Senior Manager: Data Delivery Lead

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

Absa operates across ten African markets. Within this fast-moving, multi-jurisdictional context the Data Delivery Lead is the responsible for the planning and executing of the portfolio of enterprise-wide data change initiatives, integrations and carve-outs. The role balances strategic oversight with hands-on coaching of cross-functional teams to ensure seamless transition of people, processes and technology while realizing measurable business value for ARO.

Job Description

Key responsibilities:

• Execution of Organizational Transactions:
  
• Lead the delivery of strategic data projects and initiative through the coordination of data, technology and change to ensure alignment with business objectives and to derive business value.
• Define and manage cut-over runbooks, readiness gates and hyper-care support.
  
• Portfolio Delivery Leadership:
  
• Provide strategic and operational oversight across a portfolio of initiatives; translate ARO strategy into a prioritised roadmap.
• Coordinate delivery leads and cross-functional squads to maintain cohesive execution and minimal disruption to BAU.
  
• Agile Ways of Working:
  
• Champion Scrum, SAFe or Kanban practices; embed iterative planning, adaptive execution and data-driven continuous improvement.
• Establish common cadence, ceremonies and metrics across countries.
  
• Stakeholder Management:
  
• Engage and align executive sponsors, Data, Technology and third-party partners.
• Drive clear communication, expectation management and timely decision-making.
  
• Governance & Reporting:
  
• Establish and maintain programme governance forums and controls.
• Deliver accurate, timely dashboards on health, milestones, spend, risks and benefits realisation to senior leadership and ARO governance committees.
  
• Risk & Dependency Management:
  
• Identify and manage risks, inter-dependencies and execution complexities; develop proactive mitigation and issue-resolution strategies.
  
• Change & Transition Management:
  
• Coordinate business readiness, change enablement, HR and comms to ensure colleague adoption and minimal operational impact.
  
• Regional Delivery Oversight:
  
• Adapt approaches to diverse regulatory, cultural and operating environments across Africa while upholding consistent Absa execution standards
  
• Team Leadership
  
• Recruit, mentor and inspire a high-performing team of senior delivery professionals; foster a culture of accountability, collaboration and innovation.
  
  

Preferred experience:

• Proven experience in delivering complex organizational data intensive projects
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional delivery teams in a regional or multi-market context.
• Expertise in agile delivery methodologies and enterprise change governance.
• Experience in managing complex stakeholder environments and regulatory landscapes across Africa
  
  

Education

Bachelor`s Degrees and Advanced Diplomas: Business, Commerce and Management Studies (Required)

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