Specialist: Commercial Licence

Postbank (SOC) Ltd; Pretoria; On-site; ZAR 1,500,000 - 2,500,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading South African bank is seeking a Specialist: Commercial Licence to lead and coordinate its Section 16 banking licence application. This position requires extensive experience in regulatory compliance and project leadership in the banking sector. The role involves engaging with regulators, managing major project streams, and ensuring the bank's alignment with statutory requirements. Candidates should possess a Bachelor's degree, a postgraduate qualification, and over 10 years of senior banking experience.

Qualifications

• 10–12+ years senior experience in the financial services or banking sector.
• Proven experience leading a banking licence programme or equivalent central-bank licensing project.
• Direct engagement experience with SARB or equivalent regulatory bodies.
• Evidence of continuous professional development in prudential regulation, licensing, or supervisory frameworks.
• 10–12+ years senior experience in the financial services or banking sector, with at least 5 years in regulatory leadership.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary Project Head accountable for full planning and execution of the Section 16 banking licence programme.
• Lead all engagements with regulatory authorities, ensuring quality preparation and submission of documents.
• Translate licensing requirements into structured, actionable project streams.
• Proactively manage progress, identify risks, escalate issues, and resolve regulatory and interdependency challenges.
• Coordinate engagements with regulators (PA, SARB, FSCA) and prepare regulatory submissions and dashboards.

Skills

Regulatory Project Leadership

Strategic Execution

Regulator & Executive Engagement

Analytical & Governance Skills

High-Level Communication

Decision-Making Under Pressure

Collaborative leadership style

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Law, Banking, Commerce, Finance, Risk, Governance

Postgraduate qualification in Banking Regulation, Compliance, Financial Regulation

Professional certifications in compliance or banking regulation (e.g., CPrac, CRM, CAMS, ICA)

Job description

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The Specialist: Commercial Licence (Section 16)

Will serve as the principal Project Head and senior expert responsible for the end-to-end leadership, coordination, and regulatory execution of Postbank’s Section 16 banking licence application. This role requires a seasoned banking regulatory specialist with direct experience in bank licensing, capable of independently driving all prudential, governance, operational, and compliance workstreams required under the Banks Act and Financial Sector Regulation Act.

The incumbent will operate at a strategic and senior level, engaging directly with the Prudential Authority, SARB, Board, and Executive Committee; ensuring organisational readiness; and overseeing the development, integration, and submission of all licensing deliverables. The role reports to the Head of Compliance and requires close collaboration with senior stakeholders across Compliance, Commercial, Risk, Finance, IT, etc. and external regulatory partners.

This is a fixed‑term contract for 12 months.

Job Responsibilities

Project Leadership and Execution

• Serve as the primary Project Head accountable for the full planning, execution, integration, and delivery of the Section 16 banking licence programme.
• Develop and maintain the master regulatory project plan, ensuring that all prudential, governance, operational, and compliance deliverables are accurately defined, sequenced, and executed within required timelines.
• Drive cross‑functional cohesion, ensuring seamless alignment between core workstreams—Legal, Compliance, Risk, ICT, Finance, Operations, Governance and Internal Audit.
• Proactively manage project progress, identify critical‑path risks, ensure timely escalation, and oversee resolution of regulatory, operational, and interdependency issues.

Regulatory Engagement and Governance

• Lead and coordinate all engagements with the Prudential Authority (PA), Financial Sector Conduct Authority and South African Reserve Bank (SARB), ensuring high‑quality preparation and submission of licensing documentation and evidence packs.
• Oversee end‑to‑end internal regulatory readiness assessments, ensuring alignment with the Banks Act, FSRA, prudential requirements, governance standards, and supervisory expectations.
• Prepare, quality‑assure, and deliver Board and Executive reports, including regulatory dashboards, gap analyses, progress updates, and formal submissions.

Strategic Planning and Execution

• Translate statutory and regulatory licensing requirements into structured, actionable, and measurable project streams and implementation plans.
• Identify, assess, and close gaps between Postbank’s current state and Section 16 licensing obligations, recommending and driving targeted organisational, governance, and capability enhancements.
• Ensure the licensing programme is aligned to Postbank’s corporatisation, operational transformation, and long‑term banking strategy.

Stakeholder and Change Management

• Build and sustain strong working relationships with regulators, Exco leaders, programme partners, and external advisors to ensure alignment and organisational readiness.
• Lead structured change management initiatives to embed awareness, accountability, and compliance across business units participating in the licensing programme.
• Facilitate decision‑making at project steering committees and related governance forums, ensuring clarity, documentation, and execution of strategic directives.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree (essential) in Law, Banking, Commerce, Finance, Risk, Governance, or a related field.
• Postgraduate qualification (mandatory) in Banking Regulation, Compliance, Financial Regulation, Risk Management, or Business Leadership.
• Professional certifications in compliance, governance, or banking regulation (e.g., CPrac (SA), CRM, CAMS, ICA qualifications) are strongly advantageous.
• Evidence of continuous professional development in prudential regulation, licensing, or supervisory frameworks.
• 10–12+ years senior experience in the financial services or banking sector, with at least 5 years in a regulatory, governance, or prudential compliance leadership role.
• Mandatory: Proven experience leading a banking licence programme or equivalent central‑bank licensing project in a regulated market.
• Demonstrated ability to manage complex, multi‑stream regulatory programmes involving Legal, Risk, Compliance, IT, Finance, Governance, Operations, and Board structures.
• Direct engagement experience with SARB, the Prudential Authority (PA) and/or equivalent regulatory bodies.
• Experience in regulatory project management, transformation projects, or bank corporatisation will be a strong advantage.
• Experience operating within, or advising, state‑owned institutions is advantageous.

Knowledge and Understanding of

Regulatory & Supervisory Frameworks

• Banks Act, Financial Sector Regulation Act (FSRA), regulations, directives, and prudential standards.
• Section 16 licensing requirements, prudential criteria, governance standards, and capital adequacy expectations.
• Mandates and supervisory expectations of SARB, PA, FSCA, and related regulators.

Prudential & Governance Requirements

• Board and Exco governance frameworks, fit and proper requirements, risk governance, and control functions.
• Enterprise‑wide regulatory readiness frameworks, regulatory assurance, and internal audit interaction.

Risk, Compliance & AML

• AML/CTF frameworks, RMCPs, POCDATARA, POCA, FIC Act obligations, and risk‑based approaches.
• Integration of risk, compliance, and governance into licensing and supervisory programmes.

Functional & Operational Knowledge

• Cross‑functional banking operations: Legal, Compliance, Risk, ICT, Finance, Operations, Governance, and Internal Audit.
• Bank transformation, corporatisation, operational readiness, and regulatory change management.
• Key strategic and operational challenges faced by transitional or corporatising banks, particularly in the South African context.
• Change management and stakeholder communication in large‑scale regulatory projects.

Skills and Attributes

• Regulatory Project Leadership: Proven ability to lead high‑stakes, multi‑disciplinary regulatory programmes.
• Strategic Execution: Strong ability to translate regulatory requirements into actionable, aligned, and measurable deliverables.
• Regulator & Executive Engagement: Expert communication, negotiation, and stakeholder‑management skills at executive and regulator levels.
• Analytical & Governance Skills: Ability to analyse regulatory gaps, risk exposures, governance weaknesses, and implementation dependencies.
• High‑Level Communication: Exceptional written and verbal communication, including Board and PA‑level submissions.
• Decision‑Making Under Pressure: Strong judgement, discretion, problem‑solving, and resilience in high‑pressure environments.
• High personal accountability with unwavering commitment to regulatory integrity and governance.
• Execution‑focused, delivery‑driven, and able to operate with minimal guidance.
• Regulatory astuteness, sound judgement, and an ability to anticipate and manage supervisory expectations.
• Resilience and composure in high‑pressure, high‑visibility regulatory environments.
• Collaborative leadership style with the ability to influence diverse senior stakeholders.
• Discretion and professionalism required for sensitive regulatory engagements.

Disclaimers

The South African Postbank SOC Limited is committed to the achievement and maintenance of diversity and equity in employment, especially with regard to race, gender and disability. In compliance with the bank’s employment equity plans, we encourage and welcome applications from diverse groups from the South African Employee active population. Correspondence will be limited to short‑listed candidates only.

Note, only applications received on this platform will be considered. “POPIA sections provides that everyone has the right to privacy and it includes a right to protection against the unlawful collection, retention, dissemination and use of personal information. By applying for employment you consent to the processing of your personal information with Postbank. Your personal information and any attached text or documentation are retained by Postbank for a period in accordance with relevant data legislation.”

If you do not hear from the South African Postbank SOC Limited or its Agent within 3 months of this advertisement, please accept that your application has been unsuccessful. The South African Postbank SOC Limited reserves the right not to fill the positions or to re‑advertise the positions at any time.