Head of Commercial Services

Absa Bank Kenya PLC is a financial institution founded in 1916, operating in the banking and financial services sector in Nairobi, Kenya. It focuses on delivering measurable business value and operational resilience.

The Head of Commercial Services will lead an integrated, data-driven operating model aligned with the bank's strategic priorities. Key responsibilities include optimizing bank-wide third-party spend and total cost of ownership while maintaining service quality and control. The role involves directing the property and workplace portfolio, including leases, projects, facilities, and asset management. It also focuses on strengthening supplier governance, managing third-party risk, and ensuring contract performance. The successful candidate will accelerate digitization, automation, and analytics across various commercial operations, embed sustainability and safety into decision-making, and build a high-performing team with strong partnerships across the organization. The role also involves strategic oversight to ensure all commercial activities are efficient, resilient, responsible, and compliant with risk appetite, policies, and regulations.

1. Define and execute the Commercial Services strategy, operating model, scorecard, and multi-year roadmap in alignment with the Bank’s strategic priorities.
2. Manage the function’s budget, benefits plan, and productivity agenda, tracking cost, value, service, risk, and sustainability outcomes.
3. Lead enterprise spend and demand analytics, should-cost, and total-cost-of-ownership assessments to identify 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 insights 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, ensuring value 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, setting performance standards, SLAs, relationship plans, and executive escalation for strategic suppliers.
9. Drive supplier innovation, local and diverse supplier participation, responsible sourcing, and sustainable partnerships.
10. Oversee source-to-pay effectiveness, including requisitioning, purchase order discipline, invoice resolution, and timely supplier payment.
11. Develop and execute the property and workplace strategy across owned and leased premises, aligned to business demand, customer needs, and portfolio economics.
12. Lead lease negotiations, renewals, exits, acquisitions, disposals, valuations, and landlord performance.
13. Oversee capital projects, refurbishments, and relocations to agreed scope, quality, cost, safety, and schedule.
14. Ensure effective facilities, utilities, maintenance, workplace, mail, transport, reception, archives, and related administrative services.
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 for lifecycle planning 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 enhance 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 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 closure.
28. Build an inclusive, high-performing team with clear accountabilities, succession coverage, and capability plans.
29. Coach leaders and colleagues, set objectives, provide feedback, and manage performance and recognition.
30. Create cross-functional ways of working with various business units and Group functions.
31. Influence senior stakeholders through evidence-based recommendations and transparent communication.
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, such as CIPS or an equivalent procurement qualification; facilities, property, project management, sustainability, or risk certification is advantageous.
4. At least 10 years of relevant experience across procurement/commercial management, supplier management, property/facilities, or enterprise services.
5. Substantial senior leadership experience is required.