Legal jobs in South Africa

Woolworths Financial Services | Full time

Cape Town, South Africa | Posted on 11/17/2025

Woolworths Financial Services, or WFS as it is better known, is a Joint Venture with Absa Bank, that supports the Woolworths retail business by providing in-store credit in the form of the Woolworths StoreCard and offering value-added services including credit cards, personal loans and short-term insurance as well as life insurance linked to other products.

Main Purpose

The Enterprise SupplierManager is responsible for overseeing active management of the organisation’s portfolio of managed third-party suppliers, ensuring that the management of supplier relationships supports strategic goals while maintaining compliance, cost-effectiveness, and service quality. The role entails supporting supplier managers in the business to develop key supplier relationships to be more productive and mutually beneficial, and to measure progress on an ongoing basis.

This is a strategic role that balances governance with the development of cross-functional partnerships, driving consistency, compliance, and continuous improvement in supplier engagement across business units and the Absa Group. The incumbent will be required to serve as the enterprise point of contact for strategic and critical suppliers, ensuring strong partnerships that drive mutual value; facilitate executive-level supplier governance meetings and performance reviews; and foster collaboration between suppliers and internal stakeholders to drive innovation, efficiency, and continuous improvement.

Reporting to the Senior Manager: Supplier Risk Management, the main purpose of this role is to:

• Ensure that all Supplier Management activities and duties are carried out in full compliance with regulatory requirements, the Enterprise Risk Management Framework and applicable policies and standards.
• Work closely with internal and external stakeholders and assist with the embedment of the Supplier Management capability to ensure supplier management compliance by the respective Business Units.
• Work with all stakeholders, including Sourcing Specialists, Supplier/Service Managers in the business, and third-party suppliers in order to maintain an integrated and effective supplier management framework where risks are identified, quantified, and managed on a consistent basis to deliver quantifiable benefits to the business.
• Act as an interface between Sourcing and the Business Units to assist in identifying opportunities for value extraction and strategic relationship building.
• Actively manage enterprise suppliers that are not managed within the business.
• Monitor and report on supplier activity plans and Key Indicators.

The Enterprise SupplierManager is the subject matter expert in post-contract supplier relationship, contract; risk, performance and commercial management. This role develops and drives supplier management best practices, governance frameworks, performance standards, and risk management protocols to optimise supplier value, minimise risk, and ensure alignment with organisational objectives.

The role is required to ensure collaboration with the Sourcing supplier risk management team to focus on the uniform embedment of supplier management controls, assist in the development and execution of commercial solutions targeted to realise significant value for the business unit and the organisation, whilst creating alignment with the service, market, supplier and procurement strategies.

KEY OUTPUTS

Risk & Governance

• Be the centre of knowledge for the embedment and adoption of a uniform approach to supplier management activities and controls including the requirement to –
• Monitor activities being undertaken currently by the respective business units.
• Ensure that the managed portfolio of suppliers’ activities conforms with the supplier management Standard and templates.
• Aggregate/ensure governance on risk control activities in line with the stipulated Key Result Areas.
• Ensure timely and effective handover of contracts by the sourcing specialists to the respective supplier managers.
• Ensure that supplier and exit strategies are in place for key suppliers on the enterprise-managed supplier portfolio.
• Ensure ongoing training and upskilling of stakeholders, including new BU supplier managers, service managers, and sourcing personnel.
• Prepare and publish explanatory/guidance notes, templates, and risk acceptance documentation.
• Support the review of supplier management guidelines and standards.
• Maintain the Supplier Management shared data repository and ensure accuracy.
• Perform periodic reviews on progress against activity plans and provide quality assurance.
• Assist with the development and monitoring of Key Indicators.
• Take part in the monthly Absa Supplier Risk Governance forum to enable the maturity of internal reporting requirements.
• Enable enhancement and maturity of supplier management Key Indicators.
• Collaborate with Risk and Compliance on internal Assurance requirements.
• Collaborate with Absa Group Supplier Assurance on onsite review scheduling and onsite gap remediation.
• Obtain and cascade relevant information and analytics to enable reviews that drive business risk and compliance improvement.
• Review Management Information every week per supplier to monitor gaps and ensure timely and appropriate control measures.
• Report risk and compliance results to the relevant forums.

Commercial Management

• Provide the necessary support to and ensure that supplier managers in the various business units implement value optimisation controls and undertake commercial management activities, including to –
• Lead the post-contract development of the managed third-party suppliers’ contract and commercial strategies.
• Encourage partnership with managed third-party suppliers’ innovative & continuous improvement initiatives.
• Focus on demand management to promote the development of strategic partnerships and value release opportunities.
• Review business drivers and translate into value-adding strategies to meet stakeholder requirements.
• Work with suppliers to develop strategies that deliver quantifiable benefits to the business.
• Assist with the delivery of targeted benefits to cover cost reduction, cost avoidance, quality, service, innovation and revenue generation financial deliverables as agreed and must contribute to growth and strategy.
• Obtain and cascade relevant information and analytics to conduct reviews that drive the improvement of business objectives.
• Manage supply dependencies and interactions effectively up to senior level internally throughout the supply chain, with clients, colleagues and with external suppliers.
• Review samples of paid invoices on an ongoing basis to ensure that the process of invoice validation is in place and operational.
• Undertake the commercial management activities for enterprise suppliers under your management.

Relationship Management

• Provide the necessary support to and ensure that supplier managers in the various business units implement relationship management engagement models and activity plans for each supplier account, including to –
• Strategically plan and manage all interactions with the managed supplier portfolios’ organisations to maximise the value of those interactions.
• Outline an annual activity plan to address the end-to-end supplier management processes.
• Compile and review an engagement model for each of the suppliers, including an escalation process.
• Act as an interface for the suppliers/performance partners to provide services to the business effectively in line with supply obligations.
• Assist management in delivering alignment between business objectives and strategy with the specific supplier.
• Take part in cross-functional sourcing activities relating to the managed supplier portfolio to promote adherence to the sourcing lifecycle processes for effective supplier management.
• Manage matrix relationships across the credit risk-related supplier portfolio to promote synergetic cross-functional collaboration (as well as with JV partners).
• Undertake the relationship management control activities for enterprise suppliers under your management.

Risk Management and Compliance

• Provide the necessary oversight and ensure that supplier managers in the various business units implement risk management control activities, including to –
• Deliver compliance with the third-party risk and sourcing-related policies and standards.
• Ensure that periodic risk assessments and supplier reviews are conducted, as well as implement appropriate remedial actions on behalf of the Accountable Executive.
• Ensure ongoing review of and management of supplier risk controls, including concentration risk (and dependency on a single supplier) and other 3rd party risks.
• Ensure that an annual Financial Stability assessment is performed with the assistance of the Sourcing Specialist and that any exceptions are escalated to the Accountable Executive for approval.
• Instruct and assist suppliers to adhere to Business Continuity Management (BCM) requirements.
• Ensure appropriate engagement of internal legal resources to meet business and sourcing requirements.
• Identify and escalate risks associated with service delivery, systems, product and resource planning for timely resolution.
• Process the managed suppliers’ data accurately for the enterprise and ensure compliance with Records Management implemented processes.
• Understand and manage risks and risk events (incidents) relevant to the Role.
• Undertake mandatory proactive assurance and authentication of all procurement arrangements that are business critical, complex, multi-year, high value, high risk, and material, including monitoring of procurement arrangements that require regulatory approval.
• Conduct control obligations assurance activities to ensure that all controls, processes, documentation, and procedures are reviewed regularly and adhered to by the suppliers.
• Undertake the risk management activities for enterprise suppliers under your management.

Contracts Management

• Provide the necessary oversight and ensure that supplier managers in the various business units implement and undertake effective contracts management control activities, including to –
• Ensure that supplier contracts are drafted correctly in line with the third-party risk and sourcing-related policy and standards.
• Manage the contract for compliance with all the supplier control obligations (SCOs).
• Direct the completion of the product/service risk segmentation (assessment) periodically, where there is a material change to services or a new supplier to determine whether the contract requires a change of active supplier management.
• Ensure that supplier contracts comply with applicable regulatory requirements by ensuring their timely review on an annual basis in conjunction with the business area, sourcing and the supplier.
• Ensure that managed suppliers’ contracts are renewed on time where applicable.
• Undertake the contract management activities for enterprise suppliers under your management.

Performance/ Service Delivery

Management

• Provide the necessary oversight and ensure that supplier managers in the various business units implement effective supplier performance management and performance gaps remediation control activities, including to –
• Ensure that supplier contracts include a properly defined scope of services and measures of performance, such as service levels, commercial structures, and payment methodologies.
• Schedule and participate in formal Supplier Relationship Management Reviews across all business needs, including cost management, development, technology road-mapping, productivity etc.
• Ensure that all managed supplier contracts are renewed on time.

Service Delivery

• Undertake the performance and service delivery management activities for enterprise suppliers under your management.

Analysis and Reporting

• Provide the necessary support to and ensure that supplier managers in the various business units implement data analysis, aggregation and uploading for reporting purposes for each supplier account, including to –
• Produce accurate daily/weekly/monthly supplier and business performance reports/dashboards for submission to relevant stakeholders as per the business unit or supplier requirements.
• Document and store all evidence of supplier management activities and control requirements in a central supplier management repository/ShareFile.
• Participate in the Group supplier management community forums.
• Undertake the data analysis and synthesis of information for enterprise suppliers under your management.

• Strategy Development and Monitoring
• Stakeholder Management
• Decision Making
• Action Orientation
• Results Orientation
• Leadership

Qualifications and Experience

Minimum

° Relevant Bachelor’s degree or equivalent NQF Level 7

Preferred

° Business Management or related postgraduate qualification.

Experience

Minimum

° 5-8 years Supplier and Contract Management.

° Experience in the financial services industry (banking).

Preferred

° Knowledge of supplier relationship/ vendor management processes.

° Third-party supplier value creation/ commercial management experience.

° Understanding of the end-to-end sourcing and post-contract management process.

° Understanding of the terms and conditions of supply contracts, including GFAs, SFAs, VAs and FOOs.

° Ability to draft stakeholder correspondence.

Knowledge and Skills

Knowledge and Additional Skills

• Excellent understanding of procurement processes, post-contract supplier management and highly complex suppliers
• Advanced analytical skills
• Advanced business application skills (e.g., Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint) and supply chain modelling skills
• Drive the embedment of supplier management toolsets and processes
• Strategic Planning and Implementation
• Business Acumen
• Facilitation of workshops and meetings
• SLA/Performance Management
• Advanced communication skills, including presentation and negotiation abilities