Senior Compliance Officer: Customer (Rewards) and Digital at Absa South Africa

Job Summary

• To provide independent second-line oversight of customer outcomes across Personal and Private Banking (PPB), with a specific focus on Customer,  Rewards and Digital domains.
• The role is responsible for identifying, interpreting, and escalating conduct and regulatory risk themes arising from Digital Channels,  Customer experience, complaints trends, dispute outcomes, and Rewards-related activities. 
• The role provides support at executive level, translating risk insights into actionable conduct risk themes requiring strategic intervention. It ensures that customer treatment is fair, transparent and defensible, and that emerging risks are proactively identified and addressed.
• The role partners with business leadership to influence decision-making across campaign design, customer engagement strategies, and service outcomes, while maintaining independence as a second line of defence. It plays a critical role in protecting the organisation from regulatory, conduct and reputational risk.

Job Description

Key Accountabilities

Mandatory Responsibilities

• Supports at Managing Executive and EXCO level, providing independent challenge on customer outcomes and conduct risk.
• Translate customer, complaints and other risk insights into conduct and regulatory risk themes requiring senior attention.
• Assess whether customer outcomes are fair, transparent and defensible.
• Maintain independence while influencing business decisions.
• Act as authoritative voice on customer treatment and reputational risk.

PPB Business Management

• Support execution of PPB Strategy as it relates to Customer, Digital and Reward proposition through oversight of regulatory and conduct risks.
• Provide input into PPB regulatory and reputational risk view based on ERC insights.
• Integrate complaints, disputes and customer experience data into a cohesive risk perspective.
• Enhance compliance methodology in customer outcome oversight.

Compliance Advisory

• Provide oversight and challenge of customer engagement strategies and campaign design.
• Influence upstream decision-making to mitigate design-stage conduct risks.
• Monitor downstream outcomes including complaints and disputes.
• Provide timely compliance advice to senior stakeholders.
• Escalate customer harm and reputational risk issues.

Stakeholder Management

• Engage with senior stakeholders across Customer, Digital, Rewards, Consumer Products and Secured Lending.
• Act as advisor and challenger at MBR, ERC, Product and ExCo forums.
• Build strong cross-functional relationships. Communicate compliance perspectives effectively at executive level.

Risk Management

• Maintain oversight of conduct risk related to customer outcomes.
• Analyse complaints and customer data to identify trends.
• Integrate signals into unified conduct risk view.
• Escalate material risks impacting fairness and reputation.

Governance

• Provide input into governance forums with clear risk articulation.
• Support ERC and ExCo reporting with insight-driven perspectives.
• Ensure customer outcome risks are reflected in governance decisions.

Scope & Impact

• Accountable for independent oversight of customer outcomes within PPB, with focus on Customer, Rewards and Digital.
• Influences strategic decisions at ERC and ExCo level.
• Addresses risks arising from complaints, dispute outcomes and engagement strategies.
• Operates across Customer, Consumer Products and Secured Lending with PPB-wide impact.

Organisational Design

• First line retains responsibility for execution and delivery, while embedded compliance provides advisory.
• This role provides business unit-level oversight of customer outcomes and integrates conduct signals into a cohesive risk view, without duplicating first line or embedded compliance activities.

Skills & Capability

• Advanced strategic capability to interpret customer data into conduct risk insights.
• Deep understanding of conduct risk frameworks.
• Ability to influence and challenge senior stakeholders.
• Strong judgement on fairness and defensibility of outcomes.
• Ability to manage reputational risk exposure.

Education and Experience Required

• Relevant Bachelor’s degree (Commerce, Risk, Legal or related field)
• Significant experience in compliance, conduct risk or risk management
• Experience engaging at senior governance forums

Knowledge & Skills

• Understanding of conduct risk frameworks and customer outcome principles
• Knowledge of SA regulatory environment (FSCA, NCR, SARB/PA)
• Strong data analysis and insight capability
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders
• Strong governance and reporting capability

Competencies

• Strategic Capability
• Problem Solving Leadership
• Business Acumen
• Customer Focus
• Collaboration and Influencing
• Results Orientation
• Integrity and Courage
• Innovation Leadership

Education

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

End Date: June 12, 2026