Senior Manager: Colleague Support

About the role

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 Provides strategic leadership, direction, and operational excellence for the Colleague Support (CS) function across Absa. The role ensures that colleague-facing support services deliver consistent, efficient, and high-quality experiences aligned with Human Capital (HC) strategies and Absa's broader organisational goals. The incumbent drives innovation in support operations, embeds best practice service delivery models, ensures robust performance management, and leads a team of CS Managers and ER Specialists. This role also oversees change adoption, technology enablement, and continuous improvement initiatives that enhance colleague satisfaction, operational efficiency, and the overall colleague experience across Absa's multi-country footprint. Job Description KEY FOCUS AREAS Strategic Leadership & Direction for the Colleague Support Function Operational Excellence, Process Improvement & SLA Management Technology, Data Insights & Continuous Improvement People Leadership, Capability Building & Workforce Enablement Stakeholder Engagement & Cross‑Functional Collaboration Risk, Governance & Policy Implementation Crisis, Incident Response & Escalation Management Leadership Management of Employee Relations Specialists KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES Strategic Leadership & Direction for the Colleague Support Function Drive the strategic agenda for the CS Team, ensuring alignment with Human Capital's priorities and Absa's enterprise strategy. Monitor industry trends and best practices to shape the evolution of colleague support services. Provide leadership with insights, updates, and recommendations regarding operational performance, opportunities, and systemic challenges. Operational Excellence, Process Improvement & SLA Management Establish, track, and evaluate KPIs and SLAs for response and resolution times to maintain consistent service quality. Lead continuous improvement initiatives to enhance operational efficiency, reduce friction, and streamline colleague journeys. Conduct root‑cause analyses and implement corrective actions when SLA deviations occur. Technology, Data Insights & Continuous Improvement Identify and recommend technologies and digital solutions that strengthen service delivery and enable automation and scalability. Use data analytics to assess service trends, colleague needs, and operational bottlenecks. Champion innovation, adopting new approaches and tools to improve colleague service delivery. People Leadership, Capability Building & Workforce Enablement Oversee performance, development, and day‑to‑day management of CS Managers, ER Specialists, Wellness team and CS Operations. Manage team resource allocation to ensure adequate coverage, workforce optimisation, and operational continuity. Lead a culture of high performance, learning, coaching, and development, leveraging Absa frameworks. Leading an Employee Relations (ER) team Drive strategic oversight of Employee Relations (ER) service delivery, ensuring alignment with the Group ER CoE, organisational risk appetite, governance standards, and Human Capital strategy. Lead and manage ER Specialists to ensure consistent, high-quality case management across all employee relations matters, including disciplinary processes, grievances, incapacity cases, and organisational change interventions. Ensure effective allocation, prioritisation, and monitoring of ER case workloads to maintain service excellence, timeliness, and adherence to SLAs. Provide guidance, coaching, and technical expertise to ER Specialists on complex, high-risk, and sensitive cases, ensuring consistency in interpretation and application of policies and labour legislation. Oversee the quality assurance of ER case outcomes, ensuring fairness, procedural integrity, audit readiness, and legal compliance across all matters. Monitor and manage external dispute resolution processes, including CCMA and labour court engagements, ensuring organisational readiness, risk mitigation, and effective representation strategies. Establish and maintain ER reporting frameworks, delivering insights on case trends, root causes, and systemic risks to inform proactive interventions and decision-making. Drive continuous improvement in ER processes, tools, and frameworks to enhance efficiency, reduce case cycle times, and improve colleague experience Stakeholder Engagement & Cross‑Functional Collaboration Act as the primary point of contact for senior leadership regarding colleague support matters. Facilitate continuous feedback loops between colleagues, the support teams, and broader HC functions. Build strong relationships across HC, Risk, Technology, and

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