Chief Information Officer: Business and Commercial Banking

Job Classification

138392 - Chief Information Officer: Business and Commercial Banking

Closing date - 30 April 2025

Job Family

Career Stream

Leadership Pipeline

Job Purpose

The CIO is a technology leader tasked with enabling the business objectives of Business and Commercial Banking (BCB) through innovative use of technology and data. Operating within an "n-in-a-box" model, they collaborate closely with BCB counterparts (e.g., Chief Product Officer) while overseeing tribe tech leads and balancing both BCB-specific and Enterprise-wide technology responsibilities.

Job Responsibilities

Technology strategy and leadership

• Develop and implement a technology strategy that aligns with the BCB’s business objectives, leveraging technology and data to drive growth.
• Partner with the Chief Product Officer and other cluster leaders in BCB to identify and prioritize technology-enabled opportunities.
• Oversee the adoption of an "n-in-a-box" operating model, ensuring seamless integration of technology solutions within BCB.
• Monitor and manage BCB’s KPIs, such as business value generation, lead time, release frequency, change failure rates, system performance, data utilization, and customer satisfaction, to measure success

Tribe Management & Tech/Engineering excellence

• Provide direct leadership to tech leads within BCB’s tribes, fostering innovation, accountability, and technical excellence.
• Guide tribe teams and engineers in delivering technology and data solutions that support BCB’s priorities, such as product development or operational efficiency.
• Facilitate collaboration between tribe tech leads and cluster business / product leaders to ensure alignment on goals and deliverables.
• Build a high-performing technology and engineering culture within BCB, focusing on engineering skill development and agile practices.

BCB-Specific Technology Enablement

• Drive the deployment of BCB-specific systems, applications, and data platforms (e.g., customer analytics tools, product-specific apps) across the full SDLC (design, build, deploy, operate)
• Ensure the BCB’s technology infrastructure supports business needs, including scalability, security, and regulatory compliance, working in partnership with other teams within Group Technology
• Champion the use of data-driven insights to enhance BCB decision-making and customer experiences.
• Lead digital transformation initiatives unique to BCB, such as adopting AI or automation for BCB’s processes.

Group Technology Project Delivery

• Take ownership of non-BCB / Enterprise responsibilities by contributing to bank-wide technology projects that span multiple clusters.
• Collaborate with other CIOs and group-level leaders to deliver enterprise initiatives, such as core system and platform upgrades or cybersecurity enhancements and vulnerability management.
• Ensure BCB’s interests are represented in Enterprise technology strategies while balancing resources between cluster and bank-wide priorities.
• Manage dependencies and timelines for Enterprise projects, ensuring minimal disruption to BCB’s operations.

Job Responsibilities Continue

Risk, Compliance & Innovation

• Implement robust cybersecurity and data protection measures to safeguard BCB operations and comply with relevant regulations.
• Proactively identify and mitigate technology risks, such as system failures or data breaches, within BCB.
• Stay ahead of industry trends, integrating emerging technologies (e.g., cloud, blockchain) into both BCB and Enterprise initiatives.
• Ensure all technology and data practices adhere to internal governance standards and external regulatory requirements

IT Service Management

• Run the bank with clear objectives being availability, reliability, resilience (DR | BCP | Continuous Processing), security, compliance and efficiency.
• Prioritise asset health with clear asset roadmaps to ensure applications remain relevant.

Data Analytics and Insights

• Lead BCB’s analytics team to design impactful analytics projects, focusing on actionable insights that drive business performance across
• Aligns data and analytics priorities with the business priorities of BCB.
• Leads decision-making regarding which analytics cases are to be executed within BCB.
• Guides the data strategy and -architecture that supports the execution of the data and analytics use cases for BCB.
• Provide thought leadership on modern technologies such as AI and Gen-AI, collaborating with the Group Analytics team for alignment.
• Develop self-serve analytics capabilities to empower more users within BCB with data-driven decision-making tools.
• Support innovation by implementing new analytical approaches, staying updated with industry trends and advancements.

knowledge

• Relevant regulatory knowledge
• Knowledge of banking regulations and cybersecurity best practices.
• Deep understanding of banking systems, data analytics, and emerging technologies (e.g., AI, cloud)
• Proficiency in data-driven decision-making and analytics platforms
• Understanding of modernized engineering practices, agile methodologies, data, (cyber & information) security, AI / GenAI / ML
• Expertise in advanced data analytics, data strategy development, and data governance to drive business insights and ensure regulatory compliance

Essential Qualifications - NQF Level

Preferred Qualification

Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Technology, Data Science, Business Administration, or a related field.
Master’s degree (e.g., MBA) or advanced certifications (e.g., ITIL, TOGAF, PMP, or data-related credentials like CDMP) strongly preferred.

Essential Certifications

Skills

• Strategic vision to align technology and data with cluster business goals
• Effective communication to bridge technical and business stakeholders
• Adaptability to manage cluster, non-cluster and Enterprise responsibilities
• Planning and Organising
• Builds & maintains relationships
• Business acumen
• Holistic, integrative, end to end thinking and problem solving
• Technical know-how to inspire and support engineering craft development
• Leadership ability to manage tribe tech leads and foster collaboration with cluster counterparts (e.g., Chief Product Officer)
• Financial acumen for budgeting and ROI analysis of tech investments

Minimum Experience Level

• +15 years of progressive experience in technology leadership roles, with at least 5 years in a senior IT position within the banking or financial services industry with expertise in delivering scalable, secure, and compliant technology solutions.

Technical / Professional Knowledge

Behavioural Competencies