Head, Research & Development at Standard Bank

Group Shared Services: driving operational excellence, transparency and continuous improvement across our business, by leveraging scale, capabilities and innovation.

Job Purpose

To lead the delivery of all Intelligent Process Automation initiatives and strategic programmes, optimisation, automation, Robotic Desktop Automation(RDA) in the respective areas aligned with the Intelligent Process Automation Centre of Excellence. To provide guidance on minimum standards, methods & tools for architecture, security, process and data. To lead the relevant business enablement practices, processes and systems.

Key Responsibilities/Accountabilities

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Risk, Regulatory, Prudential & Compliance

• Identify project risks throughout the project lifecycle for all projects within the book of work. Develop and implement mitigating actions to effectively manage the risks.
• Develop and implement project management principles, standard and methodologies and monitor adherence to ensure mitigation of risks and adherence to governance.
  
  

Data

Identify metrics and measures to determine the successful implementation of automation projects as part of the implementation of operations excellence within the Business Line and/or Corporate Function.

Strategy

• Obtain a thorough understanding of the Banks strategic objectives in order to provide expert advice and influence the strategic objectives of the respective Business Line and/or Corporate Function from an automation perspective. Partner with Business and IT to enable them to quickly take advantage of potentially game-changing Intelligent Process Automation technology.
• Develop and implement the minimum standards, methods and tools as part of the Operations Toolbox in order to drive business-process improvements and next-generation tools that assists the knowledge worker within Standard Bank by removing repetitive, replicable, and routine tasks.
• Lead the establishment and implementation of a service excellence culture within the respective Business Line / Corporate Function to ensure the identification and optimisation of business processes and systems and the creation of a customer service culture amongst all employees.
• Establish the Intelligent Process Automation Centre of Excellence for the Standard Bank Group in order to drive disciplined execution for client centricity, digitisation and integration between Business Lines and Products.

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Financial Management

Develop and drive cost management and budgetary control within the area of control (portfolio) to manage operating expenditure.

Contribute to the realisation of specific financial goals for the Business Lines and Corporate Functions through Intelligent Process Automation projects and initiatives.

People

• Build and maintain effective relationships with the Executive Leaders and Exco Teams within the respective areas of control. This would include Regional Heads and Country Chief Executives. Collaborate with Product Owners to identify opportunities for delivering Intelligent Process Automation services. Build strong relationships internally to the Standard Bank Group with the ability to effectively navigate the matrix structures,
• Build and maintain strong relationships with both internal and external stakeholders with a strong focus on relationship management across all Business Lines and Corporate Functions across various regions and countries. Build internal relationships with the ability to effectively navigate the matrix structures as well as leverage technology. Build external relationships with technology and implementation partners.
• Develop and implement a structured methodology and approach to change management to align technology and process improvements to the culture of the Bank and ensure sustainable improvements.
• Lead change management projects and initiatives aimed at maximising employee adoption of the Operations Excellence strategy.
• Lead the identification and provision of specific training as part of Intelligent Process Automation projects and initiatives to ensure people are equipped to effectively deal with the change and improvements.
• Lead the Intelligent Process Automation Team according to the Banks leadership principles and values, including employee lifecycle from recruitment through to exit, performance management, training and development, discipline and grievance management, retention and reward and people administration, to ensure a high performance culture.
  
  

Technology & Architecture

• Lead the team of Automation Analysts to identify opportunities for process automation, optimisation, robotic desktop automation (RDA), and intelligent automation (SPA) to ensure a valid and economically justifiable project pipeline (funnel and backlog) for process and automation work and fit-for-purpose technology application for the respective projects.
• Lead and drive programs and events for the Standard Bank Group aligned to re-skilling, multi-skilling and up-skilling employees for the new way of work.
• Facilitate business process design / re-engineering workshops across the particular Business Line / Corporate Function in order to successfully drive operational excellence as per the COE strategic objectives.
• Identify, address and eliminate process-related pain-points in order to create a culture of continuous improvement, optimise systems and processes and improve customer service to the Banks clients.
• Understand the strategic objectives of a Business Line and the levers that will ensure successful delivery of the strategic objectives. Identify business processes that could be re-engineered to streamline and digitise by enhancing processes, automating repetitive tasks, re-training staff and re-assigning staff to value add tasks.
• Represent the Intelligent Process Automation Centre of Excellence where an automation opportunity requires specialised advice and delivery as well as the interface with the IT Function to ensure alignment and collaboration.

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Preferred Qualification and Experience

• A post graduate degree in Business Commerce and/or Information Technology would be a minimum requirement for this role
• A Masters degree in Information Technology and/or MBA would be beneficial
• More than 10 years experience in experience in leading business enablement practices, processes and systems to enable customer value add for the business. Financial services and/or Shared Services experience would be essential.
• The role requires a seasoned, holistic innovative leader who is customer focused with proven automation capability and profound knowledge of the full dimensions of the field, gained from a track record of 8-10 years.

Knowledge/Technical Skills/Expertise

• IT Strategy & Planning
• Coaching & Mentoring
• Managerial Budgeting
• Continuous Process Improvement
• Project Management (Project Mgmt)
• Information Technology Architecture