Senior Specialist: Payments Partnerships & Innovation

1001 Absa Bank; South Africa; Hybrid; ZAR 600,000 - 800,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading African financial services provider is seeking a Senior Specialist in Payments Partnerships & Innovation in Johannesburg. The role requires at least three years of experience in the payments industry and expertise in relationship management. Responsibilities include evaluating payment innovations, managing partner relationships, and contributing to the overall payment strategy. A Bachelor's degree is required, with retail banking experience a distinct advantage.

Qualifications

• At least three years of Payments expertise.
• Solid experience in the payments industry.
• In-depth understanding of Payments Business Models.

Responsibilities

• Evaluate new payment innovation opportunities against the defined risk framework.
• Maintain strong relationships with key payment partners.
• Contribute to the risk management strategy across the payment value chain.

Skills

Payments expertise

Relationship management

Risk evaluation

Financial management

Team management

Education

Bachelor's Degree or equivalent NQF Level 7 qualification

Job description

Senior Specialist: Payments Partnerships & Innovation page is loaded

Senior Specialist: Payments Partnerships & Innovation

Apply remote type Hybrid locations Johannesburg time type Full time posted on Posted Yesterday time left to apply End Date: August 15, 2025 (7 days left to apply) job requisition id R-15978220

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

As part of the Payments Partnerships Centre of Excellence, the role holder will influence Absa’s payments partner journey through optimal interbank participation, industry relationship facilitation, PSO and internal business unit engagement whilst ensuring that Absa’s end-to-end payments partner supply chain functions optimally in all aspects in order to become a leading payments provider to customers and businesses.

Perform the role of a Subject Matter Expert for Personal & Private Bank. The role holder will be responsible for establishing an overall health position of Payment partnerships (albeit PSO, TPPP’s, ISO’s, Financial Services companies e.g. WFS and bank sponsorships) with strong alignment to the Absa BU Product clusters as the relationship owners.

In close collaboration with BU product areas, the job holder will develop an overarching payments innovation and partnership framework, including guiding principles to ultimately shape / inform payment innovation & partnerships decisions, as well as maintain an overall payment innovation and partnership plan across the multiple payment rails.

Job Description

Education and Experience Required

• B Degree or equivalent NQF Level 7 qualification or higher

• At least three (3) years Payments expertise (i.e. worked in Card, T&D or Payments Environments)

• Solid experience of working across external organizations in the payments industry

• In-depth understanding of Payments Business Models and Inter-bank pricing structures.

• Retail / Banking experience is a distinct advantage.

Accountability: Relationship Management and Industry representation

• Evaluation of all new payment innovation and partnership opportunities against the defined risk framework, as well as maintenance of a repository of all reviews performed and the outcomes/decisions recommended

• Active monitoring and guidance of the TPPP’s, ISO & Payment Sponsorships, although ownership resides with the BU Product areas (EB, RB, CIB).

• Maintain strong relationships with the key payment partners and the product level relationships as these relationships will frequently be stress tested in various ways (Commercial, Contractual, Operational, Compliance, Change, New Opportunities etc.).

• Maintain the relationship and Absa presence on key industry forums in order to influence and provide guidance on key strategic issues.

• Regular performance engagements, reporting and assessments.

• Responsible for the research and drafting of comprehensive briefings to Senior Executives who represent Absa on external boards and committees

• Contribute and participate in industry forums created for the purpose of maintaining the integrity of payment transactions across the national payment system.

• Facilitate sessions between Product, Group Information Services (GIS) teams, Group Information Technology (IT), Group Finance teams, Product Control and Risk Management (IRM) teams in order to maintain and track the integrity of payment and settlement transactions across the value chain.

Accountability: Reporting, Analytics and Insights

• Evaluation of all new payment innovation and partnership opportunities against the defined risk framework.

• Ensure that our payment partners have line of sight to all applicable compliance programs and the impacted product areas are clear on any potential non-compliance triggers.

• Recommend changes to the way of work in accordance with best practice in the payments industry.

• Identify opportunities for existing payment partners to share capability that further enhances our overall payments product offerings

• Contribute to the overall Risk management strategy across the Card payment value chain.

Accountability: Financial Management

• Ensure that all gaps are identified and closed when it comes to Revenue and other leakages.

• Maintain the balancing process between Business, IT and Finance in order to optimize the revenue generated from payment partnerships

• Contribute to the optimization of the Absa Card Payment strategy, business planning processes and BOW deliverables.

Accountability: People Management

• Manage and direct the Payment Partnership team (Scheme Management and Payment partnerships team) activities.

• Ensure team is optimally resourced to deliver annual objectives

• Manage the performance and development of team members

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

Similar Jobs (2)

Specialist: Payments Operations

remote type Hybrid locations Johannesburg time type Full time posted on Posted 2 Days Ago time left to apply End Date: August 22, 2025 (14 days left to apply)

Senior Specialist: Quantitative Analyst (VP)

remote type Hybrid locations Johannesburg time type Full time posted on Posted 2 Days Ago time left to apply End Date: August 22, 2025 (14 days left to apply)

About Us

Absa Group Limited (“Absa Group”) is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and is one of Africa’s largest diversified financial services groups.

Absa Group offers an integrated set of products and services across personal and business banking, corporate and investment banking, wealth and investment management and insurance.

Absa Group owns majority stakes in banks in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania (Absa Bank Tanzania and National Bank of Commerce), Uganda and Zambia and has insurance operations in Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia. Absa also has representative offices in China, Namibia, Nigeria and the United States, as well as securities entities in the United Kingdom and the United States, along with technology support colleagues in the Czech Republic.