Head of Commercial Services

Absa Bank Limited (Absa) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Barclays Africa Group Limited. Absa offers personal and business banking, credit cards, corporate and investment banking, wealth and investment management as well as bancassurance.

The Head of Commercial Services will define and execute the function's strategy, operating model, and roadmap in alignment with the Bank's strategic priorities. This involves managing the function's budget, benefits plan, and productivity agenda, while also leading enterprise spend and demand analytics to identify value opportunities. The role requires partnering with business and Finance leaders to challenge demand, shape investment choices, and translate business requirements into commercially sound solutions, providing executive insights on market movements, supplier concentration, and property economics.

1. Define and execute the Commercial Services strategy, operating model, scorecard, and multi-year roadmap in alignment with CODO and the Bank’s strategic priorities.
2. Own the function’s budget, benefits plan, and productivity agenda, with transparent tracking of cost, value, service, risk, and sustainability outcomes.
3. Lead enterprise spend and demand analytics, should-cost, and total-cost-of-ownership assessments, and market benchmarking to identify structural value opportunities.
4. Partner with business and Finance leaders to challenge demand, shape investment choices, and translate business requirements into commercially sound solutions.
5. Provide executive insight on market movements, supplier concentration, property economics, and emerging commercial risks and opportunities.
6. Lead category strategies, competitive sourcing, negotiation, and contracting for goods and services within the function’s mandate, ensuring value, fairness, and policy compliance.
7. Establish disciplined contract lifecycle management, including obligation tracking, renewals, variations, claims, disputes, and benefits realization.
8. Segment and govern the supplier portfolio, with clear performance standards, service-level agreements, relationship plans, and executive escalation for strategic and critical suppliers.
9. Drive supplier innovation, local and diverse supplier participation, responsible sourcing, and commercially sustainable partnerships.
10. Oversee source-to-pay effectiveness, including requisitioning, purchase order discipline, invoice resolution, and timely, accurate supplier payment.
11. Develop and execute the property and workplace strategy across owned and leased premises, aligned to business demand, customer needs, hybrid work, and portfolio economics.
12. Lead lease negotiations, renewals, exits, acquisitions, disposals, valuations, and landlord performance, supported by reliable portfolio and market data.
13. Oversee capital projects, refurbishments, and relocations to agreed scope, quality, cost, safety, and schedule, with robust governance and benefits tracking.
14. Ensure effective facilities, utilities, maintenance, workplace, mail, transport, reception, archives, and related administrative services through fit-for-purpose service models.
15. Embed energy efficiency, resource optimization, waste reduction, climate resilience, and accessibility into premises, projects, and supplier standards.
16. Maintain property, asset, occupancy, and maintenance data to support lifecycle planning, preventive maintenance, and informed investment decisions.
17. Sponsor digitization and automation across procurement, contract management, supplier governance, facilities, payments, and service request journeys.
18. Establish reliable management information, dashboards, and predictive insights for spend, savings, supplier performance, property, safety, service, and risk.
19. Design simple, customer-centered services with clear service catalogues, ownership, turnaround standards, and escalation routes.
20. Measure stakeholder experience and use feedback, process mining, root-cause analysis, and continuous improvement to raise service quality and productivity.
21. Assess emerging technologies, including AI-enabled analytics and workflow automation, with appropriate human oversight, data governance, security, and control.
22. Own the Commercial Services risk and control environment, ensuring compliance with applicable laws, regulations, Group standards, and Bank policies.
23. Lead third-party risk governance across due diligence, financial viability, information security, data privacy, business continuity, subcontracting, concentration, and exit planning.
24. Ensure critical supplier and workplace services have tested continuity, incident response, crisis management, and recovery arrangements.
25. Oversee occupational safety, health, environmental, and building compliance, including risk assessments, statutory inspections, incident management, and remediation.
26. Ensure accurate approvals, segregation of duties, records, invoice controls, and assurance across sourcing, contracting, property, and payments.
27. Act as the accountable escalation point for material incidents, control gaps, audit findings, and regulatory matters, ensuring timely and sustainable closure.
28. Build an inclusive, high-performing team with clear accountabilities, succession coverage, and capability plans across commercial, property, digital, analytics, risk, and sustainability disciplines.
29. Coach leaders and colleagues, set stretching objectives, provide regular feedback, and manage performance and recognition fairly.
30. Create cross-functional ways of working with CODO, business units, Finance, Risk, Legal, Compliance, Technology, Security, Human Capital, and Group functions.
31. Influence senior stakeholders through evidence-based recommendations, effective governance forums, and transparent communication of trade-offs and decisions.
32. Promote ethical conduct, a strong control culture, customer obsession, innovation, and continuous learning.

1. Bachelor’s degree from a recognized university in Supply Chain Management, Procurement, Commerce, Finance, Business Administration, Engineering, Property/Facilities Management, or a related discipline.
2. Postgraduate qualification or MBA is advantageous.
3. Relevant professional certification is strongly preferred, for example CIPS or an equivalent procurement qualification; facilities, property, project management, sustainability or risk certification is advantageous.
4. At least 10 years’ relevant experience across procurement/commercial management, supplier management, property/facilities or enterprise services, including substantial senior leadership experience.
5. Demonstrated accountability for significant budgets, complex negotiations, strategic suppliers, outsourced services, and/or a multi-site property portfolio.
6. Experience in a regulated financial services or similarly complex environment is strongly preferred.
7. Proven delivery of measurable cost, service, risk, digital transformation, sustainability, and stakeholder outcomes.
8. Strong knowledge of banking operating models, regulatory expectations, and operational resilience requirements.
9. Expertise in strategic sourcing, category management, competitive tendering, negotiation, and contract lifecycle management.
10. Proficiency in third-party risk management, supplier due diligence, concentration risk, business continuity, and exit planning.
11. Skills in spend analytics, demand management, should-cost modeling, total cost of ownership, and benefits realization.
12. Knowledge of property portfolio strategy, leasing, valuation, workplace planning, facilities operations, and capital project governance.
13. Understanding of occupational safety, health, environmental, and building compliance requirements.
14. Familiarity with source-to-pay controls, accounts payable interfaces, financial governance, and management reporting.
15. Experience with digital procurement, workflow automation, data visualization, and responsible use of AI-enabled analytics.
16. Knowledge of sustainability, climate resilience, energy efficiency, responsible sourcing, and inclusive supplier development.