Head: P&W Credit

Requisition Details & Talent Acquisition Contact

Requisition nr: 144064
Talent Acquisition Specialist: Tshego Semenya
Location: 135 Rivonia Road, Sandown
Closing date: 8 March 2026

Cluster

Personal and Private Banking

Career Stream

Leadership Pipeline

Position

Head: Private & Wealth Credit Assessment

Why join the team!

This role offers a rare opportunity to shape and build a newly consolidated Private & Wealth credit assessment function. The successful candidate will set the cultural tone, establish consistent ways of working, and lead a unified structure across previously independent teams. With broad oversight of high‑value, complex portfolios—including Private Banking, Private Wealth, juristic entities, trusts, and relationship‑managed groups—the role requires deep credit risk expertise, strong governance and regulatory understanding, and the ability to make sound, high‑impact decisions. Operating as the single strategic point of accountability, the Head engages directly with senior executives and governance forums, while driving innovation, digital enablement, and data‑driven assessment improvements. National travel may be required to connect with stakeholders and teams across regions.

The position also provides a powerful platform to lead an experienced team of credit specialists through strategic, rather than operational, leadership. Success requires high EQ, strong communication and conflict‑resolution skills, and the ability to unify senior professionals across diverse locations. As teams consolidate, the Head will shape culture, strengthen collaboration, and embed shared standards. The role is central to improving turnaround times, enhancing client experience, and strengthening competitive positioning, ultimately influencing Nedbank’s growth and portfolio resilience. For the right leader, this is a legacy‑building opportunity to drive meaningful change and elevate the future of credit in a critical segment.

Job Purpose

To ensure the sustainability, responsiveness, and prudent growth of Nedbank’s Private, Wealth, and future Small Business portfolios by providing strategic leadership and expert oversight of credit acquisition and assessment functions. This role ensures robust credit decisioning, client centric turnaround times, and consistent application of policy and risk appetite across complex individual, juristic, and relationship managed credit requests.

Job Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Portfolio Oversight

• Translate PPB and Group strategies into a segment‑specific credit assessment strategy for Private, Wealth, and Small Business clients.
• Provide authoritative oversight of high‑complexity credit assessments, including juristic entities, trusts, structured lending, and multi‑entity client groups.
• Embed and monitor adherence to credit risk appetite, covenants, and governance frameworks.

Manage Financial & Business Outcomes

• Drive portfolio sustainability by ensuring balanced, well‑considered credit decisions aligned with segment profitability and risk dynamics.
• Analyse performance metrics, turnaround times, decline/approval trends, and exceptions to identify improvement opportunities.
• Ensure quality management of judgments, reviews, and escalations for complex credit structures

Client‑Centric Delivery & Stakeholder Engagement

• Partner with Relationship Banking, Private Wealth, Business Banking, and Product teams to deliver a competitive and differentiated client experience.
• Engage proactively with internal and external stakeholders to resolve complex credit queries, negotiate structures, and enhance client satisfaction.
• Represent the assessment function in governance committees (BUCC, CCC, etc.).

People Leadership & Culture Building

• Lead and inspire a high‑performing team across regions, fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Develop leadership strength within manager and assessor layers through coaching, succession planning, and skills development.
• Drive a culture aligned to Nedbank values, leadership expectations, and transformation objectives.

Operational Excellence & Process Improvement

• Standardise decision-making, documentation quality, and assessment practices across Private, Wealth, and Small Business assessment teams.
• Identify process inefficiencies and drive improvements to reduce turnaround time and uplift client experience.
• Collaborate with Policy, Analytics, and Governance teams to recommend enhancements to credit policies and frameworks.

Risk, Governance & Compliance

• Ensure compliance with credit policy, regulatory frameworks, and internal governance requirements.
• Sign off on complex transactions, deviations, and exceptions within delegated authority.
• Champion continuous uplift of assessment standards, including MI reporting, quality assurance outcomes, and audit readiness.

Essential Qualifications - NQF Level

Preferred Qualification

• Bachelor of Commerce: Honours (Risk, Finance or related fields)
• Postgraduate qualification (Honours, Postgraduate Diploma, MBA, CA(SA), or equivalent). 

Minimum Experience Level

• Minimum of 10 years senior leadership experience in Credit Risk, with a proven track record of managing complex, high‑value credit portfolios.
• Extensive, proven exposure to:
  • Complex credit assessment and structured lending.
  • Assessment of juristic entities, trusts, and multi-entity client groups.
  • High‑value Private and Wealth credit portfolios.
  • Proven ability to lead multidisciplinary and geographically dispersed teams at a senior, strategic level.
• Experience applying higher‑level mandates, overrides, and decisions for complex transactions.
• Strong financial acumen, including the ability to interpret and analyse complex financial statements.
• Exposure to the full credit lifecycle, including credit risk monitoring and portfolio appetite management (preferred).

Technical / Professional Knowledge

• Credit Risk Management (advanced)
• Complex juristic entity assessment
• Strategic planning & execution
• Governance, risk & compliance
• Client service & stakeholder management
• Performance management & talent development
• Data‑driven decision-making & MI interpretation
• Change leadership

Disclaimer

Preference will be given to candidates from the underrepresented groups

Please contact the Nedbank Recruiting Team at +27 860 555 566