Chief Automation Officer

Old Mutual; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading financial services company in Johannesburg seeks a Chief Automation Officer to drive enterprise-wide intelligent automation initiatives. The successful candidate will have over 10 years of experience in automation and digital transformation, with a strong background in the financial sector. They will be responsible for establishing a strategy and roadmap for automation, ensuring alignment with business objectives. A Master's degree and certifications in automation technologies are preferred. This role offers competitive compensation and the opportunity to lead transformative initiatives.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in automation, digital transformation, or operational leadership roles within financial services.
• Certification in automation/AI technologies preferred.
• Strong understanding of financial regulations and compliance.

Responsibilities

• Create and communicate a clear, ambitious strategy for intelligent automation.
• Enable automation while ensuring regulatory compliance and ethical AI practices.
• Establish an Automation Centre of Excellence to enable business units.

Skills

Accountability

Action-Oriented

Adaptability

Building Trust

Business Insights

Collaboration

Complexity Management

Conflict Management

Cultivates Innovation

Customer-Focused

Design for Quality (DFQ)

Flexible Learning

Interpersonal Communication

Managing Ambiguity

Optimizes Work Processes

Organizational Savvy

Personal Development

Persuasion

Plans and Aligns

Results Delivery

Self-Awareness

Stakeholder Management

Strategic Thinking

Technical Savvy

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Finance, or MBA

NQF Level 9 – Masters

Tools

RPA

AI

Machine Learning

Chatbots

OCR

Predictive Analytics

Process Mining

Data Intelligence Platforms

Job description

Overview

Let\'s Write Africa\'s Story Together! Old Mutual is a firm believer in the African opportunity and our diverse talent reflects this.

The Chief Automation Officer (CAO) is a strategic leader responsible for driving enterprise-wide intelligent automation across Old Mutual Group, with the objective of establishing Old Mutual as a leading automated financial services business. The CAO role encompasses the broad adoption of intelligent automation throughout the enterprise and is dedicated to leveraging automation to enhance operational efficiency and excellence by reducing costs, minimising errors, and ensuring robust compliance. This role ensures that all automation initiatives are closely aligned with the Group’s business objectives, delivering measurable value and acting as the strategic leader for automation across the organisation. The CAO manages a portfolio of automation initiatives and technologies, including RPA and AI, to increase efficiency, improve employee and customer experiences, and unlock new value streams. A key responsibility of the CAO is to secure alignment with business units on automation initiatives, which is crucial for successful implementation, value realisation, and operational efficiency. The primary aim is to apply automation technologies, including AI, to enhance business processes and outcomes. The CAO reports to the OML Chief Operating Officer and serves as a member of the Group Technology and Transformation Executive Committee.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic Vision & Leadership
• Create and communicate a clear, ambitious, and business-outcome-driven strategy and roadmap for intelligent automation.
• This strategy must align with the company\'s overall strategic goals, executed against an enterprise-wide automation roadmap, prioritizing high-impact areas (e.g., customer onboarding, fraud detection, compliance reporting).
• Advocate for the use of automation and AI across Clusters and Group Functions, encouraging leaders to identify opportunities where technology can augment our human work.
• Establish a governance framework to evaluate, prioritize, and fund automation initiatives based on their potential ROI, strategic value, and risk.

• Technology Orchestration & Integration
• Enable automation across the businesses whilst ensuring regulatory compliance, ethical AI practices and strong risk management.
• In collaboration with the CTO, evaluate emerging technologies to deliver automation.
• Champion strategic implementation of AI for automation of business processes across the enterprise.
• Oversee the technical integration of AI-powered automation tools in collaboration with the CTO into existing enterprise systems.

• Business Transformation & Value Realisation
• Balance Cluster and Business Unit autonomy with group-wide governance, enablement, and reusability objectives, ensuring localised execution, adaptation and value delivery.
• Establish an Automation Centre of Excellence of experts who enable business units in developing and deploying automation solutions. Collaborate closely with Group CTO, Business Unit IT Leaders, Business Unit and Cluster Executives, to integrate automation into broader digital transformation and cost optimisation initiatives.
• Define clear metrics and track the value delivered by the automation portfolio.
• Lead training programs within the Digital Academy framework to upskill employees and foster an automation-first culture.

• Governance
• Ensure that all automated processes, especially those handling sensitive data (e.g. in banking and Life insurance), adhere to industry regulations.
• Ensure automation solutions are fair, unbiased, transparent, and accountable. This is critical for maintaining customer trust and regulatory compliance.
• Ensure that automated processes and AI models are secure from vulnerabilities and cyber threats.

Required Skills and Experience

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Finance, or MBA.
• 10+ years in automation, digital transformation, or operational leadership roles within financial services.
• Executive education in Digital Transformation or Financial Services Innovation is advantageous.
• Certification in automation/AI technologies preferred.
• Including, but not limited to, proficiency in, RPA, AI, machine learning, chatbots, OCR, predictive analytics, process mining, and data intelligence platforms, technologies and tools.
• Experience with process mapping, lean methodologies, and digital transformation frameworks.
• Strong understanding of financial regulations and compliance.
• Strategic thinker with the ability to assess the \"big picture\" and the ability to connect technology initiatives to derive business value.
• Proven experience in managing large-scale organizational transformation and ability to lead cross-functional teams and drive enterprise-wide change.
• Strong collaboration skills to work with IT teams, business units, and external vendors.

Measures of Success

• Reusability: Track the reusability of automation components and models across the enterprise.
• Cost Savings: Track the reduction in operational costs due to automation initiatives.
• Process Efficiency: Measure the time saved on automated processes compared to manual processes.
• Error Reduction: Monitor the decrease in errors and rework rates in automated processes.
• Compliance and Audit Trails: Evaluate improvements in compliance and the robustness of audit trails.
• Customer Satisfaction: Assess the impact of automation on customer experience through satisfaction scores and feedback.
• Return on Investment: Calculate the ROI of automation projects by comparing implementation costs with financial benefits.

Skills

Accountability, Action-Oriented, Adaptability, Building Trust, Business Insights, Collaborating, Complexity Management, Conflict Management, Cultivates Innovation, Customer-Focused, Design for Quality (DFQ), Flexible Learning, Interpersonal Communication, Managing Ambiguity, Optimizes Work Processes, Organizational Savvy, Personal Development, Persuasion, Plans and Aligns, Results Delivery, Self-Awareness, Stakeholder Management, Strategic Thinking, Technical Savvy

Competencies

Education

NQF Level 9 – Masters (Required)

Closing Date

28 September 2025 , 23:59

The appointment will be made from the designated group in line with the Employment Equity Plan of Old Mutual South Africa and the specific business unit in question.

The Old Mutual Story!