Head, Operations

Standard Bank Group is the largest African banking group by assets offering a full range of banking and related financial services.

“Africa is our home, we drive her growth”

Our vision is to be the leading financial services organisation in, for and across Africa, delivering exceptional client experiences and superior value. This sets the primary goals and standard of excellence we intend to achieve in the medium term. With a heritage of over 150 years, we have an on-the-ground presence in 20 countries in sub‑Saharan Africa; fit-for-purpose representation outside Africa; and a strategic partnership with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC).

In line with the realities of risk, regulation, technology and competition that characterise our operating context, we continue to invest significantly in our diversified operations; our people and culture; our systems and infrastructure; and our brand. In doing so, we understand that our commercial success and social relevance over the long term depends on placing our clients at the centre of everything we do, and ensures that the outcomes of our activities are a catalyst for growth on this continent we call home.

The long-term foreign currency ratings for The Standard Bank of South Africa, the single largest operating entity within the Standard Bank Group, are: Fitch Ratings BBB- (negative), Moody’s Baa2 (negative) and Standard & Poor’s BBB- (negative).

The group is listed on the JSE Limited, share code SBK, and the Namibian Stock Exchange, share code SNB. The largest bank in the world, ICBC, is a 20.1% shareholder in the group. Other than the 20.1% ICBC shareholding, 32.9% of Standard Bank’s shareholder base is foreign.

We subscribe to the Code of Banking Practice, a set of principles governing banking in South Africa and ensuring the highest standards of professionalism, integrity and fairness.Job Purpose 

To drive the strategy and lead the Operations functions which provide administrative client support by ensuring the accuracy of all processes and transactions for the Bank, in thecountry, to ensure risk is governed, controlled and effectively managed to minimise risk to clients and the Bank. Embed a culture of continuous improvement, with a focus on process automation and client centricity at all times.

Job Functions 

Act as a technical point of reference and escalation point at a senior level for all work undertaken in the Country Operations teams.
Adopt a Sponsor or Business user role for all appropriate projects within the country/region, supporting the delivery of tactical and strategic change within the Bank.
Collaborate with the individuals or teams focusing on promoting technical development that spans all areas of Operations through development programmes, knowledge sharing and coaching.
Demonstrate effective and strong Leadership in managing the operations across specific Country, and maintain effective stakeholder relationships and engagement.
Design and resource the function appropriately to enable effective delivery of its services and the achievement of these key objectives, and that all stakeholders are fully involved, engaged and aligned with the Operations strategy.
Develop and maintain stakeholder relationships within Operations as well as with the broader business to seek synergies and/or efficiencies, ensure alignment with respect to internal services provided, and obtain feedback on service levels to ensure an effective and efficient service is provided.
Develop transferable skills within the team to support the strategic initiative.
Devise and execute the Operations strategic goals for the Countryoperations business ensuring that objectives set are aligned to not only the strategy of the countrybut also broader strategy of Standard Bank Group.
Drive the Operations function and ensure that it is effectively resourced to deliver on agreed upon service level agreements (SLA) and within the operational budget.
Encourage and promote business changes positively across the respective teams involved in the change and innovation process, to promote understanding, acceptance and positive adoption.
Identify, execute and implement initiatives related to continuous improvement, change and the automation of the operations functions, in order to drive down cost, decrease overall risk and improve the service to clients in line with best practice and the digitisation aspirations for the Country.
Identify, plan, and act as the project sponsor where required for the implementation of continuous improvement and innovation initiatives across all teams within Operations.
Incorporate latest developments into daily work practices and decision-making to improve the effectiveness and the efficiency of the function.
Keep abreast of industry best practice and latest developments, changes of relevant laws and regulations and their implications for the Bank.
Lead specialist operations teams.
Maintain ownership of relevant vendor relationships ensuring compliance to set service level agreements held between the Bank and its vendors, by monitoring and evaluating services and outputs based on the agreement.
Manage and engage all line managers in accordance with the Banks values and the relevant policies, procedures and tools to ensure that the line managers achieve their respective performance targets, are appropriately developed and engaged.
Participate in in applicable management and steering committee’s as required to provide insights and perspective.
Participate in project Steering committees and working groups to provide input from an Operations perspective to drive the progress and trajectory of the project.
Provide input into decision-making to effectively manage the Bank in the country.
Resolve all critical matters escalated within the Operations function to ensure risk is managed for both clients and the Bank.
Set and manage the operational expenditure for the Operations function applying sound financial planning, management, control and reporting, in relation to budgets and associated costs to ensure that function is appropriately resourced and equipped to deliver on its mandate.
Set key performance indicators, aligned to set objectives, for the various teams and well as roles across the Operations function and ensure the continuous monitoring and reporting with respect to those indicators.
Supervise the delivery of all appropriate communications and training to ensure Operations teams and appropriate stakeholders are fully engaged and ready for upcoming change.

QUALIFICATIONS
Minimum Qualifications

Type of Qualification: First Degree
Field of Study: Business Commerce

Experience Required

Offshore Operations
Operations
1-2 years
A thorough and sound knowledge and understanding of the US Ql tax regime together with knowledge of FATCA & CRS, and other specialist operations business offerings.
3-4 years
Gained experience in risk governance and experience in deploying Lean processes and tools within operations
8-10 years
Gained experience within an Investment Banking operations role, preferably across a variety of teams including Treasury ops & client onboarding. General front office experience. 3-4 years knowledge and application of tools and methods to monitor the effective delivery of suppliers and to gain maximum value from supplier services, along with relationship management experience.
Total years of experience is 15. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Behavioral Competencies:

Articulating Information
Challenging Ideas
Convincing People
Developing Strategies
Directing People
Embracing Change
Empowering Individuals
Interacting with People
Providing Insights
Taking Action
Team Working
Upholding Standards

Technical Competencies:

Business Intelligence
Client Relationship Management
Continuous Improvement
Creative Problem Solving
Operations Commercial Acumen
Operations Risk Management

Source ⇲