Senior Project Manager

Job DescriptionThis role demands exceptional presentation and communication capabilities, with a proven ability to translate data and insights into compelling narratives that inform strategic decision-making across the FirstRand Group. The incumbent must demonstrate confidence and clarity in verbal presentations, effectively engaging stakeholders at all levels.
Operating within FirstRand's owner-manager culture, the Senior Project Manager is expected to exercise independent judgment, take full ownership of delivery outcomes, and proactively address challenges with minimal supervision. Critical thinking, analytical rigour, and a solution-oriented mindset are essential to navigate complex issues and drive innovation

Roles and Responsibilities:

• Lead the end-to-end execution of Visa and Mastercard-based implementation initiatives across core retail, commercial, and corporate banking segments within transactional banking environments.
• Develop and manage comprehensive project delivery plans, ensuring execution within defined scope, budget, quality standards, and timelines.
• Oversee risk identification, mitigation strategies, issue resolution, and change control processes throughout the project lifecycle.
• Coordinate and align cross-functional teams, including business stakeholders, technical leads, external vendors, and subject matter experts, to ensure cohesive delivery.
• Govern project oversight through structured steering committees, formal governance frameworks, and client-facing progress reporting mechanisms.
• Direct requirements elicitation, gap analysis, and solution design activities to ensure alignment with strategic business objectives.
• Knowledge of merchant onboarding workflows, KYC requirements, and terminal provisioning.
• Ensure seamless integration with existing systems, adherence to regulatory and compliance requirements, and implementation of industry best practices.
• Provide mentorship and leadership to junior project team members, serving as a subject matter expert in core banking transformation.
• Influence senior management and key stakeholder groups to secure alignment, support, and strategic decision-making.
• Demonstrate the ability to identify risks, opportunities, and challenges, and recommend actionable, data-driven solutions.
• Resolve complex delivery challenges independently, operating effectively within an owner-manager culture.
• Utilize advanced proficiency in project and task management tools such as MS Project, JIRA, Confluence, Asana, Go2PPO, ClickUp, and Trello to manage execution and reporting.
• Apply strong financial acumen to interpret business and financial metrics, enabling the identification of strategic insights and value drivers.
• Leverage critical thinking and analytical capabilities to diagnose root causes and formulate innovative, sustainable solutions.
• Facilitate strategic discussions that drive improved decision-making and enhance organizational performance.

Required Skills & Experience:

• 8-10 years significant experience required in the end-to end management of large-scale strategic (and tactical) projects through the leadership and coordination of a large project team.
• 5+ years of overall IT SDLC and BDLC delivery experience with 8+ years in project management roles.
• Proven ability to work with diverse stakeholders in a local and international payments integration environments.
• Experience in a Portfolio Management Office (PfMO), Program Management Office (PgMO), or Project Management Office (PMO) that involves overseeing and coordinating multiple cross-functional projects that often have interdependencies.
• Experience in delivery of multi-product and multi-country banking capability rollouts and merchant growth take-Ons.
• Support for yearly planning activities that involves assisting in the development and execution of strategic plans that align with the organization's goals.
• Support the scoping, design, execution of the processes and key initiatives to run, growth, protect the business and the organization.
• Support annual and ad hoc planning processes within the department, by working closely with each business unit department and collaborate with Technology, Operations, Finance & FP&A for a budget definition, prioritization and resource allocation.
• Implement the measurement, reporting and analysis of PMO Scorecard Performance (vs. KPIs), creating and automating reporting and performing analysis where possible.
• Have a firm understanding of commercial banking and a good payment card issuer and acquirer financial fee structure understanding, independently use quantitative and qualitative data to drive card acquiring services decision making logic and procedures within context of effective project delivery.
• Deep understanding of EMV transaction flow for (but not limited to) card authentication, risk management, cardholder verification, and authorization.
• Experience in managing merchant servicing, dispute resolution, and chargeback processes.

Industry Knowledge:

• At least 10 years' experience in project or programme management in the financial services sector, with at least one full-cycle project involving a banking license application or major regulatory transformation in South Africa.
• Demonstrated ability to work with executive stakeholders, boards, and business unit departments
• Demonstrated experience in Commercial and Corporate banking processes, products, solutions and operations.
• Solid background in commercial banking and Four-Party Model consultancy engagement, preferably with top-tier card acquiring consulting or system integration firms.
• Strong understanding of core and commercial banking regulations, industry compliance standards, and applied mandates best practices.
• Solid background maintaining high standards of data accuracy, compliance, and operational integrity.
• Understanding of EMVCo specifications for chip-based card transactions.
• Knowledge of PCI DSS, PA-DSS, and other security standards relevant to EMV acquiring.

Expected Education:

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor's Degree in one of the following fields:
  • Business Administration
  • Information Systems
  • Computer Science
  • Engineering
  • Finance
  • Project Management
• Preferred/Advantageous:
  • Postgraduate Qualification (e.g., Honours, MBA, or Master's in a relevant field)
  • Professional Certifications:
    • Project Management: PMP (Project Management Professional), PRINCE2, or PMI-ACP
    • Agile & Scrum: Certified Scrum Master (CSM), SAFe Agilist
    • Banking & Payments: Certifications in EMV, PCI DSS, or card scheme-specific training (Visa, Mastercard)
    • Technology & Architecture: TOGAF, ITIL, or relevant systems integration credentials

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Thank you for your interest in joining our talent community. Please note that this advertisement is not for an active vacancy, and as such you will not receive a decline notice or status update immediately. We are currently gathering applications to build a talent pool for future opportunities. By submitting your application, you will be considered for similar roles that may become available. We appreciate your interest and look forward to potentially working with you in the future.

Job Details

Application Closing Date

30/11/

All appointments will be made in line with FirstRand Group's Employment Equity plan. The Bank supports the recruitment and advancement of individuals with disabilities. In order for us to fulfill this purpose, candidates can disclose their disability information on a voluntary basis. The Bank will keep this information confidential unless we are required by law to disclose this information to other parties.

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