Lead Campus and Branch Networks

Absa Group; Randburg; On-site; ZAR 850 000 - 1 200 000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent banking institution in South Africa seeks a Campus and Branch Network Platform Lead to oversee the design and management of network services. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in network engineering and team leadership, ensuring high availability and compliance in a dynamic banking environment. This role involves strategic direction, vendor management, and nurturing a collaborative team culture. Candidates should possess a Bachelor's degree in IT and relevant certifications.

Qualifications

• 8-10+ years experience in enterprise network engineering.
• 3-5 years experience leading or managing a technical network team.
• Proven experience in large-scale distributed network environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a team of Campus and Branch Network Engineers.
• Ensure high availability and performance of network services.
• Manage relationships with suppliers and service providers.

Skills

Enterprise network engineering

Team leadership

Troubleshooting and root cause analysis

Network security and segmentation

Customer-oriented mindset

Education

Bachelor's degree in Information Technology

Job description

Empowering Africa’s tomorrow, together…one story at a time.

With over 100 years of rich history and strongly positioned as a local bank with regional and international expertise, a career with our family offers the opportunity to be part of this exciting growth journey, to reset our future and shape our destiny as a proudly African group.

Job Summary

Lead the agile solution design, deployment & ongoing optimization & evolution of less complex enterprise wide technology platforms & delivery systems

Job Description

The Campus and Branch Network Platform Lead is responsible for the design, availability, performance, security, and lifecycle management of Absa’s branch and campus network services. The role provides strategic, technical, commercial, supplier and people leadership to a team of network engineers, ensuring resilient, secure, and scalable network services that support business operations across the campus, regional office, branch and ATM estate.

This role plays a critical part in ensuring high availability, regulatory compliance, and operational excellence in a complex, mission‑critical banking environment.

Key Responsibilities

Leadership & People Management

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of Campus and Branch Network Engineers

• Set performance objectives, conduct reviews, and support career development

• Provide strategic and technical direction, mentorship, and escalation support

• Foster a high-performance, collaborative, and customer-focused team culture

• Ensure adequate resourcing, skills coverage, and succession planning

Network Design & Architecture

• Accountable for the end‑to‑end design of campus and branch LAN, WAN and Wireless architecture and design

• Ensure network standards, patterns, and reference architectures are current and fit for purpose

• Lead network refresh, modernization, and rollout initiatives

Operations & Service Management

• Ensure high availability and performance of the campus and branch estate in line with enterprise SLAs

• Comply with incident, problem, and change management processes

• Proactively maintain the expected currency and hygiene of the estate

• Act as escalation point for complex or high‑impact network issues

• Drive to conclusion the blameless postmortem process including root cause analysis and continuous service improvement

• Ensure SLAs, OLAs, and Key Risk Indicators are met or exceeded

Security & Compliance

• Ensure network environments comply with Absa’s security policies, regulatory, and audit requirements

• Partner with Cyber Security teams on addressing segmentation, access control, and threat mitigation

• Support patch management, vulnerability remediation and audit findings across the estate

Vendor & Stakeholder Management

• Manage relationships with suppliers and service providers

• Evaluate new technologies, tools, and solutions

• Collaborate with internal stakeholders (The Physical Channels Business, Security, Architecture, Cloud, End‑User Computing, Facilities)

• Support projects requiring campus and branch networking

Financial & Asset Management

• Own the budget planning process and cost optimisation initiatives

• Manage network asset lifecycle, logistics and refresh planning

• Responsible for procurement and vendor contract negotiations

Key Technologies & Domains

• Campus LAN (switching and wireless)

• Branch LAN (switching and wireless)

• Enterprise Wireless (802.11 standards, controllers, NAC)

• WAN / SD‑WAN (campus, branch and ATM)

• Security (segmentation, NAC)

• Routing & Switching (OSPF, BGP, VLANs, QoS)

• Network Monitoring & Automation tools

Minimum Requirements

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, or related field

Minimum Experience Required

• 8–10+ years experience in enterprise network engineering

• 3–5 years experience leading or managing a technical network team

• Proven experience leading large‑scale distributed network environment

• Experience working in financial services or highly regulated environments

Technical Skills

• Deep expertise in enterprise LAN, WAN, and wireless technologies

• Strong troubleshooting and root cause analysis skills

• Experience with network security and segmentation

• Exposure to SD‑WAN and network automation is beneficial

Certifications (Preferred)

• CCNP / CCIE (Enterprise) or equivalent

• ITIL Foundation

• Relevant vendor wireless or security certifications

Competencies & Behaviours

• Strong leadership and people‑management capability

• Strategic thinking with hands‑on technical depth

• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills with a strong focus on organisational collaboration

• High attention to detail and risk awareness

• Ability to perform under pressure in a 24/7 environment with strong problem solving skills

• Customer‑centric and service‑driven mindset

• Strong sense of ownership and accountability

Education

Bachelor's Degree: Information Technology

Absa Bank Limited is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer. In compliance with the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998, preference will be given to suitable candidates from designated groups whose appointments will contribute towards achievement of equitable demographic representation of our workforce profile and add to the diversity of the Bank.

Absa Bank Limited reserves the right not to make an appointment to the post as advertised