Operations Manager: Value-Added Services

Absa Group; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 600,000 - 800,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading African bank in Johannesburg seeks an Operations Manager to oversee the full operational lifecycle of Value Added Services (VAS) products. The role includes incident management, partner performance tracking, and strategic planning, ensuring compliance and operational excellence. Candidates should have a Bachelor's degree and 3–5 years of relevant experience in operations management within the banking sector, along with strong analytical skills and stakeholder management capabilities.

Qualifications

• 3–5 years in operations management, ideally in banking or fintech.
• Proven experience managing VAS products and partner ecosystems.
• Ability to lead through influence and navigate complex landscapes.

Responsibilities

• Oversee daily operational monitoring and incident response.
• Conduct performance reviews and SLA compliance checks.
• Facilitate strategic planning for VAS portfolio health.

Skills

Operational mindset

Data interpretation

Stakeholder management

Incident management

Understanding of fulfilment processes

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business, Operations, Information Systems

Tools

Operational monitoring tools

Excel

SQL

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

The Operations Manager oversees the full operational lifecycle of VAS products, ensuring fulfilment, partner performance, and risk governance. They lead incident response, trend analysis, and continuous improvement across internal and external stakeholders. This high-impact role reports to the Head: Value-Added Services and ensures long-term sustainability of the VAS ecosystem.

Job Description

The Operations Manager for Value Added Services (VAS) is responsible for the end-to-end operational oversight of the VAS product portfolio, ensuring seamless fulfilment, partner performance, SLA compliance, and risk governance. This role plays a critical part in maintaining the health and reliability of VAS offerings such as Prepaid airtime and data, Prepaid Electricity, Lotto, bill payments, digital vouchers, and other lifestyle offerings.

The Operations Manager will lead daily monitoring, incident response, exception trend analysis, and partner reviews, while driving continuous improvement through root cause analysis, backlog prioritization, and strategic planning. The role also serves as a key liaison between internal teams (technology, risk, compliance, finance, change, and product) and external partners to ensure operational excellence and long-term sustainability of the VAS ecosystem.

Key Responsibilities

1. Daily Operational Oversight
   • Monitor real-time fulfilment and transaction flows across all VAS products.
   • Detect and respond to operational exceptions proactively.
   • Track and resolve incidents in collaboration with internal and external stakeholders.
   • Maintain fulfilment dashboards and operational health metrics.
2. Exception & Incident Management
   • Conduct weekly exception trend reviews (e.g., failed fulfilments, reconciliation mismatches).
   • Generate partner performance snapshots (e.g., file delivery, response times).
   • Flag SLA breaches and initiate early warning interventions.
   • Produce monthly service review reports
   • Track root cause analysis (RCAs) for significant incidents and drive remediation.
3. Partner & SLA Performance Management
   • Monitor upstream provider performance and maintain scorecards.
   • Review support ticket summaries and backlog trends.
   • Facilitate monthly formal service reviews with partners.
   • Ensure SLA and XLA compliance scoring is tracked and reported.
   • Build strong relationships with internal Centres of Excellence (i.e. Risk, Compliance, Technology, Finance) to ensure operational alignment, shared accountability, and timely resolution of escalations.
4. Governance & Risk Oversight
   • Lead quarterly governance council sessions and systemic risk reviews.
   • Ensure compliance with 3 Lines of Defense and internal control frameworks.
   • Manage change backlog prioritization and approval gates.
   • Collaborate with risk, legal, and compliance teams to mitigate operational risks.
5. Strategic Planning & Portfolio Health
   • Conduct annual VAS portfolio health checks and roadmap refreshes.
   • Align strategic partner objectives and renew SLAs.
   • Support onboarding of new VAS products and capabilities.
   • Contribute to long-term planning cycles and capability maturity assessments.

Skills & Qualifications

Core Competencies:

• Strong operational and analytical mindset with attention to detail.
• Ability to interpret data and trends to drive decisions.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Experience in incident management, SLA tracking, and partner governance.
• Familiarity with fulfilment platforms and operational dashboards (e.g., Electrum).
• Proven ability to lead through influence and navigate complex stakeholder landscapes without direct line authority.

Educational Background:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Operations, Information Systems, or a related field.

Industry Experience:

• 3–5 years in operations management, preferably within banking, fintech, or digital services
• Proven experience managing VAS products and partner ecosystems.
• Understanding of fulfilment processes, reconciliation, and SLA frameworks.

Technical Skills:

• Proficiency in operational monitoring tools and dashboards.
• Basic data analysis skills (Excel, SQL, etc.).
• Familiarity with incident tracking systems and ticketing platforms.

Personal Attributes:

• Collaborative: Works effectively across cross-functional teams.
• Proactive: Anticipates issues and drives early resolution.
• Strategic: Balances short-term operational needs with long-term planning

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