Third Party Risk Management Specialist

Dis-Chem Pharmacies has an opportunity available for a Third-Party Risk Management Specialist responsible for assessing and managing security risks arising from Dis-Chem’s external vendors, technology partners, and service providers. The role establishes and maintains Dis-Chem’s third-party security due-diligence framework, evaluates vendor controls before onboarding, and monitors ongoing compliance across the vendor lifecycle. Works closely with CISO, Enterprise Architecture, Procurement, and IT platform teams to ensure third-party risks are identified early, assessed consistently, and addressed through contractual, technical, or operational controls. Strengthens resilience in a landscape heavily reliant on external IT partners.

Requirements

• Degree in Information Security, IT, Risk Management, or related field
• 5+ years’ experience in IT security or vendor risk management, preferably in a multi-vendor environment
• Exposure to outsourced service models, SOC/MDR providers, and cloud-hosted solutions.

Responsibilities

Information Security Governance & Compliance

• Develop and maintain the third-party security assessment and onboarding framework for all technology vendors
• Establish security requirements, minimum controls, and contractual clauses for IT suppliers in alignment with enterprise architecture and CISO standards
• Maintain a central third-party risk register and ensure risk ratings, remediation actions, and exceptions are documented and reviewed
• Collaborate with Procurement to embed security reviews into sourcing and renewal

Third-Party Security Risk Management

• Conduct risk assessments for new vendors and high-risk services; evaluate security certifications, architecture, hosting, data flows, access models, and operational processes
• Identify control gaps and recommend mitigation across domains (e.g., IAM, data protection, resilience, patching, monitoring)
• Partner with IT platform teams to validate integration risks and enforce secure configuration requirements
• Track remediation progress with vendors and escalate overdue or critical issues to CISO

Monitoring, Incident Support & Reporting

• Monitor vendor security posture continuously through attestations, performance metrics, and threat intelligence
• Support incident investigation when a vendor-driven outage or cyber event impacts Dis-Chem (noted as a known pain point)
• Provide reporting to CISO, Procurement, and Leadership on vendor risk levels, trends, and areas requiring uplift

Competencies

Domain Expertise

• Strong understanding of third-party risk, vendor security controls, and security assessment methods
• Knowledge of risk domains relevant to retail pharmacy (hosting, data protection, resilience, availability, integrations)
• Familiarity with regulatory and contractual security requirements.

Leadership & Commercial Acumen

• Ability to influence vendors and internal stakeholders toward secure-by-design decisions
• Strong negotiation and communication skills to articulate risks and required mitigations.

Key Performance Indicators

• % of vendors assessed and risk-rated before onboarding
• Remediation closure rate for vendor findings
• Contribution to culture, accountability, engagement, and continuous improvement
• Reduction in vendor-related incidents or outages
• Quality and completeness of vendor risk documentation
• Stakeholder satisfaction with vendor risk process

Special Conditions of Employment

South African citizen

MIE, clear criminal and credit

Driver’s license and/or own reliable transport

Remuneration and benefits

• Market related salary
• Medical aid
• Provident fund
• Staff account

ONLY SUCCESSFUL APPLICANTS WILL BE CONTACTED. IF YOU HAVEN`T BEEN CONTACTED WITHIN TWO WEEKS AFTER THE CLOSING DATE CONSIDER YOUR APPLICATION AS UNSUCCESSFUL.

Dis-Chem Pharmacies is an equal opportunity employer. Dis-Chem’s approved Employment Equity Plan and Targets will be considered as part of the recruitment process aligned to Dis-Chem’s Employment Equity & Transformation Strategy. Dis-Chem actively supports the recruitment of People with Disabilities.