Senior Tax Operations Data & Regulatory Reporting SME at Absa Group Limited (Absa)

Job Description

Regulatory Interpretation & Translation into Data:


Interpret FATCA, CRS and IT3 legislation, SARS Business Requirement Specifications (BRS) and technical guidance.


Translate regulatory requirements into practical data logic, including:


Mandatory vs optional fields
Inclusion and exclusion criteria
Reason codes, indicators and classifications
Record‑level vs file‑level validation rules
Act as the final technical authority on how regulatory requirements are reflected in data models and submissions.


End‑to‑End Regulatory Data Lineage Oversight:


Maintain conceptual ownership of end‑to‑end data lineage from source systems through to regulatory submission.


Provide authoritative guidance on:


Correct data keys and identifiers
Record uniqueness rules
Product‑level alignment (e.g. Cheques, Savings, Deposits)
Monthly vs cumulative data treatment
Ensure alignment and reconciliation across FATCA, CRS and IT3 reporting streams.


Regulatory File Construction, Review & Validation:


Review and validate regulatory submission files prior to sign‑off and submission.


Apply deep understanding of SARS technical requirements, including:


File structures and sequencing
Delimiter and formatting rules
Validation logic and rejection behaviors
Perform or support manual file reconstruction or correction where automation fails or is incomplete.


Data Quality Management & Regulatory Defensibility:


Define and apply data quality rules impacting regulatory reporting.
Gatekeep inclusion vs exclusion decisions, ensuring:
Clear rationale for exclusions
Audit‑ready evidence and sign‑off
Support SARS audits, regulatory reviews and information requests through defensible explanations and historical analysis.


Remediation & Historical Data Reconstruction:


Support remediation initiatives arising from regulatory findings, audits or control weaknesses.
Reconstruct and analyze historical data populations across multiple tax years.
Assess whether remediated client data triggers re‑submission obligations.


Process Ownership, Knowledge Management & Capability Building:


Develop and maintain operational procedures for regulatory data handling.
Document exception handling, remediation workflows and manual controls.
Act as a knowledge custodian within Tax Operations, reducing key‑person dependency over time.
Provide training and guidance to Business Units and Tax Ops colleagues where required.


Education & Experience Required:


B‑Degree in Commerce, Accounting, Tax, Finance, Information Systems or related field
Post‑graduate qualification in Commerce, Accounting, Tax or Data / Business Analysis advantageous
Understanding of and certification in SQL, Postgres and other applicable
Extensive experience in regulatory tax reporting (FATCA, CRS, IT3) within Financial Services
Proven experience working with large, complex regulatory data sets
Strong exposure to regulatory audits, remediation and governance forums
Experience interfacing with Technology and Data teams in a regulated environment