Job Description

Bring your possibility to life! Define your career with us

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 This Head of Compliance role is instrumental in safeguarding Absaxe2x80x99s reputation and ensuring its operations remain in strict adherence to regulatory standards. This is a senior leadership position responsible for developing, implementing, and overseeing the organization's compliance framework to mitigate risks, maintain regulatory compliance, and safeguard the firm's reputation.
The individual in this role is expected to provide strategic leadership in compliance matters, navigate complex regulatory landscapes, and proactively address emerging compliance challenges.
Ensure the firm complies with all relevant laws, regulations, and industry standards, and proactively identify and address potential compliance issues. Provide complex advice and support in the positioning of risk and compliance operating models and frameworks in a broadly defined group functional strategy; enabling operating model, strategy and value chain formulation and alignment.



The key specific accountabilities of this role would be the following:

• Business Enablement: Ensure accurate and timely compliance and regulatory guidance and support in respect of regulatory requirements, always considering the potential alternatives within the rules and regulations applicable, endeavouring to find solutions to ensure lawfulness and compliance as well as the continuation of business
• Manage risk: Perform risk assessments and make risk recommendations to business and drive a satisfactory functional Risk and Control Assessment (RCA).

• Play a pro-active and leading role in driving external and industry wide impact to manage and mitigate compliance risk xe2x80x93 this includes BASA, PASA etc
• Build and grow strong external relationships and engagements Regulators particularly NCR and FSCA and continue pro-active stakeholder engagement and involvement on a business, regulator, and industry level.
• Stay abreast of evolving regulatory requirements and drive necessary changes in policies and procedures to address new obligations.

Advisory Services

• Provide expert guidance and advice to various business units and senior management on compliance-related matters, including new product launches and strategic initiatives.
• Manage new regulatory requirements by evaluating regulations (local and international) identified as relevant to the business and provide an impact analysis relevant to the business. Address impacts, including policy amendments, business notifications and provision of training.
• Implement training programs to enhance compliance awareness and knowledge among employees, fostering a culture of compliance throughout the organization.

Monitoring and Reporting

• Establish monitoring and reporting mechanisms to track compliance with regulatory requirements and internal policies, promptly reporting any breaches or issues to senior management and regulatory bodies.
• Be the accountable key regulatory risk owner for the business Perform on-going monitoring of the business through stakeholder engagement, compilation and assessment of management information, and tracking and analysis of material issues.
• Maintain detailed regulatory risk assessments for the business, identifying all regulations and assessing the regulatory risk.
• Maintain and assess regulatory risk MI for the business. Perform effective monthly verification testing on key regulatory risks of the business. Review and provide input on the Compliance Risk Review coverage for the business.
• Review the coverage plan, the scope of each review, and conclusions and final report of each review. Assess the overall testing coverage on regulatory risk for the business and address deficiencies.

Stakeholder management and leadership

• Lead a Compliance function which takes accountability for the regulatory and reputational risks within accountable area.
• Develop, motivate and manage people by recognizing performance, providing appropriate interventions and opportunities, and addresssing poor performance.
• Ensure effective performance management, development and succession planning.
• Inspire and promote high performance in individuals and in the function. Act as a mentor and role model and drive proactive application of the Values throughout the team including establishment of common goals and objectives.
• Equip team to deliver based on a high performance culture and provide strategic direction to the team in line with the strategic direction of the Group.
• Support CCO through developing and executing the EB Compliance and Functional strategy, contributing to departmental recruitment and identifying and remediating departmental issues.

Decision making and problem solving

• The role holder must therefore be innovative and forward thinking in their approach by keeping up to date with the latest technologies across industry and the evolving regulatory landscape;
• Through understanding the changing regulatory landscape, applying those changes in Absa yet mindful of impact of decisions on customers, business relationships and SA and ARO economies; with cognisance to the greater globe;
• Able to understand the issue in context by taking a holistic view an able to analyse and recommend steps;
• Challenging existing processes and capabilities by designing new ways of working; and
• Exploring opportunities for improving existing capabilities through intuitive use of new analytic based approaches.

Risk and Control

• Conduct comprehensive compliance risk assessments, including monitoring and reporting on emerging regulatory trends and potential risks.
• Support the development and updating of compliance policies, procedures, and guidelines to reflect changing regulations and industry best practices.
• All Absa colleagues have to 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.

Regulatory and global trends

• Monitor, track and create awareness of changing regulatory trends regionally and globally.
• Maintain a good working relationship with the relevant regulatory bodies
• Represent Absa, where necessary, on regulatory and industry body platforms (such as BASA)

Liaison across Compliance Function

• Play a lead role in driving learnings and transfer of knowledge/ actions to teams within team to ensure an increase risk mitigation and management
• Maintain strong working relationships with colleagues across the function to ensure greater efficiencies in the way we work and minimise duplication in efforts

People Management

• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to influence and collaborate effectively at all organizational levels.
• Continuous learning and adaptability to stay current with evolving compliance requirements and industry trends
• Drive the building of fit xe2x80x93 for xe2x80x93purpose capacity for compliance to meet customer needs
• Play a leadership role and end to end people management function to a team of people senior and junior team members and lead by example; appreciate the importance of providing guidance, coaching and training to others
• Oversight and accountability for outputs from the team and the communication of these to stakeholders and embrace change and open to adaptation in ways of working to enable improved employee experience and engagement

Education and Experience Required

• At least 10 years experience in the Compliance advisory and management
• Experience in Compliance Management within a Financial Institution with a track record of progressive leadership responsibilities.
• Relevant B-degree in Law, Finance, Business or Risk Management.
• 5 xe2x80x93 8 years experience in a senior management position
• Excellent written communication skills and very strong report writing skills
• Strong inter-personal skills and ability to articulate messages

Preferred

• Extensive experience in compliance roles within the financial services industry,
• Strong knowledge of financial products and services, as well as the regulatory environment pertaining to retail banking .
• Proficiency in compliance management systems and software.

Knowledge & Skills:

• Ability to distil complex issues to clear and concise briefings for senior management;
• Ability to build and sustain a high performing team;
• Strong leadership skills xe2x80x93 ability to encourage, engage, and empower;
• Excellent negotiating and interpersonal skills;
• Ability to navigate in a complex organization and work within a matrix structure.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience in managing culturally diverse teams in different geographic locations;

Competencies:

• Deciding and initiating action
• Learning and researching
• Entrepreneurial and commercial thinking
• Relating and networking
• Adapting and responding to change
• Persuading and influencing
• Creating and innovating

Education

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

Absa 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

Absa