Specialist Subject Matter Expert IB Ops at Absa Group Limited (Absa)

Job Summary

• CIB Global Markets ARO Team is currently looking for a Markets Specialist Subject Matter Expert. Responsible for working with business functions to identify, investigate and analyse problems faced by Markets / Treasury business/product owners. Based on this analysis the SME needs to propose a solution to fully address the business requirements needed to optimise the business.

The job candidate needs to have knowledge in Markets Products and related systems, including Front Arena and Swift ISO.

Responsibilities include assisting manager to:

• Co-ordinate & monitor ARO Front Arena (AFA) related Strategic Investment change
• Co-ordinate New and Amend Product operation design ensuring efficient trade capture & post trade  processing
• Identify and initiate process efficiency initiatives
• Act as interface between Tech and In Country teams for all AFA change requests
• Prioritise AFA Development in conjunction with business & infrastructure teams
• Work closely with Front Office to provide in country AFA and product support / training

Job Description

Key Accountabilities

• Accountability: Project Establishment Initiation Activities  
• Develop hypotheses to achieve project goals based on the outcomes of the project definition workshop and use these to guide the fact gathering and analysis. 
• Ensure all the business requirements, evaluations and recommendations of possible business solutions, assessments and feasibility analysis are documented, circulated and signed off by the relevant stakeholders and handed over to the PM for use in defining and designing the project. 
• Assist the Business Analyst Lead by providing advice, investigating, estimating and calculating costs, timelines, resources and plans for the composition and approval of the project stage business cases. 
• Facilitate workshops in conjunction with the Business Analyst Lead in order to obtain business user requirements in terms of the proposed end state of the project so that the project is suitably defined, designed and implemented. 

Accountability: Business Requirements Activities 

• Analyse the “as is” “business architectures”, to identify any issues, opportunities, etc. This includes the analysis of all existing products & services, the procedures and business rules, the organisation structures, functions, roles & responsibilities, the business processes & procedures, the IT systems functionalities, performance and measurement metrics. 
• Investigate and perform a business needs analysis, by interviewing the product or business process owners, to determine business requirements and identify possible alternatives and or solutions to achieve these requirements. 
• Perform “root cause” issues analysis with key stakeholders by either conducting interviews or workshop to further evaluate and identify solutions and/or alternatives to meet the business requirements and document all findings to assist with project definition, design and build. 
• Assist the Business Analyst Lead to set up and facilitate workshops with relevant stakeholders to gather, identify and document the project and business owner requirements to be used in the project definition, design and build. 
• Investigate options available, best practices, alternatives etc and obtain up to date information in relation to the project requirements / objectives by referring to internal and external parties to ensure the best solution is considered and identified for the project. 

Accountability: Solution Analysis and Documentation 

• Design the “to be” “business architectures” by using the identified design principles and document the ideas by working through increasing levels of design detail (i.e. conceptual/high level/detailed design levels). 
• Identify and design new and/or improved business process systems and/or procedures to deliver project goals by ensuring that the best solution is considered and identified for the project. 
• Undertake a feasibility and impact analysis of solutions identified (people, process and system infrastructure) with key stakeholders, internal, external and technology staff to further define project requirements for the definition, design and build of the project. 
• Identify IT interfaces and IT integration points to ensure integrated functional specifications, by consulting and workshopping with the IT System Analysis teams, Group Strategy, Enterprise Architect, Vendors, etc) 
• Develop IT-systems functional, non-functional and service level requirements, Business Requirement Definition documents (BRDs), use cases, etc. based on the evaluations, meetings, assessments and requirements analysis undertaken during the earlier stages of the project analysis stages, for use by the PM and project team to design, build, test and implement the project. 
• Develop a functional decomposition of identified requirements through consultation with stakeholders to ensure that the business requirements will be developed and delivered by the project. 

Accountability: Assessment and Validation of Solutions 

• Co-ordinate all user acceptance testing with regard to securing test users, the test location, the relevant access rights and by documenting all results and where required perform User Acceptance Testing (UAT) as undertaken and stipulated by the Absa Group Technology IT methodology. 

Education and Experience Required 

• Relevant tertiary qualification (E.g. Diploma in Business Analysis, B.Com, BSc Comp Science)  
• 3-5 years working experience. 

Preferred/ Advantage 

• Experience in process re-engineering 
• Investment banking product knowledge 

Knowledge & Skills:  

• Business Planning & Design, including a basic understanding of operations, process and IT in a Blue Chip 
• Command of business analysis techniques – including the application of industry-standard methodologies, techniques and use of software 
• Understanding of means of business requirements gathering - including business process re-engineering, input into organisational design, operating models 
• Knowledge of a Bank’s products, services and policies 

Competencies:  

• Delivering results and meeting customer expectations 
• Presenting and communicating information 
• Following instructions and procedures 
• Adhering to principles and values 
• Creating and innovating 
• Analysing 
• Achieving personal work goals and objectives 

Education

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

End Date: November 26, 2025