Manager: Automation and Digital Enablement

Africa's financial sector is constantly evolving, and Absa is at the forefront of this transformation, seeking individuals eager to contribute to its dynamic growth. With a legacy spanning over a century, Absa is not just a bank but a regional and international force, committed to shaping Africa's future. This commitment extends to fostering an inclusive environment where diverse talent can flourish, aligning with their strong focus on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) principles and Employment Equity objectives.

About the Role

This position is crucial for the Business Banking Risk division, focusing on an innovative approach to modernising risk management. The core mandate is to identify, conceptualise, develop, and integrate automation and digital solutions. The aim is to significantly reduce reliance on manual processes within risk management, thereby enhancing the quality and timeliness of essential management information. Success in this role will be measured by the tangible business value generated through these digital transformations. It's about understanding operational challenges and translating them into scalable digital solutions, unlocking the potential of new and existing data sources, and automating complex workflows and reporting mechanisms. A key aspect involves spearheading the exploration and responsible integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) within the team's operational framework.

The incumbent will be instrumental in driving significant changes to optimise and automate risk management processes. This includes initiatives such as:

• Automating the production and distribution of recurring management information.
• Streamlining data extraction, cleansing, reconciliation, and validation procedures.
• Enhancing risk reporting workflows for greater efficiency and accuracy.
• Automating control monitoring and exception reporting processes.
• Replacing manual data capture, including spreadsheets and offline tracking methods.
• Developing intuitive dashboards and self-service reporting tools.

A vital part of the role involves collaborating closely with Group and Business Banking Data and Analytics Offices. This ensures the team stays informed about emerging data initiatives and can strategically apply them to enhance Business Banking Risk processes. The role acts as a catalyst for innovation, positioning teams to be agile, client-centric, and future-ready within the African financial services landscape. Expected outcomes include reduced manual processing times, optimised workflows, fewer data quality errors, increased reliance on definitive data sources, diminished key-person dependencies, improved auditability, and broader adoption of automated reporting and workflows.

Furthermore, you will collaborate with risk, compliance, data, and technology teams to embed robust and sustainable automation solutions. This includes designing and overseeing digital controls to guarantee accuracy, scalability, and consistency. A key focus will be leveraging authoritative data sources to minimise manual intervention and elevate the quality, reliability, and standardisation of risk management information.

What They're Looking For

As an AI Automation Solution Lead, you will champion the adoption of Generative AI, automation, and predictive analytics to boost performance and agility. This includes embedding and supervising AI, rules-engine, and robotics-driven controls that proactively mitigate risks within core operational processes. A crucial skill will be translating intricate technological concepts into clear business value, leading to improved conversion rates, enhanced engagement, and greater efficiency. Ensuring that all automated solutions are well-documented, controlled, thoroughly tested, and compliant with data aggregation, reporting, data quality, privacy, model risk, and information security requirements is paramount.

The role requires strategic thinking and execution, translating high-level objectives into actionable operational plans with defined deliverables, timelines, and performance metrics. Continuous optimisation of automation frameworks to enhance efficiency, agility, and measurable impact is expected. This involves monitoring progress, identifying potential risks, and implementing corrective actions to ensure successful delivery. Leveraging data and insights to refine processes, inform service design, and drive improvements will be key. The role also entails actively seeking opportunities to strategically harness untapped data sources.

To support sustainable growth, you will implement scalable automation solutions that contribute to long-term efficiency, cost reduction, and commercial expansion across Business Banking. This involves supporting investment decisions through insightful analysis of operational impact and value creation.

Innovation and change management are critical components. You will identify opportunities for innovation and continuous improvement, lead change initiatives ensuring user readiness, engagement, and adoption, and support the implementation of new technologies, processes, and practices. Driving the rollout of AI solutions to replace manual tasks and demonstrating thought leadership in identifying opportunities for transformative change are also expected.

Leadership and capability building involve influencing stakeholders and colleagues, coaching users on adoption, and transferring automation knowledge to process owners to ensure long-term sustainability. Operational effectiveness will be achieved by translating business priorities into operational plans with defined KPIs and scorecards, optimising processes, and resolving operational issues. Promoting digital adoption and supporting digital transformation initiatives are essential. Finally, strong stakeholder management skills are required to build collaborative relationships, align delivery with expectations, and communicate progress effectively.

A postgraduate degree (NQF level 7 or equivalent), such as a BSc in Computer Science, is required.

In South Africa, roles like this often command competitive salaries, reflecting the specialised technical and strategic skills involved in automation and digital transformation within the banking sector. Absa, as a major financial institution, offers significant career development pathways, often encouraging internal mobility and further specialisation. The demand for such expertise is high across large financial services organisations, technology firms, and consultancies operating within the country.

 

Education and experience required.

• Post Graduate Degrees (NQF level 7+) or equivalent:
• BSc Computer Science / BSc Information Technology

• 7 years+ experience in a similar environment, of which the majority has been spent automating processes and managing complex data and platforms.

• Preference for experience in a financial institution or similar.

• Administrative / project management / time management

• Stakeholder management

• Cross-functional collaboration

Core technical skills

• SQL and data querying
• Power BI dashboard development
• Advanced Excel / VBA / Power Query
• Python, R, SAS or similar scripting language (ability to code on widely recognised platforms)
• Data preparation, reconciliation and validation
• Workflow automation and reporting automation

Advantageous skills

• JavaScript
• Generative AI tools
• Robotic process automation
• Experience with banking risk platforms or golden-source data environments

Leadership competencies

• Analytical problem solving;

• Excellent thought leadership

• Delivery discipline;

• Stakeholder collaboration;

• Innovation and continuous improvement;

• Risk and control mindset;

• Business acumen

Education

Bachelor's Degree: Information Technology