Senior Manager: Financial Risk Management at Absa Group Limited (Absa)

Job Description

Accountability: Financial Risk Management

• Develop financial risk management practices in-house, ensuring data is of sufficient quality, completing in-depth data analysis, and producing comprehensive documentation while conforming to the required governance.
• Review, challenge and approve the planned size, shape and growth of RB’s balance sheets as part of the business planning process, considering RB’s strategy and risk appetite, market opportunities and threats in relation to scarce resources, sustainability and returns. 
• Review and challenge risk-adjusted performance and growth targets and supporting risk-adjusted measurement frameworks applicable to RB. This includes the use of regulatory capital and economic capital measures for risk-adjusted performance.
• Analyse business portfolios and deliver meaningful insights into RWA, Economic Capital, Earnings Volatility, Risk-adjusted Performance (RoRC/PARCC, RoEC / EP) profiles through data-driven analysis that is value-adding and actionable by business stakeholders.  Collaborate consistently with various stakeholders, embedding financial risk metrics into operational and strategic decisions.
• Clearly articulate the methodologies and data sources used in formulating key financial risk metrics to both internal and external parties through the development of a financial risk monitoring and reporting process.
• Review the regulatory landscape and developments, impact assessments and recommend appropriate responses.

Accountability: RWA, EC and EaR optimisation and precision within RB

• Ensure that RB product/business segments are being diligent, consistent and have the right momentum in delivering on the use of their appetite / capital allocation / targets and ensuring pricing models are appropriately designed and consider all key drivers to adequately account for financial risk.
• Embedment of RWA, EC, and EaR as key risk drivers within RB Credit. Communicate results and recommendations from analysis undertaken to other areas of the organisation, tailoring the interpretation to the audience and using appropriate presentation technology and templates.
• Evaluate and explain the appropriateness of capital utilisation and manage the actions required to deliver optimisation and precision efforts.
• Designing and establishing frameworks for earnings volatility and concentration risk management in RB in collaboration with business segments as it pertains to single obligors, sectors, and other tactical/cyclical concentration risk drivers, and monitor concentration risk against set limits and thresholds, through understanding credit correlations and sensitivities in RB’s and the Group’s portfolio.
• Support economic capital model developments and refinements and assess asset correlations in close collaboration with Group Credit Risk.

Accountability: Risk Appetite, Stress Testing and Integrated Planning

• Support the setting of RB’s risk appetite for RWA, Economic Capital and Earnings at Risk, and the development of any new risk appetite metrics and statements where required. Review and challenge Group risk appetite allocation and monitor consumption and allocation within RB.
• Support the integrated planning process to ensure the anticipated demand and supply for risk appetite are appropriately aligned.
• Establish and embed a financial risk monitoring framework, including portfolio benchmarks, targets, and early warning indicators to monitor portfolio trends, capture emerging risks, and monitor credit performance against risk appetite and plans, using these analyses to make recommendations around next steps or decisions to be taken and support business forecasting.
• Accountable for risk planning and stress testing in RB through the employment of robust forecasting methodologies to anticipate future risks. Consistently evaluate historical data trends, making necessary metric adjustments to stay ahead of the evolving financial landscape.
• Perform ad-hoc stress testing, scenario and sensitivity analyses to assess impact of emerging risks on RB portfolio.

Accountability: Stakeholder Management 

• Build and maintain effective relationships with stakeholders and formulate the most optimal operating model to ensure transparent cross-functional communication between all stakeholders.
• Establish and nurture influential relationships with a wide network across the organisation in order to identify synergies and optimally leverage relationships, knowledge, services and resources to provide superior solutions.
• Maintain external relationships with risk bodies, forums, and other risk professionals both for formal information sharing and for the development and promulgation of risk best practice. 
• Build and maintain effective relationships with stakeholders and formulate the most optimal operating model to ensure transparent cross-functional communication between all stakeholders.
• Establish and nurture influential relationships with a wide network across the organisation in order to identify synergies and optimally leverage relationships, knowledge, services and resources to provide superior solutions.
• Maintain external relationships with risk bodies, forums, and other risk professionals both for formal information sharing and for the development and promulgation of risk best practice.

Accountability: Business and Operations Management  

• Ensure that the function is managed within acceptable parameters and that governance and management processes exist and operate effectively. 
• Ensure that all other areas of operational and business management (e.g., change/project manage, crisis management) are in place and operating effectively. 
• Keep abreast of international best practice regarding financial risk management and contribute to standards and guidelines as required. 

Education

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