Jobs at Absa Group

The role for Head: Research, Knowledge Management and Training is available in our Finance COO Strategic Program team. The incumbent will play a key role in establishment and implementation of the Environmental and Social Sustainability Framework across the bank.

This activity encompasses the following key areas:

• Facilitating implementation of the environmental and Social Sustainability Framework across the bank;
• Working in collaboration with Group Risk Management for protecting the bank from material environmental and social risks i.e. direct risks (own operations and procurement) and indirect risks (environmental credit, collateral, or reputational risks);
• Recommendation, implementation and integration of environmental and social controls, policies and procedures into various processes in the bank (e.g. prioritization of UN Sustainable Development Goals, Paris Climate Agreements, target setting and related disclosures);
• Provision of specialist input and recommendations on environmental and social aspects of more sensitive or complex nature);
• Engaging with industry associations (e.g. Banking Association of South Africa, United National Environmental Finance Initiative, etc.) and other opinion formers (e.g. lobbying on emergent environmental and social legislation, such as the National Environmental Management Act, Climate Change legislation and best practice, etc) and participation in industry initiatives (e.g. UNEP FI Pilot Groups, BASA peer learning groups, etc.);
• Enhancing the Banks environmental and social credentials and representing the approach and strategy to both internal and external audiences.

Accountability

• Ensure implementation of Principles for Responsible Banking Framework, in accordance with the internationally recognised industry standard requirements, formulating and documenting science based targets, as publicly adopted where applicable;
• Ensure implementation of appropriate Group Sustainability Framework policies throughout various business units and refinements are made to policies on an annual basis;
• Ensure that the annual Sustainability assurance is conducted as required by various internal and external frameworks to close out any findings and implement corrective action timeously;
• Review and assess a variety of sector case referrals to establish the Sustainability (environmental and social considerations and provide specialist input, guidance and clear, concise, commercially aware recommendations to business

Business    Transformation    

• Research, analyse, monitor and interpret developments in the Sustainability arena to understand potential risk, legal, ethical, regulatory and practical implications and develop appropriate response as necessary to ensure best practice for benchmarking and enhancement purposes e.g. development of processes and tools to address key risks in new environmental regulation such as the NEMA: Waste Act, social and labour legislation across various business units and jurisdictions in the bank.
• Proactively identify areas where business would benefit from additional guidance and identify opportunities for positive impact;

Stakeholder  Management  and  Reputational  Enhancement

• Act as an ambassador for Absa, representing the Bank’s position on Sustainability to external audiences, invariably engaging at senior management levels e.g. Banking Association of South Africa and The United Nations’ UNEPFI;
• Absa Group Limited is a member of the United Nations Environmental Programme Finance Initiative. Ensure active participation in working groups;
• Contribute to the content of environmental and social reports for internal or external stakeholders thereby strategically positioning Group Sustainability in the annual integrated report and Group Sustainability report;
• Develop and maintain effective working relationships with colleagues across Absa (e.g. wholesale credit, legal, CRES, Procurement and corporate citizenship) and provide expert guidance and support as appropriate;
• Engage with peer group banks and multi-lateral FIs in the ongoing development and refinement of industry Sustainability standards;
• Maintain dialogue and network with relevant opinion formers, to understand key areas of interest and expectation;

Grow  Talent  and  Capability  

• Provide direction, development and guidance to staff members in Sustainability to help staff to bridge any financial industry, product, environmental and social risk management, internal processes or other knowledge gaps;
• Ensure ongoing performance development to ensure generic personal skills are enhanced for future employability;
• Raise general staff awareness and develop training on Sustainability (environmental & social) and related strategy considerations  through development of learning programs, formal training of staff and various internal learning academies;
• Research, develop and maintaining new tools, techniques and processes to enable business areas and risk teams to place greater reliance on self-analysis.

Drive  Performance

• Manage Sustainability as a commercial business partnership, ensuring minimal incremental or unjustified cost or delay to transactions and processes;
• Quality assure input by environmental specialists to ensure that conclusions and recommendations are commercial, risk and Sustainability focused in alignment to Absa’s strategic objectives;
• Act as the conduit to commissioning and defining the work of consultants, ensuring shared trust and respect, by using a flexible approach to obtain mutual understanding of general Sustainability requirements between the bank and the consultants, in order to minimise potential liabilities and costs within set timescales ;
• Share experience and knowledge and introduce continuous improvements in working practices.

Education and Experience Required

• Business related B Degree in Sustainability / Commerce and/or Environmental and Social Management, or equivalent NQF level 6 qualification or Higher;
• Five (5) years experience in Sustainability (Environmental Risk and Social discipline, preferably in Financial sector;
• Proficient in MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook) and the Internet;
• No criminal record

Knowledge and Skills:

• Ability to recognise and address overall Sustainability (environmental and social risks, implications and impacts:
• Thorough understanding and practical experience of Sustainability management and financial products;
• Extensive understanding of the environmental arena, including legislative (both existing and emergent), social and market developments, regarding environmental
• issues, technical issues, industry issues and the implications of all these
• developments for the bank’s customers, employees, stakeholders and shareholders;
• Membership and active participation in appropriate industry associations and bodies;
• Relevant science degree would be desirable.