Regional Chief Information Officer at Standard Bank Group

Driving the Universal Bank strategy into countries in the African continent (excluding Republic of South Africa), providing strategic input, aligning change (local, regional versus central) and overseeing IT operations. Sustaining in-country capabilities to enable self sufficiency, increasing stability and management of risk as key custodian of the Country IT Operations and Personal and Business Banking relationship. Provide the CIO Rest of Africa with strategic insights relating to both run the bank and change the bank activities and drive out IT strategy into countries.

Key Responsibilities/Accountabilities

Drive out the Universal bank strategy aligning and facilitating in-country change and centre driven change (demand)

• Align the individual country IT strategies to the Universal bank strategy, raising any concerns and issues for resolution with the Rest of Africa (ROA) CIO
• Make visible the demand that will be placed on the country by providing the integrated  view and input ensuring the appropriate level of change is implemented into country operations
• Bring the in-country initiatives to bear in the timing and planning of centrally driven change programmes by engaging with ROA IT Operations and change portfolios in Personal and Business Banking (PBB) and Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB)
• Input into the ROA IT strategy providing insight into the country customer requirements and experiences, aligning with the universal bank strategy
• Guide the country on planning for the demand and reducing the number of initiatives originating in country to keep a balance with centre driven initiatives
• Work closely with the regional CIB IT counterparts to gain an understanding of the planned changes and the required IT capabilities to sustain the changes, ensuring the requirements are incorporated into operational plans
• Support the CIB ROA portfolio by guiding country IT capability on the planning, implementation and sustained operation of change initiatives (e.g. capacity planning, network upgrades etc)
• Define a capability development roadmap for the country IT operation: based on gaps, identified risks and planned change the bank initiatives
• Report on the status of projects and initiatives within the country, as well as the overall IT capability maturity at the ROA CIO management committee

Oversee and support the Country IT functions within the portfolio

• Contribute to the formulation of the Country IT budget through engagement with the country CIO, ensuring all items are included and valid
• Perform financial oversight of monthly income statement monitoring anomalies and driving out any required changes as escalated by the ROA IT Operations function
• Advise the Country CIO in terms of Group vendor selection and advises Group IT initiatives when there is a need for local vendors to participate in the roll out of an application
• Involved in the negotiation and agreement of service level agreements and contracts with external supplier(s) at both Group and Country level (where appropriate, in consultation with procurement)
• Ensure that Group-wide architecture guidelines, architecture roadmaps, product standards, etc. are adhered to in country;
• Ensure that IT risks as identified are appropriately managed
• Position the total cost of ownership (TCO) model of cost recovery with country CIOs and Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) ensuring that services are well defined and understood
• Escalate any issues with service levels of all IT services to the ROA IT Operations portfolio
• Provide guidance to Country CIO when forecasting and planning the capacity required by the business area / country to maintain performance, availability, resilience, and maintenance

Building and grow capabilities for sustainable local Country IT operations

• Contribute to sustainable country operations by growing the country capability in line with the IT capability model, to support the implementation of the one ROA IT strategy  and sustain a model of self sufficiency for countries
• Participate in the recruitment of new IT staff required within country (CIO and next level – technical leaders) by interviewing and evaluating candidates
• Contribute to the performance appraisals and development plan of country IT management by providing feedback and input into formal processes
• Grow the capability and development of IT staff in-country through information sharing sessions, individual discussions and directing management and project meetings
• Ensure that regular internal change communication initiatives (town hall meetings and connect sessions) take place in-country
• Improve the performance of teams by measuring the climate and morale, addressing any areas of concern with country management structures
• Distil and share best practices between countries and with other Regional CIO and business stakeholders

Contribute to IT service stability, availability, security through the provision of operational guidance to the Country IT functions

• Assist and guide country IT capabilities with stability and critical incident follow-up and remediation, working with the relevant ROA IT Operations teams
• Review the trends of incidents per country in order to ensure the correct remedial action plans are in place
• Maintain a close working relationship with the ROA IT Operations function that will escalate and drive out resolution of incidents affecting the Rest of Africa (ROA) portfolio in weekly meetings with the relevant Group IT function
• Work closely with the Information Security community to identify and drive out security requirements within the respective countries
• Assist with the formulation of remedial actions when risks are raised with regard to the  valid software and hardware license and maintenance agreements in place for all country operations
• Contribute to the management of audit findings by recommending remediation actions in consultation with Country CIO
• Ensure that Group-wide architecture guidelines, architecture roadmaps, product standards, etc. are adhered to in country;
• Ensure that IT risks are identified and appropriately managed
• Guide and educate the country IT structures with the implementation of operational  plans and processes, liaising with the ROA IT Operations and Group IT run functions
• Contribute to the management of risk and regulatory requirements by monitoring that regular disaster recovery test are being performed, sharing insights between countries and reporting the status of disaster recovery readiness to the CIO ROA and ROA IT Operations

Provide insights and effective stakeholder management

• Instil confidence and be the trusted advisor and thought leader for the Country Chief Executive (CE), Country Head of PBB and Country CIO by providing guidance and input into decisions
• Stay current on the banking knowledge relating to the respective countries in order to influence the strategic and operational planning
• Guide countries on the overall technological direction of their business unit/s in participation with their business strategy as well as the greater IT strategy
• Provide input into the Country IT strategy by participating in the Bank executive committee and Board meetings, aligning to the Universal bank strategy
• Maintain close working relationships with Regional Heads for PBB and CIB IT, Country CIOs and ROA IT Operations, gain insight into good practices and project successes that can be shared between countries and within Group IT
• Contribute to the effective functioning of the ROA portfolio by providing information for  country dashboards
• Provide insight into country operations by fostering good working relationships and visiting countries on a regular basis maintaining strong relationships with country stakeholders
• Participate as a standing member of the ROA IT Management committee

Manage the PBB regional and country IT requirements 

• Manage relationships with PBB regional stakeholders, sharing insight and influencing the PBB regional strategies based on the IT capability maturity and integrated demand
• Engage the Country Head of PBB to investigate and understand business requirements and align with change portfolio and signature programme delivery
• Plan the extraction, tracking and reporting of benefits for PBB based on new or enhanced business features introduced by applications
• Research country specific regulatory requirements that may impact on the IT operations and stay current on industry developments in the country by networking and maintain good relations with the Country CE and Head(s)  of PBB

Preferred Qualification and Experience

• First Degree, IT and Computer Sciences
• 10+ years experience
• Experience in working with senior business and IT stakeholders, balancing strategic requirements and delivery constraints. A good understanding and proven track record in delivery into the African continent. Good working knowledge and established networks in the Standard Bank IT environment is necessary

Knowledge/Technical Skills/Expertise

• Strong knowledge of  Telecommunications, Network/ Infrastructure planning and services, IT service delivery, knowledge and understanding of application development lifecycles including Agile, and systems integration – in a large multi-dimensional corporate environment preferably in the financial industry
• Proven experience in IT management activities including strategic IT Portfolio delivery planning, investment control and risk identification and management, regulation of statutory reporting, monitoring and managing the required software and hardware licenses.  Require a thorough understanding of  IT operational management including HR, Finance and vendor management
• Ability to manage large, complex systems and infrastructure projects, inclusive of the scoping, planning and financial aspects of the Project Management discipline
• The ability to ensure that isolated and independent organisational change actions are integrated and sustained through a disciplined change process. Ability to apply change management principles and techniques for planning and implementing change in an organisation