Head of Finance – Technology & Digital

Empowering Africa’s tomorrow, together…one story at a time.

Belonging at Absa

Absa is committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive. We are an equal opportunity employer and welcome applications from suitably qualified individuals from diverse backgrounds. In support of our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) commitments and Employment Equity objectives, preference may be given to candidates from underrepresented designated groups, including persons with disabilities. We encourage applicants who may require reasonable accommodation during the recruitment process to let us know so that appropriate support can be provided.

Job Summary

To provide strategic financial leadership and commercial challenge to the Business Banking Technology & Digital function, ensuring technology expenditure, investments and architecture decisions deliver measurable business value.
The role will provide end-to-end financial oversight across technology run costs, infrastructure, cloud, applications, software and licensing, technology vendors and strategic change. It will translate complex technology decisions into clear financial and commercial insights that enable informed investment, prioritisation and cost optimisation.

Job Description

Key accountabilities

1. Technology financial management

• Own financial planning, forecasting and performance management for the Technology portfolio.
• Develop transparency of technology costs across applications, platforms, infrastructure, vendors and business services.
• Establish clear views of Run vs Change expenditure and key cost drivers.
• Understand and challenge technology allocations and consumption-based charges.
• Develop Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and unit-cost perspectives for major technology services.
• Identify structural cost optimisation opportunities rather than relying only on tactical budget reductions.

2. Strategic technology investment and business cases

• Partner Technology executives on investment prioritisation and portfolio decisions.
• Build and challenge business cases across cloud migration, application modernisation, automation, digital platforms and technology transformation.
• Evaluate NPV, IRR, payback, P&L, cash-flow and balance-sheet implications of investments.
• Monitor benefits realisation against approved investment cases.
• Provide financial challenge on build vs buy, migrate vs retain and invest vs decommission decisions.

3. Cloud economics and FinOps

• Build sufficient understanding of Azure/AWS economics to challenge cloud consumption and optimisation opportunities.
• Understand consumption-based pricing, tagging and allocation methodologies.
• Partner Technology teams to improve transparency of cloud spend and accountability.
• Identify opportunities to optimise cloud utilisation and reduce inefficient consumption.
• Understand the financial implications of cloud migration and architecture decisions.

4. Application and technology portfolio economics

• Develop financial views at application/platform/service level, not only cost-centre level.
• Integrate application run costs, infrastructure, licences, vendor expenditure and change investment to determine full economic cost.
• Identify duplicate, underutilised or high-cost applications and platforms.
• Support application rationalisation and decommissioning decisions.
• Translate technology architecture choices into understandable financial consequences.

5. Technology commercial and vendor management

• Provide financial challenge on technology contracts, software licensing, SaaS, outsourcing and professional services.
• Analyse vendor cost trends and commercial commitments.
• Support contract renewal and commercial negotiation decisions.
• Challenge licence utilisation, demand and unit pricing.
• Assess the long-term TCO implications of major vendor and platform choices.

6. Technology performance and value management

Establish a stronger connection between:

Technology spend → technology performance → customer/business outcome → financial value

7. Data, analytics and management insight

• Develop decision-quality reporting through Power BI and advanced Excel.
• Analyse large datasets to identify technology cost drivers and optimisation opportunities.
• Create executive dashboards linking financial and technology KPIs.
• Perform scenario, sensitivity and driver-based modelling.
• Translate complex technology financial information into concise Exco-level insights.
• Use data to move Finance from retrospective reporting toward forward-looking commercial insight.

8. Strategic business partnering

• Act as a credible financial adviser to BB CIO and Technology leadership.
• Constructively challenge technology investment, architecture and sourcing decisions.
• Translate technical discussions into financial and commercial implications.
• Influence decisions through fact-based analysis rather than financial control alone.
• Connect Technology priorities to BB strategy, customer outcomes, productivity and financial objectives.

Critical skills and experience

Finance and commercial

Essential

• Technology financial management
• FP&A, budgeting and forecasting
• Business-case development
• Investment appraisal
• TCO modelling
• Cost allocation and driver-based costing
• Benefits realisation
• Capex/Opex and capitalisation understanding
• Commercial/vendor analysis
• Advanced financial modelling

Technology

Essential / strongly preferred

• Technology Business Management (TBM) concepts
• FinOps / cloud economics
• Application economics
• Technology cost-allocation methodologies
• Software and licensing economics
• Technology vendor management
• Understanding of infrastructure and cloud services
• Technology change/investment lifecycle

Working knowledge

• APIs and integration
• SaaS
• Databases and compute
• Cloud vs on-premise architecture
• Cybersecurity and resilience
• Digital platforms
• AI and automation economics
• Application rationalisation and technical debt

Education

Postgraduate Degrees and Professional Qualifications: Financial Sciences (Required)

About Us

At Absa, our story is not a single narrative. It’s thousands of individual journeys unfolding across Africa and beyond.

From colleagues serving customers in local communities to teams shaping financial solutions across borders, Absa is built on people who bring their lived experiences, ambitions and perspectives into the workplace every day. Whether you’re starting your career, a seasoned leader or somewhere in between, your contribution is seen, valued and connected to something bigger.

Our presence across Africa – which spans personal and business banking, corporate and investment banking, wealth and investment management, and insurance – exists because of the people who show up in their roles with purpose. Across Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, our colleagues are shaping what Absa becomes in each market.

Beyond the continent, teams in global offices and a technology hub support and extend the stories that prove that African talent can lead, influence and innovate on the global stage.

At Absa, your story matters because progress is driven by human experience, not hierarchy. When people are enabled to bring their whole selves to work, they don’t just build careers. They help shape the future of Africa’s financial services landscape.