Head Internal Controls at Standard Bank Group

Job Description (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Standard Bank Group is the largest African banking group by assets offering a full range of banking and related financial services. “Africa is our home, we drive her growth” Our vision is to be the leading financial services organisation in, for and across Africa, delivering exceptional client experiences and superior value. This sets the primary goals and standard of excellence we intend to achieve in the medium term. With a heritage of over years, we have an on-the-ground presence in 20 countries in sub‑Saharan Africa; fit-for-purpose representation outside Africa; and a strategic partnership with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC). In line with the realities of risk, regulation, technology and competition that characterise our operating context, we continue to invest significantly in our diversified operations; our people and culture; our systems and infrastructure; and our brand. In doing so, we understand that our commercial success and social relevance over the long term depends on placing our clients at the centre of everything we do, and ensures that the outcomes of our activities are a catalyst for growth on this continent we call home. The long-term foreign currency ratings for The Standard Bank of South Africa, the single largest operating entity within the Standard Bank Group, are: Fitch Ratings BBB- (negative), Moody’s Baa2 (negative) and Standard & Poor’s BBB- (negative). The group is listed on the JSE Limited, share code SBK, and the Namibian Stock Exchange, share code SNB. The largest bank in the world, ICBC, is a 20.1% shareholder in the group. Other than the 20.1% ICBC shareholding, 32.9% of Standard Bank’s shareholder base is foreign. We subscribe to the Code of Banking Practice, a set of principles governing banking in South Africa and ensuring the highest standards of professionalism, integrity and fairness. Job Purpose Maintain an optimal control framework for the Group that facilitates a proactive approach to issue identification, resolution, escalation and implementation of actions to manage control gaps in order to mitigate any risk that could occur and cause losses to the Group.Key Responsibilities Determine the Control StrategyTo determine the control strategy for the Group in consultation with business / enabler partners, Risk, Compliance, Internal Audit aligned to the Group and ROA strategies.Develop effective, collaborative relationships with the country’s senior management team, business lines and all relevant stakeholders. Execution and Monitoring Development of the annual control assurance reviews universe in collaboration with the Risk, Compliance and Internal Audit stakeholders.Perform appropriate monitoring activities to provide assurance on the effectiveness and state of the control environment of risk in the Group to the executive management and all relevant stakeholders.Ensure that formal planned reviews and spot checks are conducted across the Group in line with the risk based engagement methodologies, including the production of reports.Facilitate the translation of regulatory directives into operational processes & controls.Monitor implemented risk and compliance management processes – as identified and assessed by Risk and Compliance to ensure adherence to standards, policies and procedures.Identify inadequate processes and controls and provide Operational Risk and Compliance and/or Business Units/ Enablers with the irregularities to facilitate the modification of processes where required.Ensure that formal root cause analysis for control failures is conducted across the Group and appropriate remedial actions are identified and implemented.Conduct special reviews upon specific request by business unit/ enabler management as appropriate.Monitor that tracking of remedial actions from internal audits, regulatory reviews, FCC investigations, control reviews and other such assurance reviews is undertaken as agreed with the business units. This will involve validation of implemented interventions prior to closure of the issues.Ensure that appropriate training initiatives towards improvement of the control environment are planned and executed as required. Ensure that coaching & support opportunities are properly identified and the appropriate interventions are implemented.Participate in the bank’s business initiatives, forums, committees, policy / process development or reviews, e.g. risk & compliance committees, new products, projects etc. to ensure that control requirements are appropriately considered executed and reported.Effective implementation of the operational risk framework i.e. loss control, incident management, RCSA & KRIs, BCM, IRM roles as per the approved risk management framework.Foster an environment of innovation for simpler, better and yet effective solutions to enhance key control capabilities within the control function and across the bank.Allocate available resources to individual engagements on a risk based perspective in line with the Unit and bank’s overall strategy.Timely provision of routine dashboards as per determined frequency, monthly and quarterly reports on activities and the state of the control environment to executive, business / enabler unit management, risk, compliance, internal audit and ROA risk partners.Present routine monitoring and control review reports to business / process owners and ensure their understanding and commitment to the report and agreed action plans.Escalate breaches and incidents for more serious control breaches that require senior management direction as per the appropriate escalation processes, including active participation in the remedial actions. People Management & Administration Lead and manage the Control function and ensure effective management of human capital.Agree performance contracts, monitor, review and appraise performance of staff within the unit. Develop and maintain a talent development plan.Evaluate and manage the performance of the team to achieve a high standard of competence, motivation and service orientation, focusing on the development and retention of promising staff.Identify knowledge/skills/ development needs, capability gaps ensure that appropriate training initiatives and or interventions are determined and executed in collaboration with the pertinent stakeholders.Manage the annual leave planning and utilisation.Monitor, manage budget and expenditure for the Control function. Other Oversight Functions Provide oversight for effective management of user access on all applications for appropriate levels and limit of authority are profiled and assigned to the users.Ensure adequacy of control around transaction surveillance by instituting business rules for monitoring and prevention of loss through the fraud monitoring solutionsStabilize the new Investigation Unit and ensure timely, prompt, clear and concise investigation into reported process breaches with recommendations to prevent re-occurrences.Develop collaborative measures to support improvements in KYC rating bank-wide by enforcing total compliance with the KYC guiding principles / policy. RequirementsQUALIFICATIONS Type of Qualification: First DegreeField of Study: Business CommerceType of Qualification: First DegreeField of Study: Finance and AccountingType of Qualification: First DegreeField of Study: Risk ManagementFormal qualification such as ACIB, CIA, CISA, CFSA, ACCA or CPA will be an added advantage. Experience Required Risk Management7-10 yearsExperience Description: At least 5 years’ experience in a control / audit environment with a proven track record. Stakeholder management and negotiation experience. Risk & control experience within a banking environment Human Capital Experience Description: Exposure to managing teams and delivering against tight deadlines. ADDITIONAL INFORMATIONBehavioral Competencies: Challenging IdeasConvincing PeopleDeveloping StrategiesDirecting PeopleDocumenting FactsEstablishing RapportExamining InformationInteracting with PeopleProviding InsightsShowing ComposureTeam WorkingUpholding Standards Technical Competencies: IT KnowledgeIT Risk ManagementIT SystemsPromote Good Governance, Risk & ControlQuality AssuranceRisk Management