Specialist Solution Analyst – Commercial Lending Technology

Absa is inviting applications for a Specialist Solution Analyst to join its Commercial Lending Technology team, based within the Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) division in Sandton. This position is central to the bank’s digital evolution, serving as the critical link between complex business requirements and the technical teams responsible for maintaining and enhancing the bank’s commercial lending infrastructure.

As part of a leading African financial institution, you will contribute to the stability and efficiency of high-value lending platforms, ensuring that the bank’s technological capabilities align with its broader commercial objectives.

About the role

This is a multi-faceted position that requires a balance of analytical rigour and technical proficiency. You will be responsible for the full lifecycle of solution delivery, from the initial elicitation of business needs to the final implementation and support of technical systems. By deeply immersing yourself in the bank’s lending products, data flows, and internal processes, you will help identify operational risks, close performance gaps, and drive the adoption of sustainable technology solutions.

The environment is highly collaborative, requiring you to bridge the gap between business stakeholders, internal engineering teams, and external vendors. You will play an active role in managing backlogs, refining user stories, and ensuring that all delivered solutions are robust, well-documented, and aligned with the bank’s operational standards.

• **Requirements Management:** Translate high-level business objectives into precise user stories, functional specifications, and acceptance criteria while maintaining requirement traceability.
• **Stakeholder Engagement:** Facilitate workshops to align business and technical stakeholders, ensuring all parties are clear on project impacts, dependencies, and risk factors.
• **Operational Support:** Take charge of application support by investigating production incidents, performing root cause analysis, and liaising with vendors to resolve service requests.
• **Quality Assurance:** Define and execute test scenarios, manage the user acceptance testing (UAT) process, and validate that solutions meet original requirements before production release.
• **Continuous Improvement:** Maintain and improve knowledge repositories, operational procedures, and best practices to enhance system stability across the lending landscape.

What they're looking for

To be considered for this specialist role, you should possess a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology or a related field, supported by at least five years of experience in business and systems analysis. Given the complexity of the commercial lending domain, specific industry knowledge is essential for the candidate to be successful.

• **Domain Expertise:** Proven experience in Commercial Lending or Commercial Property Finance is mandatory. Familiarity with FIS Commercial Loan Servicing (CLS/ACBS) will be considered a significant advantage.
• **Technical Proficiency:** A solid grasp of system integrations, database structures, and API environments. You should be comfortable using UML and BPMN modelling techniques.
• **Soft Skills:** Advanced stakeholder management and influencing capabilities are vital, as is the ability to communicate complex technical concepts to non-technical business partners.
• **Analytical Ability:** You must demonstrate a highly structured approach to problem-solving, with the capacity to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced banking environment.

For professionals in the South African financial services sector, roles within CIB technology divisions typically offer competitive market-related packages and clear pathways into lead analyst or product management positions. Candidates with deep domain knowledge of specialised lending software like ACBS are highly sought after by major tier-one banks in Johannesburg, making this an ideal role for someone looking to solidify their career within the investment banking technology space.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's Degree in Information Technology or a related field.
• Min 5 years experience in Business Analysis and Systems Analysis.
• Gathering, analysing, and documenting business and system requirements.
• Supporting business-critical applications and resolving production issues.
• Solution design, testing, defect management, and user acceptance testing.
• Working with business stakeholders, technology teams, and third-party vendors.
• Commercial Lending or Commercial Property Finance experience is essential.
• FIS Commercial Loan Servicing (CLS/ACBS) will be advantageous.

Technical Knowledge

• Understanding of system integrations, databases, application interfaces, and related technologies.
• Experience creating user stories, process models, and acceptance criteria.
• Working knowledge of UML and BPMN modelling techniques.

Key Competencies

• Strong business and systems analysis skills.
• Requirements elicitation and process modelling.
• Analytical thinking and structured problem solving.
• Stakeholder management and workshop facilitation.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to translate complex business requirements into practical technology solutions.
• Strong collaboration, relationship-building, and influencing capability.
• High attention to detail and ability to manage competing priorities.

Education

Bachelor's Degree: Information Technology