Specialist FC Information Management

at  Absa Bank Limited

Empowering Africa’s tomorrow, together…one story at a time.
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 role involves managing, inclusive of planning, directing and coordinating all activities, resulting in effective information management (data management, maintenance, development, etc), as well as the day to day running and continuous improvement of the end to end data management processes by providing alignment to Financial Systems Architecture and support the current and improved business reporting requirements, alignment of available functionality to support the current and improved business reporting requirements, effective Information/data management and application support over the FC Reporting systems, and supporting for the design and implementation phases of new strategic initiatives.
Job Description
Key Accountabilities

Accountability: Ensure solution systems architecture alignment to Finance Architecture

• Provide input into the documentation, formalisation, and validation of, to be concept and design proposals.
• Work with role players (stakeholders, project teams, IT etc.) to be able to provide solutions architecture in line with the strategy.
• As part of the project teams, identify system integration issues and other risks, then actively contribute towards resolving the issues to ensure a successful implementation.
• Perform business impact analysis of new systems and processes thereby proactively identifying potential risks.
• Prepare scoping, impact analysis & resource estimation of proposals
• Delivery of Proof of Concepts supported by solution recommendation
• Prevent unnecessary scope creep on initiatives in conjunction with FC Change Control Forum.
• Identify and define the impact on initiatives, should data quality issues not be prioritised and corrected.
• Contribute to the technical architecture designs, specifically focussing on data volumes and usage requirements, taking the system lifecycle into consideration.

Accountability: Solution design, development and Implementation

• Consult with users on translating new ideas into valid initiative proposals.
• Attend project definition, scoping and planning workshops and provide input into the design process to ensure that strategic or tactical solutions meet the business requirements.
• Demonstrate the ability to produce leading edge and innovative solutions.
• Identify business and high-level technical requirements to ensure that system design address requirements.
• Structuring data via data models and understand the fundamental, descriptive, and associative characteristics of the data, thus the business.
• Profile data i.e. data sources, conversions, data values, ownerships and data-feed timelines.
• Understand the impact of new developments on the logical and physical designs.
• Ensure that functional and integration designs to align with the strategic requirements.
• Develop against specifications in accordance with development procedures and code standards.
• Maintain close relationships with product owner and users during development life cycle using agile principles.
• Review and evaluate test plans as well as the test results.
• Oversee the implementation end-to-end for integrity and quality checking against requirement.
• Monitor post-implementation success and user adoption.

Accountability: Small enhancements and continued process improvement

• Interact and attend meetings and workshops to ensure that the small enhancement initiatives impacts are pro-actively identified so that implementation can be planned and coordinated.
• Evaluate the impact of small enhancements or changes on strategic initiatives.
• Ensure that testing methodologies are followed before the implementation of small enhancements and changes.
• Assess all system, data or recurring process issues and decide how to best prevent the reoccurrence thereof.

Accountability: Meta Data Management

• Ensure maintenance of Meta data not integrated via MDM or system related.
• Ensure that all monthly master and meta data are maintained in a timely manner and related controls are executed as documented.

Accountability: Operational Management

• Perform and co-ordinate all maintenance and operational activities executed in the Financial System to ensure accuracy and completeness.
• Ensure that all monthly master and Meta data are maintained in a timely manner and that related controls are executed as documented.
• Perform all Data Management tasks (Data loads, translations, aggregations, enrichments, Feeder file exports, etc) as per monthly schedules.
• Perform all required data management integrity check processes and controls as well as evidence execution.
• Evaluate systems and processes to identify possible risks, documenting such risks and implement adequate controls to mitigate risks.
• Plan and coordinate activities to proactively identify capacity issues where project implementations coincide with key reporting activities or restatement of prior periods.

Accountability: Stakeholder management

• Build constructive relationships with key role players in order to have a clear understanding of their business needs.
• Understand the impact of the changes and inform business of any risks or impact as a result of changes.
• Developing and implementing solutions for continues stakeholder satisfaction improvement.
• Provide regular and timely feedback to stakeholders.
• Managing the relationship with the appropriate specialist areas to ensure ongoing delivery.
• Resolve stakeholder dissatisfaction / issues.
• Provide direction and input to enable Business Units to manage and resolve issues.

Accountability: Risk management, compliance, and controls

• Own and agree corrective action items with Internal and External Audit for findings related to the functional area under management.
• Participate in the development of the Business Continuity Plan by reviewing and ensuring the critical financial processes are adequately covered and tested.
• Perform proper maintenance of all actions needed for the completion of DEA (Design Effectiveness Assessment) and OET (Operating Effectiveness Testing).

Accountability: Process management

• Execution of processes as designed.
• Constantly review, improve and maintain own activities to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of processes.
• Recommend areas for improvement in order to reduce cycle times, improve productivity, create capacity and improve process reliability and customer satisfaction.
• Assist in the implementation of new and/or enhanced processes.
• Identify activity-specific risks and work with Process Owner / Process Architect to mitigate risks.
• Maintain awareness of own activities and the impact thereof on related / inter-dependent activities.

Role/Person Specification

Preferred Education

• B-degree in IT/Commerce (NQF level no.7)

Preferred Experience

• 5 - 10 year experience in finance banking IT systems.
• 5 – 8 years’ experience as participant within a Systems Development Life Cycle.
• 4 – 8 years’ Knowledge and Experience in Financial Master Data Management.

Knowledge and Skills

• Basic Accounting knowledge.
• Computer literacy.
• Advanced knowledge of Excel.
• Advanced SQL Development skills
• System support and enhancement.
• Exceptional interpersonal & team working ability.
• The ability to work in a pressured and unstructured environment and to cope with the demands of working to tight deadlines.

Technical Competencies

• Advanced SQL Development
• Excel

Behavioural Competencies

• Deciding and initiating action
• Adapting and responding to change
• Persuading and influencing
• Business change accountability

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 advertise

Accountability: Ensure solution systems architecture alignment to Finance Architecture

• Provide input into the documentation, formalisation, and validation of, to be concept and design proposals.
• Work with role players (stakeholders, project teams, IT etc.) to be able to provide solutions architecture in line with the strategy.
• As part of the project teams, identify system integration issues and other risks, then actively contribute towards resolving the issues to ensure a successful implementation.
• Perform business impact analysis of new systems and processes thereby proactively identifying potential risks.
• Prepare scoping, impact analysis & resource estimation of proposals
• Delivery of Proof of Concepts supported by solution recommendation
• Prevent unnecessary scope creep on initiatives in conjunction with FC Change Control Forum.
• Identify and define the impact on initiatives, should data quality issues not be prioritised and corrected.
• Contribute to the technical architecture designs, specifically focussing on data volumes and usage requirements, taking the system lifecycle into consideration

Accountability: Solution design, development and Implementation

• Consult with users on translating new ideas into valid initiative proposals.
• Attend project definition, scoping and planning workshops and provide input into the design process to ensure that strategic or tactical solutions meet the business requirements.
• Demonstrate the ability to produce leading edge and innovative solutions.
• Identify business and high-level technical requirements to ensure that system design address requirements.
• Structuring data via data models and understand the fundamental, descriptive, and associative characteristics of the data, thus the business.
• Profile data i.e. data sources, conversions, data values, ownerships and data-feed timelines.
• Understand the impact of new developments on the logical and physical designs.
• Ensure that functional and integration designs to align with the strategic requirements.
• Develop against specifications in accordance with development procedures and code standards.
• Maintain close relationships with product owner and users during development life cycle using agile principles.
• Review and evaluate test plans as well as the test results.
• Oversee the implementation end-to-end for integrity and quality checking against requirement.
• Monitor post-implementation success and user adoption

Accountability: Small enhancements and continued process improvement

• Interact and attend meetings and workshops to ensure that the small enhancement initiatives impacts are pro-actively identified so that implementation can be planned and coordinated.
• Evaluate the impact of small enhancements or changes on strategic initiatives.
• Ensure that testing methodologies are followed before the implementation of small enhancements and changes.
• Assess all system, data or recurring process issues and decide how to best prevent the reoccurrence thereof

Accountability: Meta Data Management

• Ensure maintenance of Meta data not integrated via MDM or system related.
• Ensure that all monthly master and meta data are maintained in a timely manner and related controls are executed as documented

Accountability: Operational Management

• Perform and co-ordinate all maintenance and operational activities executed in the Financial System to ensure accuracy and completeness.
• Ensure that all monthly master and Meta data are maintained in a timely manner and that related controls are executed as documented.
• Perform all Data Management tasks (Data loads, translations, aggregations, enrichments, Feeder file exports, etc) as per monthly schedules.
• Perform all required data management integrity check processes and controls as well as evidence execution.
• Evaluate systems and processes to identify possible risks, documenting such risks and implement adequate controls to mitigate risks.
• Plan and coordinate activities to proactively identify capacity issues where project implementations coincide with key reporting activities or restatement of prior periods

Accountability: Stakeholder management

• Build constructive relationships with key role players in order to have a clear understanding of their business needs.
• Understand the impact of the changes and inform business of any risks or impact as a result of changes.
• Developing and implementing solutions for continues stakeholder satisfaction improvement.
• Provide regular and timely feedback to stakeholders.
• Managing the relationship with the appropriate specialist areas to ensure ongoing delivery.
• Resolve stakeholder dissatisfaction / issues.
• Provide direction and input to enable Business Units to manage and resolve issues

Accountability: Risk management, compliance, and controls

• Own and agree corrective action items with Internal and External Audit for findings related to the functional area under management.
• Participate in the development of the Business Continuity Plan by reviewing and ensuring the critical financial processes are adequately covered and tested.
• Perform proper maintenance of all actions needed for the completion of DEA (Design Effectiveness Assessment) and OET (Operating Effectiveness Testing)

Accountability: Process management

• Execution of processes as designed.
• Constantly review, improve and maintain own activities to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of processes.
• Recommend areas for improvement in order to reduce cycle times, improve productivity, create capacity and improve process reliability and customer satisfaction.
• Assist in the implementation of new and/or enhanced processes.
• Identify activity-specific risks and work with Process Owner / Process Architect to mitigate risks.
• Maintain awareness of own activities and the impact thereof on related / inter-dependent activities