Head – Digital Transformation

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Job Summary

• Lead the bank’s digital transformation strategy, driving innovation, digital adoption, and process optimization.
• Collaborate with business units and internal teams to translate strategic goals into digital solutions that enhance customer experience and operational efficiency.
• Oversee the end-to-end digital transformation roadmap, including solution architecture, execution, and benefits realization.
• Ensure seamless integration of technology with business objectives, leveraging agile methodologies for rapid prototyping, MVP development, and efficient project rollouts.
• Drive a customer-centric digital culture, enhancing self-service capabilities, reducing turnaround time, and improving cost efficiency.
• Uphold governance, risk management, and compliance standards, ensuring regulatory adherence and secure digital solutions.
• Lead cross-functional teams, providing strategic direction, coaching, and fostering a high-performance culture.
• Manage change effectively, ensuring digital initiatives are continuously refined to stay relevant in a competitive landscape.

Job Description

Managing Digital Banking Services

• Work closely with BUs, internal teams to understand goals, challenges, requirements and needs and drive digital transformation of these goals and requirements
• Critical evaluation of business ideas from a customer and a commercial point of view
• Responsible for facilitating the clear articulation of the end to end customer proposition, supporting the development of a detailed cost and benefits case and collaborating with relevant  Business Teams to formulate Business Requirement Documentation
• Develop the solution architecture with vendors / Absa Regional Office to meet the business needs
• Lead strategic projects from planning to execution and benefits realization with delivery timelines, budget and infrastructure requirements
• Ensure Leadership teams across the bank remain informed of Digital initiatives, and have opportunity to co-craft the direction and strategy
• Identify opportunities and trends to assist the Head of Digital Transformation in strategic direction and decision making for the unit
• Monitor local and international digital market trends to quickly identify prototype opportunities
• Employ best practice and the latest methodology (lean start-up, agile, scrum, developers) to rapidly prototype, create MVP and faster project roll-outs

Strategy, Development & Implementation

• Support in the development and lead the delivery of digital strategy and roadmap for Digital Transformation

• Establish project teams, co-ordinate staff engaged in project work and provide leadership, vision, coaching & direction to team members
• Ensure that deliverables, objectives and outcomes of the project(s) are achieved as specified, within timescales, to budget and agreed quality standards
• Lead project meetings and facilitate workshops as required, producing & presenting written and oral reports/management information to Senior Management and other groups as appropriate
• Identify, document, analyse and, if required, challenge internal & external customer requirements, ensuring the project meets business needs / strategic aims
• Liaise with specialist areas to ensure that they complete specification requirements for their area of accountability and identify / secure resources and expertise as required to deliver the project (including management of third party suppliers as appropriate)
• Undertake detailed project planning & documentation (defining project deliverables, success criteria, benefits management, dependencies, change control, risk management) including escalating risks & issues as required.
• Closely monitor project progress, performance and quality, including evaluation and benefits realisation
• Trouble-shooting & problem-solving, including analysis of the problem & exploration of resolution options.
• Offering specialist advice on steps necessary for project recovery establishment of project ‘recovery’ team(s) in order to bring activity back-on track and ensure a successful outcome

Colleague (Leadership and People)

• Work with colleagues in the team to achieve excellent business results through a shared purpose, continuous people development and mentoring activities.
• Build strong and productive working relationships with business and senior stakeholders to manage objections
• Seek approvals efficiently across the range of product, channel, legal, compliance and risk stakeholders
• Responsible for closing down debate on requirements scope and detail in order to keep the delivery on track
• Develop a deep sense of ownership and drive a high performance culture that ensures individual and team accountability across levels
• Instil motivation in the entire team that will lead into superior performance and the achievement of unified business success through each other.
• Discuss the expected business objectives and challenging performance with all direct reports and provide continuous feedback/coaching.
• Understand and educate the team about the strategic direction of Absa and ensure its alignment to customer demands, international industry standards with a competitive advantage.
• Champion the required cultural change in the business and emphasise appropriate ways of working with
• Uphold and create excitement about the Digital Transformation vision and emphasise respect for values and further alignment of individuals actions, practices and processes and its impact on our team and Customers

Customer Experience

• Facilitate a customer obsession culture within and across teams for the long term success of the brand and continuous business growth
• Deliver effective customer experience in the Digital Channels environment to enable customer acquisition, retention and cross selling
• Ensure regular and proactive communication with the Digital Channel teams on all initiatives, plans and practices
• Create Self Service and convenient channels for the customers to ease the banking experience, reduce TAT and cost to serve
• Provide insights, key learning’s and digital behavioural trends to relevant stakeholders on digital projects

Control and Governance

• Ensure that all activities and duties are carried out in full compliance with regulatory requirements, Enterprise Wide Risk Management Framework and internal Absa Policies and Policy Standards. Understand and manage risks and risk events (incidents) relevant to the role.
• On a monthly basis review all reported incidents or risk events together with supporting investigating documents. Identify high-risk areas and create mechanisms to address risks in future.
• Ensure that adequate controls are in place and drive a culture of proactive compliance in the function.
• Determine action plans to effectively reduce and manage risk issues related to Absa Internal Audit findings, Management Assurance findings, Compliance issues, SOX requirements and operational risk.
• Seek clearances from various stakeholders including compliance, legal, risk, IT etc. on proposed solution and adhere to the organisation’s NAPA process for project / product roll-outs
• Ensure bug free release to the production environment including application security, penetration testing and load testing standards of the Bank

Change Management

• Review periodically existing business processes and digital projects to check if they are meeting the desired objective and are relevant in the current competitive scenario
• Create a change management program and ensure any changes go through within the approved process with the control and governance processes.
• Ensure bug free release to the production environment with necessary roll-back plan for every change

Role / Person
Specification    
Education and Experience Required

• MBA or relevant Masters level Degree 
• Atleast 5 years’ experience in Financial Services industry 
• Passionate and committed to over-coming internal barriers to disruptive innovation.

Knowledge & Skills: (Maximum of 6)

• Makes prompt clear decisions (Advanced)
• Takes responsibility for actions, projects & people (Advanced)
• Takes initiative, act confidently, works independently (Expert)
• Initiates and generates activity (Expert)
• Identifies development strategies (Advanced)
• Keeps up to date with competitor info (Advanced)
• Relevant business and technology knowledge (Advanced)
• Displays leadership(Advanced)
• Demonstrates integrity (Advanced)required

Competencies: (Maximum of 8 competencies)

• Deciding and initiating action
• Adapting and responding to change
• Entrepreneurial and commercial thinking
• Relating and networking
• Persuading and influencing
• Creating and innovating
• Working with people
• Contract negotiation
   

Education

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