Senior Manager: Portfolio Growth and Optimisation

Absa Bank is seeking an experienced and commercially focused professional for the position of Senior Manager: Portfolio Growth & Optimisation in Johannesburg. This is a senior-level opportunity for a portfolio and product growth specialist who can turn newly implemented card, payments and digital capabilities into measurable customer adoption, revenue and commercial value.

The successful candidate will take ownership of the post-implementation growth agenda. This includes developing go-to-market strategies, working with Marketing and other business functions on campaigns, analysing portfolio and customer performance, developing actionable insights and using dashboards to guide business decisions. The role is particularly focused on optimising the credit card portfolio and increasing customer uptake.

About the Role

The Senior Manager: Portfolio Growth & Optimisation will bridge the gap between product delivery and commercial performance. Rather than simply launching products, the role focuses on ensuring that customers adopt, use and generate value from new card, payments and digital capabilities.

The successful candidate will work across Marketing, ECM, MI and analytics, Digital, Branches, Call Centre, Sales, Operations, Finance, Risk and Technology. Therefore, strong commercial judgement, data analysis, stakeholder management and customer lifecycle knowledge are essential.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and execute go-to-market strategies for newly implemented card, payments and digital product capabilities.

• Drive customer adoption and commercialisation of new product initiatives.

• Develop customer adoption strategies across segments, journeys, campaigns and channels.

• Partner with Marketing on above-the-line campaigns.

• Work with ECM on below-the-line campaigns and targeted customer engagement.

• Monitor customer, portfolio, profitability, channel and campaign performance.

• Analyse performance data to identify growth opportunities and areas requiring optimisation.

• Convert complex data into practical business recommendations.

• Work with the MI team to develop dashboards and management information.

• Define appropriate KPIs and reporting requirements.

• Prepare executive reporting packs and performance insights.

• Track product and portfolio performance after implementation.

• Drive initiatives designed to increase customer uptake, usage and commercial value.

• Manage portfolio optimisation backlogs and value-tracking routines.

• Support customer segmentation and lifecycle management initiatives.

• Connect customer behaviour with campaign performance and channel readiness.

• Coordinate with Digital, Branch, Call Centre and Sales teams to improve product adoption.

• Work with Finance, Risk and Operations to ensure sustainable commercial outcomes.

• Collaborate with Technology and other stakeholders to ensure product capabilities are effectively commercialised.

• Provide senior-level recommendations based on portfolio and customer performance trends.

• Operate within banking governance, compliance and data-management requirements.

Qualifications Required

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent relevant qualification in:

  • Business Science

  • Business Management

  • Commerce

  • Informatics

  • Information Systems

  • Engineering

  • Marketing

  • Data Analytics

  • A related field.

• A postgraduate qualification or MBA would be advantageous.

• Agile, Scrum, SAFe, PASA or payments-related certification would be advantageous.

Experience Required

• At least 7 years of experience in product management, portfolio growth, product development, commercial management, campaign performance, analytics or related financial-services roles.

• Strong experience in credit cards, payments, banking or financial services.

• Clear understanding of customer lifecycle management and portfolio economics.

• Proven experience commercialising new product capabilities.

• Experience developing customer adoption strategies.

• Experience launching growth initiatives and delivering measurable customer or commercial outcomes.

• Experience working with Marketing, ECM, MI/Analytics, Digital, Branch, Call Centre, Sales, Operations, Finance, Risk and Technology teams.

• Strong analytical experience involving customer, portfolio, profitability, channel and campaign data.

• Experience developing dashboards, KPIs, management information and executive reporting packs.

• Strong stakeholder management and communication experience.

• Ability to present complex information through clear executive-level narratives.

Preferred Experience

Candidates with the following experience will have an added advantage:

• Credit card portfolio management.

• Digital payments.

• Digital banking.

• Fintech partnerships.

• Customer value management.

• Customer segmentation.

• Lifecycle campaigns.

• Customer adoption journeys.

• Propensity models.

• Next-best-action strategies.

• Data-led value management.

• Visa and/or Mastercard ecosystems.

• Card scheme economics.

• Rewards and loyalty programmes.

• Interchange.

• Merchant-funded offers.

• Digital wallet propositions.

Key Skills and Capabilities

Commercial Growth

The successful candidate should be able to turn implemented product capabilities into customer adoption, usage, revenue and measurable commercial value.

Customer Adoption

The role requires the ability to develop customer adoption strategies across different customer segments, journeys, campaigns and channels.

Data Analysis

Strong analytical capability is essential. The candidate must be comfortable examining complex customer, product, portfolio, channel and campaign data and converting findings into actionable recommendations.

Campaign and Channel Management

The candidate should understand different customer engagement approaches, including above-the-line, below-the-line, lifecycle, digital, branch, call centre and segmented campaigns.

Product and Portfolio Management

The successful applicant should be capable of managing optimisation backlogs, customer propositions, value tracking and portfolio performance routines.

Executive Communication

The role requires the ability to simplify complex performance information into clear narratives, recommendations and decisions for senior stakeholders.

Stakeholder Management

The candidate must be able to influence and align cross-functional teams, including Marketing, ECM, MI, Product, Digital, Sales, Risk, Finance and Operations.

Governance and Risk

The successful candidate must be comfortable operating within a regulated banking environment and maintain appropriate control, compliance and data-governance standards.

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is commercially astute, growth-oriented and focused on measurable outcomes. They should be comfortable moving between strategic planning, data analysis, campaign execution and operational delivery.

The candidate should also be able to challenge performance trends using evidence, simplify complex information and turn insights into practical actions. Strong collaboration skills are important because the position requires influencing multiple teams without necessarily having direct line-management authority.

Experience working with integrated banking channels and senior stakeholders will be particularly valuable.

Job Details

• Position: Senior Manager: Portfolio Growth & Optimisation

• Employer: Absa Bank

• Location: Johannesburg, South Africa

• Work arrangement: Hybrid

• Job type: Full-time

• Reference number: R-15990033

• Application deadline: 20 August 2026

How to Apply

Interested candidates should submit their applications through the official Absa careers platform.

Apply for Senior Manager: Portfolio Growth & Optimisation

Applicants should ensure that their CV clearly demonstrates relevant experience in product management, portfolio growth, credit cards, payments, customer adoption, analytics, commercialisation and cross-functional stakeholder management.

Final Thought

This position is suited to an experienced banking or financial-services professional who combines commercial thinking with strong analytical and product-management capabilities. The role offers an opportunity to influence the growth of card, payments and digital propositions while directly contributing to customer adoption, portfolio performance and commercial value at Absa Bank.