Group Head of Planning

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- 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

The Group Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) team is responsible for managing group-wide integrated planning and management reporting processes to support financial decision-making at both the Group Executive Committee (Exco) and Board levels within the Absa Group. The Head of Planning will serve as a deputy to the Head of FP&A and will assume management responsibility for the Planning team within Group FP&A. The primary objective of this role is to proactively lead the coordination and review of the team's regular deliverables while managing the team itself. This is a pivotal role, providing support to the Group Exco, the broader Finance function, and offering financial planning-related advice and commercial insights.

Planning deliverables are generated within a tightly controlled environment as part of the Group's management reporting function. This position will actively drive efficiency improvements within the Department and actively participate in projects aimed at developing the Finance function as a whole, while also providing support to the Head of Group Financial Decision Support (FDS).

The Planning team's responsibilities encompass:

- Overall financial planning across the Absa Group, including the preparation and review of forecasts, short
- and medium-term budgets that inform the Integrated Plan, and potential restatements or rebasing of the plan as required.
- Preparation of key financial reports, including commentary, for use by the Absa Group Exco and Board.
- Analysis of competitors, market trends, revenues, new products/businesses, and key value drivers.
- Preparation of briefing notes for annual results presentations.
- Ad hoc analysis and research, often related to presentations to the Exco and other senior management.

**Job Description**:
Accountability 1: Lead the Planning team in the preparation, consolidation, and review of their regular deliverables.
- Coordinate with various teams across the Group, including Risk and Treasury, and Business Unit Finance functions to perform complex analyses and prepare senior management and Board-level reports, as well as support external ad hoc requests.
- Support the Head of Group FP&A in developing and maintaining an Integrated Planning framework along with key performance metrics.
- Review the accuracy, completeness, and appropriateness of reporting to support financial decision-making, covering performance trends and providing meaningful insights and independent commentary on emerging themes. Recommend enhancements to existing reporting content/analysis as needed to better inform financial decision-making.
- Support the Head of FP&A in coordinating and controlling systems and processes supporting management reporting.
- Mentor and manage team members (4 direct reports) and collaborate positively with peers to foster a teamwork ethos.

Accountability 2: Lead the team in executing the following deliverables to Exco and other senior management members.
- Project management and analysis of key planning deliverables throughout the year, including RAF, STP, Stress Testing, and Integrated Planning outputs.
- Monthly and quarterly key financial reports on financial performance.
- Competitor analysis.
- Research projects involving gathering financial data and creating insightful, decision-useful analysis and thought pieces.
- Ad hoc projects and presentations.
- Financial scenario analysis and stress testing.
- Consolidation of financial information for senior management.

Accountability 3: RAF and STP review packs.
- Assess the attainability and reasonableness of various strategic plans by comparing them to market expectations, past performance, and management expectations. Utilize key metrics (RoE, RoRWA, CTI, etc.) for evaluation.
- Compile review packs for submission to Exco and other relevant committees, along with necessary commentary to support budget approval.
- Collaborate with other departments such as Treasury, Risk, and Group Tax to ensure the technical aspects of submissions (Risk-weighted assets, Tax, Economic Capital, etc.) are scrutinized and appear reasonable given the Group's economic outlook.

Accountability 4: Ad-hoc requirements/submissions.
- Execute ad-hoc queries on a daily basis, catering to external and internal requirements that vary considerably throughout the year.

Accountability 5: Attend various committee meetings.
- Use your expertise in areas such as margins, impairment trends, or economics to provide valuable contributions in committee meetings, both through discussions and submissions.

Accountability 6: Provide support for interim and year-end reporting (Twice a y