About the position
Our client, operating in the Payments and Lending industry, is seeking a Project Manager to join their team.
Purpose of the Role:
The Project Manager – Special Projects is responsible for leading strategic, cross-functional initiatives that support growth, enhance operational efficiency, strengthen compliance readiness, and advance digital transformation within a retail financial services environment. The role focuses on complex, non-BAU projects that require strong project discipline, sound regulatory understanding, and the ability to bring together stakeholders across product, credit, risk, operations, retail, and technology.
Qualification & Experience Requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree in commerce (BCom), Business Management, Finance, or a related field is required
- Project Management Professional (PMP) certification (or equivalent) is strongly preferred.
- 10–15 years in project management within financial services, retail credit, fintech, or regulated environments.
- Proven track record delivering cross-functional or compliance-heavy projects.
- Experience with digital transformation, operational optimisation, or customer journey redesign.
- Exposure to retail environments (store operations, POS systems, customer support) is advantageous.
Core Competencies:
- Strong project management capability (Agile, Waterfall, hybrid).
- Ability to manage multiple concurrent workstreams in a high-volume, regulated environment.
- Exceptional organisational, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
- Strong communication and stakeholder engagement across technical and nontechnical teams.
Technical & Functional Skills:
- Experience in retail financial services: lending, payments, insurance, credit, or collections.
- Familiarity with digital product development, workflow automation, and operational systems.
- Proficiency with project tools (Jira, Asana, MS Project, Power BI, Excel).
Key Performance Areas:
Strategic Project Delivery
- Lead end-to-end delivery of high-impact projects across lending, payments, insurance, collections, customer experience, and retail channels.
- Build structured project plans with clear milestones, dependencies, and regulatory considerations.
- Drive alignment between business units, retail operations, technology, compliance, and external partners.
- Ensure projects land on time, within scope, and with measurable business impact.
Stakeholder & Partner Management
- Engage senior leadership, business units, technology teams, and external vendors with clarity and confidence.
- Facilitate steering committees, stand-ups, and cross-functional workshops.
- Manage expectations, resolve conflicts, and maintain transparent communication.
Reporting, Governance & Risk Management
- Produce executive-ready reporting, dashboards, and project scorecards.
- Maintain risk registers, decision logs, and compliance documentation.
Leadership Behaviors
- High accountability and ownership.
- Calm, structured, and decisive under pressure.
- Ability to navigate ambiguity and bring clarity.
- Collaborative, influential, and able to drive alignment across diverse teams.
General:
- We are committed to fair and inclusive hiring. All suitably qualified applicants are welcome to apply.
- Preference may be given in line with our client’s Employment Equity plan and applicable legislation.
- Applicants must have the legal right to work in South Africa at the time of application.
- Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. If you do not hear from us within 30 days, please consider your application unsuccessful.
- Please include your current remuneration (CTC), salary expectation, and notice period (optional but helpful for screening).
- By applying, you consent to the processing of your personal information for recruitment purposes in accordance with POPIA.
Desired Skills:
- Financial Services
- Product Development
- Project Management
- Retail
- Stakeholder Management
- Transformation
- Workflow Management
