Head of Combined Assurance: Personal and Private Banking

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

In charge of a pro-active and comprehensive combined assurance agenda across all lines of defence, spanning the entire Personal and Private Banking. This includes transforming the function to a future-fit capability. Furthermore, accountable for the conformance testing agenda in Personal and Private Banking.

Job Description

JOB OVERVIEW

In charge of a pro-active and comprehensive combined assurance agenda across all lines of defence, spanning the entire Personal and Private Banking. This includes transforming the function to a future-fit capability. Furthermore, accountable for the conformance testing agenda in Personal and Private Banking.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Strategy and Governance: (10%)
- Set the Personal and Private Banking strategy and framework for combined assurance.
- Lead the combined assurance agenda for the Personal and Private Banking business unit.
- Monitor execution and delivery in line with the combined assurance strategy and ensure appropriate turnaround of delays and deviations.
- Establish, manage, and optimise an effective senior Combined Assurance Forum for the Personal and Private Banking business area, including the definition of an appropriate terms of reference and identification and selection of committee members.
- On a periodic basis, chair and shape the agenda of the Combined Assurance Forum for Personal and Private Banking, where the current status of the plan is discussed in the context of the combined assurance focus areas. Facilitate a discussion on any proposed changes to the plan and cover the results of assurance activity and the impact of this on the risk profile, including the articulation of any emerging risks.
- Drive conformance to the Combined Assurance Policy, Assurance Standard, and any related assurance methodologies as defined by Absa Group Limited.
- Proactively manage requirements and priorities of all stakeholders to deliver on the combined assurance priorities.
- Embed a positive risk and control culture across Personal and Private Banking.

Strategic Transformation of Combined Assurance: (15%)
- Strategically lead the transformation of the combined assurance function across all assurance providers and lines of defence in Personal and Private Banking. Through a consultation process and subsequent, measured, and deliberate effort:

- Shape assurance activity to ensure more coverage, with less intrusive audit procedures, e.g., testing of algorithms, continuous monitoring, indicators, etc.
- Design a combined assurance ecosystem where quick decisions are made to change direction if the underlying factors require changes to the plan.
- Work with Group teams and drive automation of combined assurance execution and management.
- Drive the automation of controls assurance across Personal and Private Banking in line with Absa processes, frameworks, policies, and standards, as well as industry best-practice approaches to ensure that outcomes of automated assurance can be relied upon by all assurance providers.
- Continuously stay abreast of industry developments and learning on the topic of combined assurance and shape the Personal and Private Banking agenda and capability as appropriate.
- Assess Personal and Private Banking capability and design a plan to respond where opportunities to improve are identified.

Combined Assurance Planning, Execution and Monitoring: (40%)
- Drive the definition a comprehensive combined assurance plan for Personal and Private Banking by consulting with all assurance providers across the three lines of defence.
- Map the plan to strategic objectives and key processes to ensure coverage of material risks and key controls in Personal and Private Banking.
- Ensure that the plan covers material focus areas, including:

- Controls relating to material inherent risks as per Risk and Control Assessments (RCAs) identified across the value chain.
- Inherently material risk types.
- Regulatory and compliance landscape.
- Material change projects which require assurance.
- Risk reduction plans (including remediation of risk events or material issues).
- Results of previous assurance.
- Policy conformance testing.
- Emerging risks.
- Shape assurance activity to ensure appropriate sequence of testing across the lines of defence, led by first line.
- Shape assurance activity to avoid duplication and avoid saturation of audit activities in areas in the business unit at any point in time.
- Shape the assurance plan to one which assigns the activities to the most appropriate assurance provider, internal or external.
- Consider the use of less intrusive assurance techniques to replace traditional