Senior Specialist - Quantitative Risk Analytics and Modelling.Risk and Compliance

Key tasks 

 Risk Assessment:

• Conduct quantitative risk assessments and scenario analyses to evaluate the potential impact of various external and/or internal business risks.
• Consider medium and long term (1- 5 years) implications of risk actions on the viability of the business from a broad perspective 
• Consider the impact of solutions on other areas of the business, as well as the interdependency of units 
• Drive best practice, continuous improvement and innovation at process and procedure level within the Risk Management unit 
• Construct, implement and fine-tune methods, processes and systems to enhance effectiveness and meet organisational goals 
• Develop and maintain risk metrics and dashboards for stakeholders.

Model Development and Optimization:

• Design and develop statistical, financial or econometric models to assess risk to assess risk at a strategic and operational level.
• Develop predictive models for operational risk (e.g., network downtime or IT outages), financial risks, and customer behavior (e.g., churn or payment default).
• Build and maintain scenario-based models to assess risks related to evolving technologies and business changes in the telecommunications industry.

Quantitative Risk Modelling:  

• Develop and implement robust quantitative models to measure risks associated with financial exposures, operational incidents, fraud, and business performance.
• Apply statistical techniques and machine learning algorithms to assess network risks and predict system failures.
• Conduct Value-at-Risk (VaR), scenario analysis (Monte Carlo simulations), and sensitivity analysis to assess business vulnerabilities under adverse conditions.
• Analyze network and system performance data to quantify risks related to outages, congestion, or downtime, and propose mitigation strategies.
• Conduct financial risk analyses to forecast potential impacts on revenue from customer churn, market competition, or credit defaults.

Scenario Stress Testing:

• Perform stress testing under various adverse scenarios, including macroeconomic shocks, regulatory changes, and market shifts, to evaluate their impact on company operations and financial health.
• Develop simulation models to assess the effectiveness of risk management strategies in different scenarios.

Data-Driven Decision Support:

• Analyze large datasets to extract meaningful insights
• Work closely with data engineering teams to ensure high-quality, consistent data is used in all modeling efforts.
• Utilize telecommunications data (customer behavior, network performance, billing data) to identify risk exposure and improve risk management decisions.
• Build and maintain risk dashboards to visualize key quantitative metrics for stakeholders.

Stakeholder Collaboration:

• Work with cross-functional teams— commercial business units, finance, operations, network, RAFM, marketing, and regulatory — to ensure business decisions are informed by risk analysis.
• Communicate risk models and insights to internal stakeholders.
• Translate complex quantitative models and risk findings into actionable insights for to non-technical stakeholders (senior management and business leaders ) in a clear and actionable manner.
• Develop regular risk reports to communicate quantitative risk profiles and propose data-driven strategies for risk reduction.

Enterprise Risk Management 

• Align operational targets to business strategy 
• Consider medium and long term (1- 5 years) implications of risk actions on the viability of the business from a more broad perspective 
• Consider the impact of solutions on other areas of the business, as well as the interdependency of units 
• Drive best practice, continuous improvement and innovation at process and procedure level within the Risk Management unit 
• Construct, implement and fine-tune methods, processes and systems to enhance effectiveness and meet organisational goals 
• Utilise appropriate models for analysing potential risks to the business, taking a 360 degree view of the organisations risk profile 
• Consider local conditions, as well as competitor activity to create competitive advantage 
• Give input into benchmarking local and international risk management best practices and strategies 
• Manage resources (people, finances and products), taking local conditions into considerations 
• Give input into the development of risk management policies and procedures 

Budget Management 

• Provide input into forecasting, planning, and development of the budget for the unit 
• Manage and optimise the budget, ensuring all expenditure is in line with the agreed budgets 
• Monitor costs and determine initiatives to optimize resources 

Reporting 

• Ensure preparation of ERM reports to stakeholders when required (i.e. Risk exposure reports, Exco reports) 
• Prepare all necessary reports required for MTN SA and Subsidiaries 

Project Management 

• Drive the implementation, tracking, monitoring of projects under your control 
• Contract management in line with Procurement Policies 
• Co-ordinate project reporting 
• Ensure effective implementation of the integrated project management model 

Business Analysis 

• Perform MTN SA Business Analysis in line with the methodology and guidelines 
• Commercial and financial acumen
• Identify Business Improvement and Optimisation opportunities that will result in improvement of process performance 
• Ensure that benchmarking is conducted with other companies and organizations within and outside the industry. 
• Construct business cases for initiations proposed by the business. Research and consider best practice, local conditions, trends, as well as competitor activity 
• The ability to assess and quantify risks in various business processes, products, or investments. This may involve using risk assessment methodologies like Monte Carlo simulations, Sensitivity Analysis, Value at Risk (VaR), stress testing, or scenario analysis.

Supervisory / Leadership / Managerial Complexity: 

• Promote risk management competence throughout the organisation 
• Liaise constantly with Senior Management within MTN on various risk matters especially tracking ownership and mitigation of risk items identified 
• Provide training to management and staff, as required 
• Manage the delivery of you own portfolio of deliverables with the added responsibility of managing subordinates 
• Interact with senior management in MTN SA, and obtain buy-in from people in the organisation regarding risk issues 
• Leadership will entail influencing, coaching, education, guidance and performance monitoring of subordinates and risk champions to ensure ownership and implementation of risk management strategies 
• Build professionalism, loyalty and commitment to the organisation 
• Communicate actively and effectively resolving any potential conflicts that may arise in the organisation 
• Display insight into leadership style and how it impacts on performance positively and negatively 
• Have the self insight and flexibility to adapt to different situations 
• Manage boundaries that separate units in order to optimise workflow 
• Live the MTN Brand 

Education: 

• Bachelor’s Degree in a Quantitative discipline such as Finance, Mathematics, Statistics, Data Science, Engineering.
• An “A” or “B” grade in Mathematics at Matric.
• Master’s or other related advanced degrees are advantageous.
• Membership of a Professional body

Experience: 

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in quantitative risk analysis, financial modelling, or statistical risk assessment in telecommunications, finance, or technology sectors 
• 3 years’ experience working in a large organization

Technical Skills:

• Proficiency in statistical programming languages (e.g., Python, R, SAS) for quantitative modelling and analysis.
• Strong understanding of machine learning techniques for predictive analytics and anomaly detection.
• Expertise in SQL for querying large data sets; experience with big data tools (e.g., Hadoop, Spark) is a plus.
• Familiarity with quantitative risk measures such as VaR, Expected Shortfall, and Monte Carlo simulations.
• Experience with risk dashboards and data visualization tools like Tableau or Power BI.
• Advanced level proficiency in Microsoft Excel

Soft Skills:

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with attention to detail.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills for conveying complex concepts to both technical and business audiences.
• Collaborative mindset with the ability to work across departments and adapt to a fast-paced environment