class customer experience, process efficiency and process excellence to deliver against defined business objectives. 
• An ideal Lead Process Design Engineer is a recognised process design expert and able to lead teams to provide consistently excellent and creative design solutions. She/he has a track record of driving development and implementation of business strategy through data-driven process decisions and providing insights and direction to business in senior levels. 
• Lead Process Design Engineer is an experienced specialist leader (with no line management responsibility), who is able to oversee multiple large projects simultaneously. She/he is passionate about high quality, outstanding output and contribution in developing skills, and capabilities of the people in her/his organisation. Experience and understanding of customer design (Agile, Design Thinking, UX, Service Design, user testing, LSS) is beneficial.

Accountability: Strategy & business accountability

• Set and communicate a long-term Process/Product/Service design strategy that clearly articulates strategic targets and metrics to align the delivery of agreed strategy against the RBB Business strategic objectives and targets and shareholder expectations.
• Outline clear and compelling vision in terms of the design, translating the vision into a set of clear and actionable initiatives.
• Stay abreast of industry trends and role players and ensure that RBB is well positioned to provide competitive and industry leading designs.
• Set and communicate a long-term strategy that clearly articulates strategic targets and metrics to align the delivery of the function’s targets against the Bank’s strategic objectives and targets and shareholder expectations.

Accountability: Customer Experience (CX) and User Experience (UX) Design

• Deliver projects, which lead to the creation of an industry leading customer experience that is notably different, far exceeding expectations and is at the global forefront of simplicity and usability while still maintaining the depth and richness in functionality of the Absa product set.
• Leverage insight and data to ensure that processes/products/services/solutions are designed around the customer/client/colleague/user.
• Establish a CX/UX strategy that will guide the principles for CX/UX application in the short and medium term –leveraging the global team where appropriate.
• Design, develop and deliver through integrated teams, ongoing customer/user experience improvements as well as innovations, which provide Absa with sources of significant differentiation and competitive advantage.
• Review and approve the output of the design and technical teams to ensure that the desired customer/user experience is achieved from ideation through to implementation.
• Work collaboratively to elicit and document functional requirements and prioritisation from business stakeholders through workshops and relevant documentation while tracking implementation delivery and reporting on progress.

Accountability: User Interface (UI) & User Experience (UX) Design

• Defining, building and running a successful, world-class design team, typically responsible for:
• Determining and setting the optimal design approach for projects from ideation to final design implementation
• Documenting personas and journey maps, site-mapping, wire-framing, prototyping, user-testing, visual assets, front-end code etc.
• Creating a design ecosystem and physical environment in which designers will thrive, be motivated by and develop as professionals.
• Instructing and managing agencies to ensure quality, value for money and effective working relationships.
• Managing stakeholders and the department to ensure all things finance/governance/resource related are handled.
• Allocating and monitoring of design resource to ensure that quality work will be completed on time and to budget; involving external design agencies to manage demand when appropriate.
• Closely directing designers who are driving day-to-day design detail. Engage and inspire entire design project teams.
• Ensuring projects remain on course and reach the highest standards of design that create innovation and user value.
• Providing updates and presenting final designs to senior Absa leadership alongside to project team.
• Keep abreast of developments within area of expertise, reading internal circulars, bulletins, etc. and implement training interventions to ensure imparting of skills and understanding.

Accountability: Business Process Design

• Responsible for identifying problems faced by business/product owners, and ensure effective and efficient design of business systems workflows and optimal integration of processes, people and technology by interactively analysing, researching, providing input and recommendations to solution designs initiative across RBB, in line with business strategy.
• Act as a strategic consultant to executive management on the alignment of business processes to the technical and information enterprise architecture, and on the alignment of business processes in line with strategic business needs.
• Work with the relevant stakeholders to ensure alignment between the business process architecture and all relevant technology architectures (applications, data and infrastructure).
• Engage and build relationships with product and process owners, to understand the requirements, inputs, handoffs and outputs of the process, and ensure that sufficient process analysis is conducted in order to meet desired business needs.
• Support process owners to design change impact assessment tools and change project plans.
• Champion and lead process designs, analysis and business process transformation functions – either as standalone projects or as part of wider programmes of change.

Accountability: Design Research

• Provide subject matter expertise and training in user research
• Work with project teams to identify research needs, design learning plans, research materials and tests
• Guides execution of research activities on projects
• Provide analysis of research related data with actionable recommendations
• Coordinates with internal and external resources where appropriate to maximize existing work and expertise
• Evangelize social research methodologies and approaches across project teams to empower every team member to increase their awareness of user needs
• Maintain awareness of relevant social, cultural, economic and technological trends
• Teach design thinking and research best practices to other team members
• Work with a variety of experts to provide breakthrough insights based on the analysis and synthesis of user needs, corporate strategies, enterprise capabilities and market opportunities
• Partner with others in the innovation development strategy – connecting new concepts to the current business

Thought Leadership 

• Drive senior management thinking, debate and influence, to drive and manage transformational change.
• Facilitate, support and guide the delivery and achievement of business team results in a balance scorecard of customer / company / colleague / community.
• Oversee the management of internal stakeholders and engagements with clients.
• Proactively build and maintain relationship with key stakeholders across RBB and looking for opportunities to leverage and build cross BU solutions.
• Provide leadership and coaching to ensure that all colleagues are aligned to the goals and culture of RBB.
• Participate in coaching and mentoring activities, particularly for candidates in the graduate programme and for identified talent development within the business.

Education and experience required 

•  Engineering qualification (NQF Level 8-10) or equal work experience; Lean Six Sigma Green Belt required, Design for Six Sigma (e.g. DMADV) preferred 
•  6-10 years’ experience, of which 2-4 years in leading complex, commercial, process/product/service design projects involving senior stakeholders 
•  Proven excellence in technical skills across several design methodologies (e.g., Design Thinking, Reengineering, Lean Six Sigma), strong understanding of Business and Solution architecture 
•  Understanding of agile working environment and methodologies 
•  Demonstrated business acumen required, other commercial or operational business experience advantageous
•  Experience and understanding of customer design (UX, Service Design, user testing) is beneficial

Education

Master's Degree: Information Technology

• 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