Productivity Director at Absa Group Limited (Absa)

Job Summary

• Reporting into the Group Head of Productivity, in the Finance Management Function, the Productivity Director will support in driving productivity initiatives across the Group as part of Absa’s Productivity Programme. The Productivity Director will support the Head of Productivity in maintaining the programme’s strategic alignment to Absa’s productivity-related targets at a Group level and ensure that these are delivered on by Business Units (BUs) and Functions.

Job Description

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities

Strategic programme direction support

• Supporting the Group Head of Productivity in:
• Maintaining programme alignment to Group strategy and relevant performance metrics at a Group-wide and Business Unit/Function level.
• Pro-actively shaping and adapting the programme based on upcoming demands and delivery risks
• Identifying new potential areas of productivity improvements and/or key considerations
• Gathering data and insights from various sources both internal and external and analysing such data to identify patterns, trends and areas for improvement
• Effectively escalating key strategic productivity decisions to Group Exco, presenting options and trade-offs for consideration, and provide strong, well-evidenced recommendations to the Board
• Critical review of productivity initiative portfolio based on deep programme knowledge, to challenge the direction of the programme and its initiatives

Ambassador for Productivity

• Responsible for building and maintaining strong relationships with relevant BU and Function leadership for collective buy-in and momentum on the programme, including presenting to and influencing senior stakeholders in relevant forums
• Supporting the Group Head of Productivity in developing and maintaining a Group-wide communication strategy for productivity in conjunction with key internal stakeholders
• Responsible for providing context and direction to change resource on the programme short- and long-term targets for productivity to support the shift in culture required for long-term benefits

Ownership of Productivity frameworks

• Accountable for ensuring that appropriate metrics are used to assess productivity gains and these are reflected in performance assessment at different levels of the organization as appropriate
• Responsible for ensuring correct reporting on productivity metrics by BUs and Functions and that measurement frameworks are correctly adhered to
• Responsible for collaborating with Finance to ensure that productivity is incorporated correctly within financial planning and tracking purposes

Productivity Programme governance support

• Support the Group Head of Productivity in effectively managing the Productivity Steerco, ensuring agendas are aligned to programme priorities, attendees are well-informed ahead of meetings, and actions are communicated and completed
• Keep the Group Head of Productivity informed on the BU and Function-level engagement and input to relevant Change governance forums, to support ability to raise and action risks to initiative execution

Performance management

• Responsible for ensuring that collaboration mechanisms (working groups, committees) are effective in executing cross-cutting initiatives and unblocking progress
• Consulted on BU and Function performance against target to manage performance where required and to advise on remediation or escalate performance issues to SteerCo
• Consulted on adaptations to BU and Function productivity planning based on updates to forecasted benefits
• Support the HOP in maintaining incentivisation mechanisms developed to motivate productivity target delivery across the organization

Risk management

• Supporting the Group Head of Productivity in proactively identifying and communicating programme risks and issues, and ensuring sufficient mitigation and contingency plans are in place and executed

Role/Person Specification

• Minimum Bachelor’s degree qualification (Finance, Accounting, or Business-related qualification desirable)
• CA (SA)/CIMA is preferred
• 8+ years of experience in Programme Management oversight and financial management
• Proven track record of leading large cross-functional programmes and managing governance
• Highly organized and able to prioritize and work to deadlines
• Skilled communicator and influencer, able to engage effectively with stakeholders at all levels
• Demonstration of commitment to Absa’s values and vision

Education

• Postgraduate Degrees and Professional Qualifications: Financial Sciences (Required)