Specialist: Risk at Absa South Africa

Job Summary

• The Financial Crime Intelligence and Surveillance (I&S) Function is seeking an experienced, forward-thinking risk specialist to support key initiatives in Risk, Strategy, and Control. The incumbent will support the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of strategies and frameworks that support the detection, mitigation, and prevention of financial crime. This role is essential in maintaining the firm’s compliance with evolving regulations, refining risk frameworks, and establishing best practices to counter financial crime.
• The Specialist will work closely with internal teams, and senior management, playing a crucial role in establishing a compliance culture that anticipates and adapts to future financial crime trends and threats. This role requires strong project management ability, sound risk and control knowledge, exceptional attention to detail, and the ability to influence at peer and senior levels.

Job Description

Key accountabilities

Risk Management and Control

• Conduct regular risk assessments across financial crime intelligence and surveillance activities.
• Assist in the development and maintenance of the I&S risk management framework, including internal controls, processes, and procedures.
• Support the identification, assessment, and mitigation of risks, including boundary risks that impact financial crime and compliance risks.
• Plan and implement internal control assessments and an I&S-wide integrated risk management framework.
• Continuously monitor, evaluate, and report on the overall I&S risk profile, including systems, data, processes, human resources, and governance.
• Monitor and track to resolution the effectiveness of controls to mitigate or minimise risks and detect and report breaches, control failures and risk events on a timely basis.
• Identify potential areas of compliance vulnerability and risk, develop corrective action plans, and provide guidance on avoiding similar issues in the future.
• Produce risk reports highlighting areas of concern and opportunities for improvement.
• Develop risk registers, dashboards, and implement risk appetite and tolerance levels.
• Identify, operationalise, and assess Key Risk Indicators (KRIs) across the organisation.
• Support the alignment of business processes with the Group Financial Crime Risk Framework.
• Enhance the procedures and standards for financial crime risk, to align with regulatory requirements, the Financial Crime Risk Management and Compliance Programme (RMCP), and Financial Crime strategy.
• Manage governance awareness initiatives and internal assurance processes.
• Continuously assess the effectiveness of processes and look for areas of potential efficiencies and business optimisation.
• Support the management of process and procedures documentation and ensure governance standards are maintained.
• Build strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including Risk, Legal, Compliance, Financial Crime, and business communities.
• Research regulatory matters, emerging risks, trends, and compliance management best practices, and report findings to relevant stakeholders.
• Support the development and embedment of risk policies, procedures, and guidance.
• Act as a liaison between the Intelligence & Surveillance Team and key stakeholder, fostering trust and advocating for robust risk management practices. Provide training, guidance, and feedback to stakeholders to reinforce a risk management-focused culture.
• Drive risk management quality assurance initiatives to evaluate the effectiveness of KRIs, policies, systems, and processes related to financial crime surveillance and intelligence. Identify areas for continuous improvement.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to provide valuable insights and recommendations.

Strategy 

• Support the Senior Manager: Risk, Strategy, and Governance in the design, implementation, and enhancement of financial crime intelligence strategies, governance frameworks, and controls that align with regulatory expectations and Financial Crime risk appetite.
• Support the development and implementation of the strategy to identify and manage risks across human resources, systems, data, and processes.
• Support the Senior Manager: Risk, Strategy, and Governance in building a data-driven approach to managing risk, deriving insights, and making data-informed decisions.
• Stay abreast of emerging trends in financial crime, including technological advancements, regulatory changes, and threat landscapes. 
• Support initiatives to incorporate predictive analytics, AI, and other future-focused solutions into the I&S risk management framework.
• Track the RSG Book of work to enable effective management, delivery and prioritisation of tasks.
• Support the expansion of training strategy and capabilities for risk knowledge management and sharing across I&S.

Preferred Education: 

• B-degree/Honours Degree/Advanced Diploma in Internal Audit, Risk Management or Business.

Preferred Experience:

• Minimum of 4 years of experience in a risk management role. Focus on financial crime risk, compliance risk or operational risk is advantageous.
• Exposure to risk governance and control committees
• Experience in dealing with multiple stakeholders
• Information technology and data analysis background advantageous.

Knowledge and Skills:

• Analytical Mindset: Strong analytical and problem-solving skills to assess risks, interpret data, and make informed decisions. Experience in applying data analytics to enhance financial crime risk management.
• Project Management: Strong project management skills, with experience managing complex, cross-functional projects from inception to completion. PMP or similar certification is a plus.
• Technical Proficiency: Familiarity with financial crime detection tools, transaction monitoring systems, and data analytics.
• Future-Focused Compliance Perspective: Visionary understanding of the evolving financial crime landscape, with an interest in integrating innovative tools and methods into compliance practices.
• Risk Identification and Assessment: Ability to identify, analyse, and assess potential risks to the organisation's  objectives.
• Strategy Development: Skill in developing strategies to minimise or mitigate identified risks effectively, optimise business processes through risk management and delivery on team-wide objectives.
• Regulatory Knowledge: Understanding and staying current with relevant laws, regulations, and industry standards to ensure compliance.
• Data Analysis: Proficiency in analysing data to identify patterns, trends, and potential risk factors and draw insights to inform decision making.
• Solution Focused: Capability to address and resolve issues related to risk management, adapting strategies as needed.
• Objectivity, Integrity and Independence: Ability to maintain impartiality and transparency in reporting and communication, operating independently from undue influence, ensuring that risk assessments and recommendations are based solely on factual data and sound analysis.
• Influencing and Communication Skills: Exceptional ability to communicate, influence, and engage stakeholders across all levels, including senior management. Able to advocate effectively to influence approaches to risk management and compliance .
• Strong written and verbal communication: Ability to produce clear, concise, and well-structured reports that are easily understood by diverse audiences, and to effectively articulate complex risk and governance concepts through persuasive and confident speaking skills.
• Effective Communication: Effective communication to convey complex risk information to stakeholders, facilitating informed decision-making.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Develop strong working relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including Risk, Legal, Compliance, Financial Crime, and business units, with the ability to foster collaboration to achieve shared goals.
• Conflict resolution: Ability to navigate conflicts effectively by understanding different perspectives, facilitating open dialogue, and finding mutually beneficial solutions.

Education

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