Senior Project Manager

Absa Bank Kenya PLC is a prominent financial institution established in 1916, providing banking and financial services from its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya.

The Senior Project Manager, reporting to the Head of Change, is tasked with the successful execution of business and technical solutions that support Absa Bank Kenya Plc's strategic goals. This can encompass managing large to medium-sized business-critical projects, overseeing a major workstream within a complex project, or handling multiple smaller projects. The role requires adherence to Absa Bank Group Limited's project practices, standards, and methodologies, ensuring timely delivery within budget, to quality standards, and in compliance with all relevant policies. The manager will collaborate with various stakeholders and ensure all activities meet regulatory requirements and the Enterprise-Wide Risk Management Framework.

1. Support the development of business requirements and assist in creating business cases and project Charters.
2. Obtain sign-off for business cases and Project Charters from the Project Sponsor and Steering Committee.
3. Define project scope, plan the project, and agree on structure and deliverables based on approved business requirements.
4. Prepare and agree on detailed project responsibilities.
5. Ensure projects are adequately funded and senior management is aware of their delivery responsibilities.
6. Agree and secure necessary resources for the project.
7. Lead and manage large-scale projects, guiding project teams and dedicated resources across Kenya or Africa.
8. Establish and maintain appropriate structures for controlling and monitoring project initiation, progress, and delivery, adhering to Project Management Methodology.
9. Actively participate in all project phases, providing specialist guidance in project definition, requirements analysis, business and technical design, and change control.
10. Coordinate the project team's work, assigning tasks, monitoring progress, and ensuring commitment to successful delivery.
11. Prepare accurate forecasts for costs, cash flow, timescales, and resource needs, agreeing them with the Project Steering Committee.
12. Identify and manage all project issues and risks, including escalation and contingency planning.
13. Identify all project products and tasks, maintaining detailed and accurate project and resource plans with current activity completion estimates.
14. Monitor and control resource and fund usage against the budget, securing agreement for any project changes.
15. Provide regular and accurate progress reports and updated plans to Accountable Executives, senior stakeholders, and the Project Steering Committee.
16. Ensure operational support staff are trained and prepared for solution implementation, and that operational handover is well-planned without adverse effects on existing systems or processes, meeting all SLA commitments.
17. Establish structures for ongoing operational service control, including Service Management Groups and Service Level Agreements.
18. Confirm plans for external resource and service procurement with the Programme Manager within a Programme context.
19. Participate in the procurement process for external resources and services when required.
20. Ensure all service contracts are signed and executed before project implementation.
21. Establish an audit plan to monitor progress and quality throughout the contract lifecycle.
22. Prepare a quality plan for each project, outlining the overall quality approach, standards, and processes for quality assurance, review, and control.
23. Ensure all tasks comply with departmental procedures, mandatory quality standards, and the agreed architectural framework.
24. Manage the full development lifecycle from business case to project handover, completion, and post-project review, ensuring quality deliverables.
25. Ensure compliance with project practices and methodologies, proactively managing resourcing and financial constraints.
26. Define controls for budgeting, resourcing, scheduling, and project quality.
27. Implement self-health-checks and improvements for continuous effective control.
28. Coordinate stakeholder engagement to advise on governance requirements for transformational initiatives.
29. Keep stakeholders regularly informed of initiative progress against plans and any remediation areas.
30. Manage communication regarding governance exceptions and problem management activities.
31. Ensure all activities comply with regulatory requirements, the Enterprise-Wide Risk Management Framework, and internal Absa Bank Policies.
32. Understand and manage risks and risk events relevant to the role.
33. Adhere to Group IT security policy and controls for system access.
34. Comply with operational risk and rigor in protecting people, customers, assets, and the organization.
35. Ensure all requests are properly authorized and signatures verified before processing.
36. Participate in and enhance snap checks.
37. Support audit processes.
38. Agree resource plans with the Accountable Executive or project steering committee and lead sub-project teams.
39. Set work scope and targets for sub-project workstreams, monitoring and supporting sub-project managers' performance.
40. Identify and plan delivery of necessary training within project timescales.
41. Contribute to performance assessments of staff undertaking sub-project work.
42. Provide coaching and guidance to sub-project staff, encouraging contribution and feedback.

1. Bachelor's Degree.
2. PRINCE2 or PMP Certification (or willingness to achieve certification within 6 months).
3. Familiarity with Prince2 methodology, PMI, or other relevant Change/Project management methodologies.
4. Knowledge of the Change Governance Framework.
5. Good understanding of value-based management principles.
6. Experience with appropriate project/programme management software.
7. Strong planning skills for producing, monitoring, and delivering project plans.
8. Innovative problem-solving ability to challenge the status quo and drive beneficial change.
9. Value-based business perspective, appreciating Absa's strategy and commercial consequences of project decisions.
10. Ability to mobilize and manage corporate resources against a value-based agenda.
11. Proven Project Management and Change Management skills and expertise.
12. Experience applying project management best practices and disciplines (e.g., Prince2, MSP or equivalent).
13. Experience managing activity across the entire project lifecycle using current technology, structured methods, and quality processes.
14. Exposure to governance, control, and risk management.
15. Proven ability to effectively work across teams at all levels.
16. Ability to negotiate and influence senior-level stakeholders.
17. Strong communication and presentation skills.
18. Proficiency in PowerPoint design and data visualization.