Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist - Africa Regions - 12 Months Contract

Absa is hiring for the Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist - Africa Regions - 12 Months Contract role in Sandton. The role closes on 2026-05-07. Applicants should review the requirements and apply through the official vacancy page.

Minimum Requirements

• Ensure timely on-boarding of senior hires and adherence to on boarding policies and procedures. Identification of critical senior vacancies – build proactive pipelines Agree transformation plans with the Cluster seniors including targets and timelines. Drive the Group’s transformation agenda.
• Together with HR Head, identify key senior roles for succession planning in the portfolios
• Liaise with BU Stakeholders in order to gain a comprehensive view of their Core Business, Strategic Objectives Employee Value Proposition and Culture. This understanding and interaction will drive the Placement of the right candidate, with the right skill and the ability to thrive in the relevant environment.
• Provide regular feedback to Cluster Talent Acquisition Head, Cluster Head and BU Leaders on Talent Acquisition Strategy deliverables and status (Scorecard).
• Define, socialise and agree SLAs with BU's and HC Head’s against which all parties’ performance will be driven. Build a Talent Acquisition scorecard for the Business Unit by which these metrics can be presented and managed through discussions at the BUs Management Forums.
• Ensure effective interaction with, and responses to candidates, building sustainable relationships, setting and managing expectations clearly, identifying and resolving the root cause of any issues and escalating as required.
• Drive level of excellence within the Talent Acquisition Community of Practice.
• Drive Strategic Talent Acquisition Agenda through managing relationships with stakeholders, extended HC Community and Talent Acquisition teams.
• Allocate duties to team members in order to achieve operational targets including prioritisation and work Schedules.
• Based on gaps identified, motivate requests to the manager for additional resources including people, budget and equipment.
• Obtain a thorough understanding of the Cluster’s strategy and explain it to team members in such a way that they understand the contribution they have to make.
• Create quarterly and monthly plans to ensure delivery for the year. Manage departmental budgets including signing off of invoices and quotes within mandate.
• Escalate out of budgets or items higher than approved mandate to the next level manager.
• Continuously identify areas for improved efficiency and reduced cost.
• Conduct basic statistical analysis to track performance variances and determine the root causes of errors.
• Make recommendations for productivity or process enhancements to process owners. Implement productivity improvement measures by coaching staff on any new processes or on their areas for improvement.
• Populate balanced scorecards for the specific department on a monthly basis.
• Work with the team to address shortcomings, escalating any major issues identified to the next level manager.
• Address any process failures specific to the department
• Bachelor`s Degree/Advanced Diploma: Human and Social Studies (NQF 7)
• Talent Acquisition Strategy development and implementation
• Change champion
• Leading with Influence
• Commercial mindset
• Digital familiarity
• Effective communication
• Emotional intelligence
• Ethics and values
• Stakeholder Management:
• Business Management:
• where applicable.
• Explain targets and take accountability for the monitoring and achievement of performance objectives in the department in terms of employee satisfaction, customer
• , cost performance, return on investments, risk, compliance and governance
• Education, Knowledge,
• Africa Talent Acquisition
• in a similar environment at specialist level
• Bachelor`s Degrees and Advanced Diplomas: Human and Social Studies (Required)

Responsibilities

• Define and ensure implementation of innovative sourcing strategies that will enable the establishment of a diverse pool of talent geared to meet the evolving needs of the Cluster Workforce Plan.
• Proactively explore all available channels and processes to build diverse pools of talent.
• In Collaboration with the Business Units / Clusters, develop and drive a cost saving Talent Acquisition strategy for the BU/Cluster and proactively explore solutions which will decrease the dependency on external Talent Acquisition partners by implementing creative direct to market talent capturing solutions; i.e. Headhunting, Talent Mapping, establishing candidate data base, advertising on web based job search sites, researching competitors, building industry networks, attending industry Specific events and fairs, partnering with Government Labour Agencies, tapping into Global networks etc.
• Manage the delivery of search strategies designed to recruit senior and niche candidates.
• Partner with Group Talent Management to deliver an increased capability for internal mobility by ensuring that internal Candidates are considered before moving to external sourcing solutions. Engage in Talent Acquisition for senior level positions for the relevant Cluster’s Participate in interviews on request for key roles.
• Ensure that the Talent Acquisition and selection of senior leaders takes place according to policy and governance.
• Assess candidates to ensure cultural fit for the Group, values alignment, long term potential, and technical fit for roles, setting realistic role expectations before presenting candidates to Business.
• Advise hiring managers on which candidates to progress to the next stage, ensuring the right Talent Acquisition decisions are made, challenging the business’ recommendations as required Work with Cluster head to compile high Remuneration package offers and buy-outs. Assisting in the negotiation of release dates and backfill requirements where applicable.
• Ensure timely on-boarding of senior hires and adherence to on boarding policies and procedures. Identification of critical senior vacancies – build proactive pipelines Agree transformation plans with the Cluster seniors including targets and timelines. Drive the Group’s transformation agenda.
• Together with HR Head, identify key senior roles for succession planning in the portfolios
• Liaise with BU Stakeholders in order to gain a comprehensive view of their Core Business, Strategic Objectives Employee Value Proposition and Culture. This understanding and interaction will drive the Placement of the right candidate, with the right skill and the ability to thrive in the relevant environment.
• Provide regular feedback to Cluster Talent Acquisition Head, Cluster Head and BU Leaders on Talent Acquisition Strategy deliverables and status (Scorecard).
• Define, socialise and agree SLAs with BU's and HC Head’s against which all parties’ performance will be driven. Build a Talent Acquisition scorecard for the Business Unit by which these metrics can be presented and managed through discussions at the BUs Management Forums.
• Ensure effective interaction with, and responses to candidates, building sustainable relationships, setting and managing expectations clearly, identifying and resolving the root cause of any issues and escalating as required.
• Drive level of excellence within the Talent Acquisition Community of Practice.
• Drive Strategic Talent Acquisition Agenda through managing relationships with stakeholders, extended HC Community and Talent Acquisition teams.
• Allocate duties to team members in order to achieve operational targets including prioritisation and work Schedules.
• Based on gaps identified, motivate requests to the manager for additional resources including people, budget and equipment.
• Obtain a thorough understanding of the Cluster’s strategy and explain it to team members in such a way that they understand the contribution they have to make.
• Explain targets and take accountability for the monitoring and achievement of performance objectives in the department in terms of employee satisfaction, customer experience, cost performance, return on investments, risk, compliance and governance requirements.
• Create quarterly and monthly plans to ensure delivery for the year. Manage departmental budgets including signing off of invoices and quotes within mandate.
• Escalate out of budgets or items higher than approved mandate to the next level manager.
• Continuously identify areas for improved efficiency and reduced cost.
• Conduct basic statistical analysis to track performance variances and determine the root causes of errors.
• Make recommendations for productivity or process enhancements to process owners. Implement productivity improvement measures by coaching staff on any new processes or on their areas for improvement.
• Populate balanced scorecards for the specific department on a monthly basis.
• Work with the team to address shortcomings, escalating any major issues identified to the next level manager.
• Address any process failures specific to the department
• Bachelor`s Degree/Advanced Diploma: Human and Social Studies (NQF 7)
• Talent Acquisition Strategy development and implementation
• Africa Talent Acquisition experience (preferred)
• Experience in a similar environment at specialist level
• Change champion
• Leading with Influence
• Commercial mindset
• Digital familiarity
• Effective communication
• Emotional intelligence
• Ethics and values
• Talent Acquisition and Selection:
• Stakeholder Management:
• Business Management:
• Education, Knowledge, Skills and Experience:
• To provide Talent Acquisition advice and support and be responsible for end to end sourcing as well as broader talent related
• for Africa regions, in practice formulation and associated best practice improvement tactics, which enable the provision of specialist Talent Acquisition expertise.
• Advise hiring managers on which candidates to progress to the next stage, ensuring the right Talent Acquisition decisions are made, challenging the business’ recommendations as required Work with Cluster head to compile high Remuneration package offers and buy-outs. Assisting in the negotiation of release dates and backfill
• To provide Talent Acquisition advice and support and be responsible for end to end sourcing as well as broader talent related responsibilities for Africa regions, in practice formulation and associated best practice improvement tactics, which enable the provision of specialist Talent Acquisition expertise.
• Bachelor`s Degrees and Advanced Diplomas: Human and Social Studies (Required)