Application Owner Open Banking

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Job SummaryThe Application Owner – Open Banking is responsible for the end-to-end ownership, performance, stability, and evolution of the Bank’s Open Banking platforms.

This role ensures that Open Banking applications are secure, resilient, and scalable, while delivering high-quality digital services aligned to business and customer needs.

The role provides leadership across application lifecycle management, including design, build, run, and optimisation, while ensuring full compliance with regulatory requirements and internal risk frameworks.

Job Description

Application Ownership, Stability and Availability and Resilience

End-to-End Service Ownership and Stability: Take full accountability for the availability, performance, and stability of Open Banking applications, ensuring consistent service delivery aligned to business expectations and customer experience outcomes.

Service Level and Performance Management: Define, track, and continuously improve adherence to Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and key performance indicators, ensuring early identification and remediation of service degradation.

Proactive Monitoring and Health Management: Implement continuous end-to-end monitoring to proactively detect anomalies, manage alerts, and drive rapid resolution of incidents, minimizing business disruption and ensuring optimal system performance.

Incident and Change Management Oversight: Ensure effective execution of incident and change management processes in line with Absa Standards, including root cause analysis, trend identification, and permanent remediation of recurring issues.

Resilience, High Availability and Disaster Recovery: Ensure that Open Banking platforms are designed, implemented, and regularly tested for resilience, high availability, and disaster recovery capabilities, in compliance with Absa standards and regulatory requirements.

Application Documentation and Operational Readiness: Maintain complete, accurate, and up-to-date application documentation, including architecture, configuration ensuring audit readiness and effective support continuity.

Patch and Vulnerability Management: Ensure timely execution of patching and vulnerability remediation across Open Banking components, in full alignment with Group patching standards, security policies, and defined remediation timelines.

Third-Party and Supplier Management: Manage technology suppliers and service providers supporting Open Banking capabilities, ensuring contracts are in place, SLAs are met, risks are actively managed, and services remain cost-effective and fit for purpose.

Deliver Projects and Initiatives:

Strategic Project Delivery: Drive the delivery of Open Banking technology initiatives and enhancements across the full application lifecycle, ensuring alignment with the Bank’s digital strategy, customer experience objectives, and innovation agenda.

Business Analysis and Solution Identification: Collaborate with business stakeholders, product owners and cross-functional teams to define requirements, prioritise enhancements, and identify optimal technology solutions that align with enterprise architecture and Open Banking standards.

End-to-End Delivery Governance: Ensure full adherence to the application delivery lifecycle, including solution design, development, testing, deployment, and post-implementation review, in line with Absa governance frameworks, change management processes, and control requirements.

Ownership and Accountability for Delivery Outcomes: Take full accountability for the successful delivery of application changes and initiatives, ensuring effective management of scope, timelines, dependencies, risks, and delivery quality.

Testing and Release Quality Assurance: Oversee and ensure the execution of comprehensive testing activities (functional, integration, and regression), validating that all releases meet defined quality standards and are production-ready prior to deployment.

Continuous Improvement and Innovation: Drive continuous improvement of Open Banking applications by leveraging feedback, performance insights, and emerging technologies to enhance functionality, resilience, and customer value.

Stakeholder Communication and Reporting: Maintain structured and transparent communication with stakeholders, providing regular updates on delivery progress, key risks, dependencies, and outcomes to ensure alignment and informed decision-making.

People Management:

Performance Management and Coaching: Build and sustain a high-performing team by embedding structured performance management practices, supported by regular coaching, mentoring, and continuous feedback.

Knowledge Sharing and Team Collaboration: Foster a culture of collaboration and continuous learning by encouraging regular knowledge sharing, skills transfer, and best practice adoption across the team.

Performance Improvement and Capability Development: Proactively address performance gaps through the implementation of targeted performance improvement and development plans, ensuring alignment to role expectations and business objectives.

Learning and Development Planning: Assess and analyse team capability requirements, ensuring training and development needs are identified, prioritised, and formalised in line with current and future technology and business demands.

Personal Development:

Performance Development Ownership: Take accountability for own performance development by preparing and maintaining relevant documentation, and proactively scheduling and participating in regular performance reviews and check-ins throughout the year.

Development Planning: Identify training and development needs through structured self-assessment (e.g., skills matrix), and develop a formal development plan aligned with role expectations, to be agreed with the reporting line. Ensure timely completion of all agreed development actions, maintaining progress in line with defined timelines and performance objectives.

Continuous Learning and Accreditation: Undertake all required training and certifications necessary to perform the role effectively and in accordance with defined standards and expectations

Technology Awareness and Industry Insight: Maintain up-to-date knowledge of emerging technologies, industry trends, and innovations within the banking and fintech landscape, ensuring continuous relevance and contribution to the Bank’s technology agenda.

Risk Management:

Proactive Risk Identification and Mitigation: Proactively identify, assess, and mitigate risks associated with the Bank’s technology infrastructure, ensuring alignment with defined risk appetite and operational resilience requirements.

Control Environment and Risk Governance: Collaborate closely with Technology Risk, Compliance, and other control functions to ensure appropriate controls are designed, implemented, and operating effectively across all infrastructure domains

Issue Management and Remediation: Ensure that all risks, incidents, and control weaknesses within the infrastructure environment are formally identified, logged, tracked, and remediated through defined action plans, with appropriate governance oversight and timely closure.

Regulatory and Policy Compliance: Ensure all activities are conducted in full compliance with applicable regulatory requirements, the Enterprise Risk Management Framework, and all relevant Absa policies, standards, and procedures

Audit and Assurance Engagement: Support internal and external audit processes, ensuring timely resolution of findings and demonstrating the effectiveness of controls within the infrastructure environment

Role/Person Specification

Preferred Education:

Key Skills and Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or related field

4-5 years’ experience in application management, Open Banking, digital banking, or fintech

Proven experience in managing cloud-based applications (AWS preferred)

Experience in a banking or financial services environment preferred

Experience in people management or team leadership

Experience working with cross-functional teams to deliver complex technology solutions.

Familiarity with agile project management styles is a distinct advantage

Technical Skills:

Strong understanding of:

Open Banking platforms and API ecosystems

Application lifecycle management

Cloud environments (AWS preferred)

Experience with:

Application monitoring and support tools

Incident, problem, and change management (ITIL)

API integrations and microservices architecture

Familiarity with:

Application security and data protection

Testing methodologies and release management

Experience with Database management (e.g. SQL, Postgres)

Technical exposure to programming or scripting is advantageous

Education

Bachelor's Degree: Information Technology

R-15987137