Senior Specialist: Strategy

Absa Group; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 600,000 - 900,000; Full time

Job summary

A South African banking institution based in Johannesburg seeks a strategic consultant to drive and support initiatives across retail banking. The role requires strong financial modelling and strategy consulting experience with at least 8 years in a relevant field. This position offers the opportunity to engage with diverse teams and contribute to strategy development and execution to support the bank's growth and transformation agenda.

Qualifications

• At least 8 years' experience in management consulting or corporate strategy.
• Retail banking or financial services experience strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience in strategic planning and problem-solving.

Responsibilities

• Drive and support strategy formulation processes.
• Build and maintain robust financial models.
• Use data analytics to assess performance trends.
• Engage with internal stakeholders including product and finance.
• Contribute to cross-functional strategic projects.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Financial modelling

Data analysis

Stakeholder engagement

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor’s degree in business or related field

Postgraduate qualification preferred

Tools

Excel

Power BI

SQL

Tableau

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

Provide complex advice and support in facilitating long term strategy development.

Job Description

Will be required to drive and support definition, development and execution of strategic initiatives across the retail bank (Personal & Private Banking). The role requires strong problem-solving, financial modelling, data analytics, and business case development skills, as well as experience in strategy consulting or internal strategy functions would be preferred. The person will engage cross-functionally with various portfolios within the Personal and Private banking space spanning product, channel, digital, operations, and finance teams to help shape, track and report on the bank’s current and future growth and transformation agenda.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategy Development & Planning

  • Drive and support strategy formulation processes, including market analysis, research, competitor benchmarking, and opportunity assessments

  • Develop business cases and scenario models to evaluate initiatives

• Financial Modelling & Business Case Development

  • Build and maintain robust financial models to support strategic decisions

  • Quantify commercial and operational impact of initiatives across revenue, cost, and customer metrics

• Data-Driven Insights

  • Use data analytics and business intelligence tools to assess performance trends and identify opportunities

  • Collaborate with analytics teams to shape actionable recommendations

• Project Management & Implementation Support

  • Contribute to cross-functional strategic projects and workstreams

  • Track initiative impact and delivery milestones across transformation initiatives

• Stakeholder Engagement

  • Engage with internal stakeholders including product, operations, digital, risk, operations, and finance (interviews, facilitation of workshops, etc.)

  • Prepare materials and insights for Exco, board updates, and other governance forums

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in business, Finance, Economics, Engineering or related field

• Postgraduate qualification (Honours, Post Graduate Diploma, PDBA, MBA, CFA, or equivalent) preferred

• At least 8 years' experience in management consulting, financial services (banking, fintech, insurance), or corporate strategy

• Retail banking or financial services experience strongly preferred

• Demonstrated experience in:

  • Strategic planning and problem-solving

  • Financial modelling and commercial analytics

  • Designing and evaluating business cases

  • Leading or contributing to cross-functional initiatives

Key Skills & Competencies

• Strategic thinking and structured problem-solving

• Strong Excel / financial modelling capability

• Business case development (NPV, ROI, IRR, breakeven)

• Proficiency in data analysis (Excel, Power BI, SQL, Tableau advantageous)

• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement

• Strong presentation development (PowerPoint)

• Ability to work in a fast-paced, unstructured 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