Chief Risk Officer Group Functions

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

The incumbent is a member of the Group Risk Executive Committee and reports to the Absa Group Chief Risk Officer. They are accountable for risk oversight across AGL’s Group Functions in South Africa—including People, GFDF, GMCA, Control Functions—and Risk Operations.

They serve on the Executive Committees of relevant Functions, providing risk opinions, monitoring activities, and ensuring adherence to risk limits, in line with the second line of defense under the Enterprise Risk Management Framework (ERMF).

Key responsibilities include guiding functional strategies, operating models, and people planning, while managing all ERMF-related risks across Group Functions. The role leads Group-wide oversight of People Risk, Financial Reporting Risk, Tax Risk, Third Party Risk, Legal Risk, and Physical Assets Risk.

Additionally, the incumbent develops integrated risk operating models and frameworks and oversees Risk Operations support services including strategy, business management, technology, and culture initiatives.

Job Description

Accountability: Risk Management
- Actively challenge and contribute to the Functional strategies and risk shape/profile in the context of the regulatory and/or macro-economic environment
- Determine the overall Risk Appetite and risk strategy and propose the same for approval to the respective committees
- Allocate and monitor the Enterprise wide Risk Profile in liaison with each Function’s ME ensuring alignment with their approved strategy and ensure it is consistent with the overall approved Group Risk Appetite
- Manage and monitor the Enterprise wide Risk profile and ensure it is appropriate, well understood and controlled by all stakeholders
- Identify risks, report on risks at ERC and Board, manage and monitor risks (implement appropriate Key Risk indicators)
- Ensure appropriate policies developed on People Risk, Financial Reporting Risk, Tax Risk, Third Party Risk, Legal Risk, Physical Assets Risk working through the BU (function) ME and Head Operational and Resilience Risk
- Outline and implement an effective governance framework for all risks in line with regulatory requirements
- Ensure implementation of Operational Risk Management framework and systems
- Ensure knowledge and compliance with Regulatory requirements for Operational risk and with all other relevant laws and legislation pertaining to the Group Functions
- Fulfil all duties and responsibilities as defined in the King Report on Corporate Governance
- Ensure that risk management activities are robust, thorough and complete and that risk capabilities in each Function are developed and commensurate with risks inherent and strategy/plans
- Establish appropriate systems and controls including assurance to identify, assess, measure, report, control and manage key risks. Ensure timely escalation of risk issues to enable effective mitigation
- Develop and maintain applicable risk standards and oversee risk and control in Critical Processes and Management Control Approach (MCA)
- Implement a combined assurance strategy for the Group Functions.
- Report to the Group Chief Risk Officer, and the various Functions’ Executive Committees (Function ExCo’s) and relevant committees, regulators and other stakeholders on the business area’s risk positions, adherence to Risk Appetite and control environment.
- Ensure the timely response and remediation of regulatory issues
- Implement Risk Measurement models and methodologies ensuring practices are in line with regulatory and accounting principles and standards
- Monitor and check and challenge the risk profiles of the Businesses / Group Functions
- Conduct control assurance focusing on 1LoD conformance testing and sample testing
- Influence behaviour to reduce risk and foster a strong risk management culture throughout the Group Functions
- Provide risk awareness training

Accountability: Frameworks, Controls and Processes
- All Principal and Key Risks, as defined in the Enterprise Risk Management Framework, to be proactively identified, assessed, controlled, reported, managed and challenged on a normal and stressed scenario basis.
- Champions an appropriate operational risk management and control culture across the Group functions.
- The design or operation of processes and controls are to be performed by or in conjunction with Group Functions’ Managing Executives or other stakeholders, with the Group Functions’ CRO to retain accountability for the effectiveness, oversight and outcomes thereof.
- Ensures a continuing business drive to maintain a satisfactory management control approach and control environment that addresses all