With over 100 years of rich history and strongly positioned as a local bank with regional and international expertise, a career with our family offers the opportunity to be part of this exciting growth journey, to reset our future and shape our destiny as a proudly African group.
Job Summary
Lead the agile solution design, deployment & ongoing optimization & evolution of less complex enterprise wide technology platforms & delivery systemsJob Description
Role Purpose
The Mainframe Infrastructure Lead is accountable for the end-to-end stability, performance, and evolution of the enterprise mainframe and associated platform services. This role combines deep platform engineering expertise with strong people leadership and strategic execution capability to ensure the mainframe environment remains resilient, cost-effective, compliant, and fit for future business demand.
Key Accountabilities
Own the overall health, availability, performance, and resilience of the mainframe platform and supporting infrastructure.
Lead platform engineering domains including operating system, transaction processing, storage, connectivity, automation, and observability.
Establish and execute platform strategy aligned to enterprise technology and business objectives.
Ensure effective 24x7 operational management, including incident, problem, change, and capacity management.
Drive modernisation, optimisation, and automation initiatives while protecting platform stability.
Ensure governance, risk management, regulatory compliance, and audit readiness across the platform.
Manage budgets, vendor relationships, and commercial outcomes for platform services.
Platform Engineering Scope
BM Z / zOS platform leadership.
Transaction processing and database platforms (IMS and supporting batch environments).
Interface with Mainframe storage, SAN, backup, archive, and data management services.
System integration services.
Network connectivity, automation frameworks, and workload scheduling.
Reliability & Operational Excellence
Ownership of platform availability, performance, and recovery objectives.
Oversight of a 24x7 operations capability and operational tooling ecosystem.
Implementation of proactive monitoring, observability, and automation practices.
Continuous improvement of operational processes using IT service management principles.
Leadership of incident reduction, root cause elimination, and service reliability initiatives.
Strategy & Execution
Define and communicate a clear medium- and long-term platform strategy.
Translate strategy into executable roadmaps with measurable outcomes.
Balance platform modernisation with resilience, risk, and cost efficiency.
Align platform priorities with business growth, regulatory requirements, and customer experience outcomes.
People Leadership
Lead, coach, and develop high-performing engineering and operations teams.
Build strong succession pipelines and capability uplift plans.
Foster an engineering-led culture of ownership, accountability, and continuous learning.
Act as a senior technical leader and escalation authority within the organisation.
Commercial & Stakeholder Management
Own financial planning, budgeting, and cost optimisation for the platform.
Manage strategic vendor and partner relationships.
Engage senior stakeholders across technology and business domains.
Provide clear reporting, metrics, and insights to senior leadership.
Required Experience & Skills
Senior leadership experience within large-scale mainframe or enterprise infrastructure environments.
Deep hands-on expertise in mainframe platform engineering and operations.
Strong understanding of resilience engineering, capacity management, and performance optimisation.
Proven experience leading complex technology teams and operating models.
Experience defining and executing infrastructure or platform strategies.
Strong financial, vendor, and stakeholder management skills.
Leadership Attributes
Engineering-first mindset with strong technical credibility.
Decisive, outcome-focused, and execution-oriented.
Able to operate effectively at both deep technical and executive levels.
Calm under pressure with a strong bias toward operational stability.
Trusted leader who balances innovation with risk management.
Education
Bachelor's Degree: Information TechnologyAbsa Bank Limited is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer. In compliance with the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998, preference will be given to suitable candidates from designated groups whose appointments will contribute towards achievement of equitable demographic representation of our workforce profile and add to the diversity of the Bank.
Absa Bank Limited reserves the right not to make an appointment to the post as advertised
Skills Required
- Senior leadership experience within large-scale mainframe or enterprise infrastructure environments.
- Deep hands-on expertise in mainframe platform engineering and operations (IBM Z / z/OS).
- Experience with transaction processing and database platforms (IMS) and batch environments.
- Experience managing mainframe storage, SAN, backup, archive, and data management services.
- Proven capability in 24x7 operational management including incident, problem, change, and capacity management.
- Strong understanding of resilience engineering, capacity management, and performance optimisation.
- Experience defining and executing infrastructure or platform strategies and roadmaps.
- Proven experience leading complex technology teams and operating models; people leadership and succession planning.
- Strong financial planning, budgeting, vendor and stakeholder management skills.
- Bachelor's Degree in Information Technology.
Absa Group Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Absa Group and has not been reviewed or approved by Absa Group.
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Healthcare Strength — Medical aid, group life, disability, and funeral cover are described as comprehensive, with features such as terminal‑illness advances and beneficiary grocery benefits. Wellness and assistance offerings support overall financial and personal wellbeing.
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Retirement Support — A pension fund and group retirement arrangements are positioned as core benefits within fixed remuneration. Retirement coverage is embedded alongside other protections as part of standard employment.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Employee share‑ownership (eKhaya) and equity‑linked awards broaden wealth‑sharing, with dividends or cash‑equivalent participation in some markets. This provides longer‑term value beyond base pay.
Absa Group Insights
What We Do
Absa Group Limited (Absa) has forged a new way of getting things done, driven by bravery and passion, with the readiness to realise growth on the African continent and beyond. We’re a truly African brand, inspired by the people we serve in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. We also have representative offices in China, Namibia, Nigeria and the United States, as well as securities entities in the United Kingdom and the United States, along with technology support colleagues in the Czech Republic.
