Senior Specialist: Employee Relations

Sandtonsenior

OtherEmployee Relations

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Overview

Empowering Africa’s tomorrow, together…one story at a time. With over 100 years of rich history and strongly positioned as a local bank with regional and international expertise,

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OtherEmployee Relations

With over 100 years of rich history and strongly positioned as a local bank with regional and international expertise, a career with our family offers the opportunity to be part of this exciting growth journey, to reset our future and shape our destiny as a proudly African group.

Job Summary

Provides strategic leadership and subject matter expertise for employee relations across Absa’s pan African footprint. The role is accountable for shaping ER practice, translating ER strategy into executable frameworks, and overseeing high risk, precedent setting matters. Operating with enterprise level judgement, the role strengthens governance, mitigates people risk, and embeds consistent, future fit ER standards aligned to legislation, policy, and Absa’s values.

Strategic Employee Relations Practice Leadership
Complex and Precedent‑Setting Case Management
Governance, Risk and Labour Law Stewardship
Senior Stakeholder Advisory and Influence
ER Insights, Analytics and Preventative Interventions
Capability Building and Knowledge Leadership

Translate ER strategy into standardised frameworks, toolkits and operating models aligned to Absa’s people and risk strategy.
Shape and continuously evolve ER practice standards to ensure enterprise‑wide consistency and future readiness.
Act as a senior ER authority on complex, sensitive and cross‑border matters with material organisational impact.

Provide strategic management and quality assurance of high‑risk ER cases, including matters with litigation, reputational or regulatory exposure.
Guide Line Managers and HC leaders and Practitioners on judgement calls where precedent, complexity or ambiguity exists.
Intervene directly in matters requiring senior‑level credibility, neutrality and influence.

Ensure ER practices comply with labour legislation, internal policy, ethical standards and regulatory expectations across jurisdictions.
Identify systemic ER risks and drive preventative, enterprise‑level mitigation strategies.
Partner with Legal, Risk and Compliance to strengthen defensibility and governance maturity.

Provide trusted ER counsel to senior leaders, executives and governance forums on sensitive people matters.
Influence decision‑making by balancing commercial, legal, cultural and employee considerations.
Represent ER perspectives in strategic people and risk discussions at enterprise level.

Analyse ER data and trends to identify root causes, emerging risks and capability gaps.
Design and sponsor preventative interventions to reduce future disputes and improve organisational climate.
Monitor effectiveness of ER strategies and adjust approaches based on insight and evidence.

Lead the development of ER capability through coaching, mentoring and advanced practitioner training.
Build investigation, disciplinary and advisory capability within HC and leadership communities.
Drive continuous improvement by embedding lessons learned into policy, practice and learning programmes.

Advanced labour legislation and employment law across South Africa and relevant African jurisdictions
Enterprise employee relations governance and operating models
Complex workplace investigations and evidentiary standards
Risk management within a regulated financial services environment
Organisational behaviour and systemic risk drivers
ER analytics and insight‑led decision‑making

Strategic judgement and decision‑making in ambiguous contexts
Executive‑level advisory and influencing capability
Advanced investigation oversight and analytical reasoning
Policy design and practice standardisation
Data interpretation and systemic problem solving
Coaching and professional capability development

Requirements

~1 min read

Bachelor’s Degree, Advanced Diploma, Postgraduate Certificate or BTech (NQF Level 7) in Human Resources, Labour Relations, Industrial Psychology, Law, or a related discipline.

5-12 years’ experience in employee relations, labour relations, governance or HR risk, including 3 years of experience in a relevant people management role.

Strategic employee relations practice development
Enterprise ER governance and risk management
Advanced workplace investigations oversight
Labour law application across jurisdictions
ER data analysis and insight generation
Policy design and implementation
Stakeholder advisory at executive level
Capability building and knowledge leadership

Strategic Thinking
Decision Making
Critical Thinking
Business Acumen
Influence
Leadership
Collaboration
Adaptability

Strategic Thinking
Business Acumen
Communication
Influence
Leadership
Delivering Results
Adaptability
Collaboration
Decision-Making

Education

Bachelor`s Degrees and Advanced Diplomas: Business, Commerce and Management Studies (Required)

Absa Bank Limited is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer. In compliance with the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998, preference will be given to suitable candidates from designated groups whose appointments will contribute towards achievement of equitable demographic representation of our workforce profile and add to the diversity of the Bank.

Absa Bank Limited reserves the right not to make an appointment to the post as advertised