Senior Manager: Customer Review Operations

Empowering Africa’s tomorrow, together…one story at a time.

Job Summary

Lead perpetual regulatory operations strategy and execution, overseeing customer refresh volumes, exception management, and customer review squads. It ensures high quality assessments for all customer segments, and risk types, while driving the adoption of automated models and external information source solutions to meet regulatory expectations and improve operational efficiency.

Job Description

KEY FOCUS AREAS

The role sets the strategic vision for perpetual KYC to meet evolving regulatory expectations.

• Lead customer refresh volume management, exception handling, and cross squad coordination to ensure timely, accurate reviews.

• Drive the uplift of review quality and consistency across all customer segments and risk types.

• Champion the adoption and optimisation of automated and golden source solutions to enhance data accuracy and reduce manual effort.

• Strengthen operational performance through disciplined planning, proactive risk management, and continuous improvement.

• Embed high‑integrity review practices that support compliance excellence and customer trust.

• Ensure scalable review operations through digitisation, process optimisation, and structured workflow design.

• Partner across risk, compliance, and operations to deliver aligned, transparent, and regulator ready outcomes.

• Drive readiness for future KYC standards by embedding sustainable capabilities and automation.

• Lead teams through change with clarity, purpose, and a commitment to excellence.

ACCOUNTABILITIES

Strategy Formulation and Execution

• Develop and execute the perpetual KYC strategy and roadmap, ensuring alignment with regulatory expectations and enterprise standards.

• Translate regulatory insights and risk themes into operational strategies that improve review quality, golden source usage, and refresh accuracy.

• Lead strategic planning for customer refresh volume management, automation adoption, and process optimisation to enable scalable, future ready operations.

• Translate strategic objectives into operational plans with clear deliverables, timelines, and performance measures.

• Align team or practice area priorities with business goals, ensuring tactical execution supports broader strategic outcomes.

• Monitor progress, identify risks, and implement corrective actions to ensure delivery.

Customer Primacy

• Use customer and KYC review insights to improve review processes, data quality, and the accuracy of refresh outcomes.

• Champion initiatives that enhance customer experience through timely, compliant, and consistent review practices.

• Collaborate across customer squads, risk, and operations teams to ensure seamless, transparent, and regulator ready customer journeys.

• Use customer insights to inform service design and delivery improvements.

• Champion initiatives that enhance customer experience, satisfaction, and loyalty.

• Collaborate across teams to ensure consistent and differentiated customer journeys.

Sustainable Growth

• Drive efficiency and scalability in customer review operations through automation, golden‑source usage, and optimised refresh processes.

• Lead initiatives that enhance data integrity, reduce manual workloads, and support long‑term operational resilience.

• Partner across squads and regulatory teams to embed solutions that deliver sustainable value, compliance assurance, and future‑ready KYC capabilities.

• Contribute to the development and execution of growth plans aligned with business unit priorities.

• Drive performance accountability within the team or practice area.

• Support investment decisions through analysis of operational impact and value creation.

Client-Driven Innovation and Change

• Lead change initiatives across customer review squads, ensuring readiness, engagement, and effective adoption of new review practices and technologies.

• Support the implementation of automated review solutions, workflow tools, and continuous improvement practices that strengthen efficiency and review quality.

• Identify opportunities for innovation and continuous improvement.

• Lead change initiatives, ensuring readiness, engagement, and adoption.

• Support the implementation of new technologies, processes, and practices.

Leading Talent

• Build a high performing customer review team by developing KYC, regulatory, and digital tooling capabilities that support quality and scalability.

• Lead with clarity and purpose, fostering engagement, continuous learning, and a culture of accountability and operational excellence.

• Coach and empower teams to adopt automated solutions, strengthen review quality, and deliver consistent, regulator‑aligned outcomes.

• Develop team or practice capabilities to meet current and future business needs.

• Foster a culture of performance, inclusion, and continuous learning.

• Manage performance, development, and succession planning.

Operational Effectiveness

• Optimise customer review processes to improve accuracy and improve regulatory quality, reduce exceptions, and ensure timely completion of KYC refreshes across all segments.

• Ensure consistent execution of perpetual KYC standards, across all risk types, through disciplined workflow management and quality controls.

• Use automated review tools and golden source data to enhance efficiency, reduce manual effort, and strengthen operational reliability.

• Translate business priorities into operational plans with defined KPIs and scorecards.

• Optimise processes for efficiency, quality, and alignment with customer needs.

• Resolve operational issues and ensure continuity of delivery.

Digital Adoption

• Drive the adoption of automated KYC review tools and golden source data to enhance accuracy, efficiency, and regulatory alignment.

• Lead initiatives that strengthen digital capability across customer review squads, enabling consistent and scalable perpetual KYC operations.

• Support the implementation and optimisation of digital platforms and workflows that streamline refresh processes and reduce manual intervention.

• Promote the use of digital tools and platforms to enhance service delivery and operational efficiency.

• Identify opportunities for automation and digitisation.

• Support digital transformation initiatives and ensure effective adoption.

Good Governance, Risk and Compliance

• Strengthen governance by embedding perpetual KYC standards, high‑quality review practices, and adherence to regulatory requirements across all customer segments.

• Monitor regulatory changes, quality outcomes, and risk themes to proactively manage exceptions, across all risk types and overall compliance integrity.

• Drive adoption of automated review solutions and to ensure defensible regulatory compliance.

• Implement governance, risk, and compliance frameworks within operational routines.

• Promote risk-aware decision-making and ensure adherence to regulatory requirements.

• Monitor and manage operational risks, ensuring timely resolution and reporting.

Data Monetisation

• Leverage customer, KYC, and review quality insights to unlock value, improve decision‑making, and strengthen perpetual KYC outcomes.

• Enable greater use of golden source data across all customer segments to enhance accuracy, reduce rework, and support scalable review operations.

• Support the development of data enabled solutions that improve compliance quality, drive operational efficiencies, and enhance regulatory reporting.

• Use data and analytics to inform decisions, improve performance, and identify opportunities.

• Ensure data quality and relevance for reporting, insights, and operational planning.

• Apply performance insights to drive continuous improvement and value creation.

Stakeholder Management

• Build strong partnerships with customer squads, risk, compliance, and data teams to ensure aligned, high quality perpetual KYC outcomes.

• Engage stakeholders proactively to communicate regulatory expectations, drive adoption of golden source solutions, and resolve review related challenges.

• Facilitate collaboration and transparency across review operations to accelerate decision making, improve quality, and strengthen compliance confidence.

• Build and maintain collaborative relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

• Align delivery with stakeholder expectations and business priorities.

• Communicate progress, risks, and outcomes effectively.

Education

Bachelors Degree and Professional Qualifications: Business Administration, Bachelors Degree and Professional Qualifications: Information Systems, Bachelors Degree and Professional Qualifications: Risk Management

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 advertised