Manager Product & Commercial Asset Finance

Absa Group; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 800 000 - 1 000 000; Full time

Job summary

A leading African financial services group is seeking a Product Manager to oversee the lifecycle and performance of specialized lending products. The ideal candidate will drive product strategy, ensure regulatory compliance, and lead execution of product initiatives. This role requires a combination of 8-10 years of experience in the banking sector and a relevant tertiary qualification, with a strong focus on risk management and strategic planning. A career with us offers the opportunity to shape the future of financial services.

Qualifications

• 8–10 years’ experience in banking/financial services, especially in asset finance or specialised lending.
• Demonstrable exposure to product management and complex delivery leadership.
• Proven track record of risk-driven change in a regulated environment.

Responsibilities

• Own the full lifecycle and commercial performance of assigned products.
• Drive product strategy and ensure compliance with regulatory standards.
• Lead execution of product initiatives across multiple domains.

Skills

Product management

Risk management

Strategic planning

Regulatory compliance

Education

Relevant tertiary qualification at NQF 7+ (Commerce, Finance, Engineering, Information Systems)

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

New Year! New Opportunity! The Product Manager is the first line owner responsible for the full lifecycle, commercial performance, and strategic evolution of assigned CAF and specialised lending products. The role safeguards and grows franchise value by ensuring products are competitively positioned, digitally enabled, operationally efficient, and aligned to credit and regulatory standards. This role materially reduces dependency on senior leadership by independently driving product strategy, delivery execution, issue resolution, and structural risk remediation. The incumbent ensures products remain end to end defensible, scalable, and commercially sustainable.

Job Description

• Act as first‑line risk owner, ensuring adherence to mandates, credit constructs, pricing frameworks, and regulatory requirements.
• Identify structural risk issues proactively and drive sustainable remediation, avoiding repeated exceptions or tactical workarounds.
• Lead product responses to regulatory findings, audits, and risk events, ensuring durable closure and stakeholder alignment.
• Own the target operating model for assigned products, including process design, control points, hand‑offs, and role clarity.
• Partner with Technology, Data, and Architecture to define requirements, digital journeys, automation opportunities, and risk‑mitigating controls.
• Drive straight‑through‑processing, operational optimisation, and turnaround time improvements through digital enablement.
• Define, maintain, and continuously refine the product strategy and multi‑year roadmap for assigned CAF and specialised lending products.
• Translate enterprise, segment, and portfolio strategies into actionable product intents, investment priorities, and delivery sequencing.
• Manage product‑level performance outcomes, including growth, profitability, risk, capital efficiency, and operational performance.
• Lead the execution of product initiatives across regulatory change, risk remediation, growth programmes, digital enablement, and transformation.
• Convert strategy into executable delivery plans, with clearly defined milestones, dependencies, and success measures.
• Serve as Product Owner across delivery forums, ensuring momentum, decision‑making, risk escalation, and issue resolution.
• Enable frontline teams through clear product positioning, guidance, and escalation pathways.
• Strengthen the product community through insights, cross‑portfolio learnings, and best‑practice sharing.

Education and Experience

• Relevant tertiary qualification at NQF 7+ (Commerce, Finance, Engineering, Information Systems, or equivalent).
• 8–10 years’ experience in banking/financial services with demonstrable exposure to asset finance, specialised lending, or credit‑intensive product environments.
• Proven track record in product management, complex delivery leadership, or risk‑driven change in a regulated environment.

Education

Bachelor’s Degrees and Advanced Diplomas: Business, Commerce and Management Studies (Required)

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