About the position
Purpose of the role:
To provide enterprise-wide strategic leadership in the identification, evaluation, and governance of risks and opportunities that materially impact the Group's long-term sustainability, capital resilience, reputation, and strategic objectives. The role is responsible for driving risk governance direction, shaping executive and Board risk decisions, and embedding a risk-intelligent culture across the Group and its subsidiaries.
Reporting to the Group Executive of Risk, Governance and Sustainability
Requirements:
- Bachelor's degree or NQF Level 7 Diploma in a commerce related field (e.g. Finance, Accounting, Audit)
- CA(SA), CIA, Risk Management, or equivalent certification advantageous
- 10 years' experience in Retail/Manufacturing or Financial Services at senior management level
- Demonstrable exposure to Executive and Board level risk governance and strategic decision support/enablement
- Experience in risk governance and reporting, business continuity management and ERM framework
- Experience in implementing relevant Risk Frameworks such as ISO 31000/COSO
- Engagement with diverse, external international stakeholders in managing enterprise Risk
- Applicable legislation on a global scale
- Financial planning, analysis, and reporting
Responsibilities:
Group Strategy Implementation: -
- Accountable for the leadership, innovation, governance, and management necessary to identify, evaluate, mitigate, and monitor the Group's enterprise Risks
- Responsible for enterprise-level risk policy formulation, risk appetite articulation, and strategic risk integration into Group planning, capital allocation, and major investment decisions
- Formulate an ERM framework and supporting policies and procedures for the Group
- Develop a risk culture for the Group by driving risk related activities and the risk response for the organisation
- Design and implement Key Risk Indicators for senior management to guide and support decision making for the Group
Enterprise Risk Management: -
Risk assessment and identification:
- Responsible for identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks, opportunities and threats to the achievement of the business's strategic objectives. Play a crucial role in ensuring the organisation's financial stability and sustainability
- Conduct comprehensive risk and opportunity assessments to identify and analyse potential risks related to operations
- Create risk heat maps or matrices to categorise and prioritise risks based on likelihood and potential impact
- Responsible for the establishment and implementation of a risk and compliance framework, to effectively manage all risk exposures that pose an internal/external threat
Risk mitigation strategies:
- Provide executive advisory on the risk-return implications of strategic options, including capital deployment, market expansion, supplier concentration, regulatory exposure, and sustainability risks
- Responsible for effective risk appetite and tolerance setting, measurement, and reporting
- Recommend strategies, derivatives, and other financial instruments to protect against adverse movements in interest rates, foreign exchange rates, commodities, etc
- Evaluate insurance policies and contractual terms to transfer or mitigate specific risks
- Optimise capital allocation and liquidity management strategies to ensure sufficient reserves to withstand potential financial shocks
- Work with Finance to oversee and provide active management of the Company's credit risk analysis/underwriting
Risk Monitoring and Reporting and Combined Assurance:
- Design and govern the Group's combined assurance model, determining assurance reliance, assurance sequencing, and executive assurance confidence for Board committees
- Prepare regular risk reports and presentations for senior management and stakeholders, highlighting key risk metrics, trends, and potential impacts on financial performance
- Develop and maintain risk dashboards and regular risk reports for senior management and stakeholders, summarizing risk exposure, trends, and mitigation efforts.
Crisis Management and Contingency Planning:
- Responsible for organisational resilience strategy, ensuring executive preparedness for low-probability, high-impact events that may threaten the Group's operational capability
- Develop contingency plans and procedures to address potential crises or emergencies
- Ensure the organisation has robust business continuity plans in place to mitigate disruptions caused by financial crises or external shocks.
Regulation and Compliance:
- Ensure compliance with internal processes and policies, applicable laws and regulations, across the organisation. This role requires a deep understanding of financial markets, instruments, and regulatory requirements to effectively mitigate risk and ensure the organisation's financial stability
- Collaborate with compliance officers and legal teams to interpret regulatory requirements and implement necessary changes to mitigate compliance risks
- Coordinate with internal and external auditors to facilitate audits related to financial risk management practices and regulatory compliance.
Stakeholder Relationship Management:
- Collaborate with Distribution Centres' Risk Champions and Functional Risk Champions to manage risk holistically and timeously with their teams
- Represent the Group at industry level, including liaising with governmental departments and relevant industry organisations
- Build strong stakeholder relationships with risk champions for buy-in and commitment, to ensure that applicable best practice is implemented and to ensure understanding of their business needs and requirements
Desired Skills:
- Risk assessment
- Risk mitigation
- Risk management
- ISO 31000
- COSO
- ERM
- Crisis Management
- Contingency Planning
- Financial reporting
- Business Continuity Management
Desired Work Experience:
- 5 to 10 years FMCG
- 5 to 10 years Risk Management
Desired Qualification Level:
