Tobie Willemse Email & Phone Number

Johannesburg Area, South Africa

Programme Management ☆ Project management ☆ Strategist ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬As the Programme Manager in the Strategy Execution Office in the Strategy BU, I oversee the successful end-to-end execution and delivery of all group wide the strategic initiatives for the Bank. Project Management⇒ o Large Urban Infrastructure Centre project – This is a a first for the DBSA from the perspective that it will create a SPV to involve the DBSA, Metro’s and the private sector. o I have developed and executed a programme to finance infrastructure projects off-balance sheet in the Metros by crowding in the private sector. The pilot Metro’s Water Conservation Water Demand Management deal worth R4bn currently in the appraisal stage.o Due to this success, the programme has been rolled out to secondary cities.Programme Management⇒ Manage and facilitate all group-wide strategic initiatives for the Bank: Facilitate, co-create, monitor and drive strategic portfolios through project prioritisation, initiation, planning, implementation, evaluation and close-out. ⇒ Monitor of programme risks: Interact with initiative teams to monitor and highlight risks; Liaise with ERM to highlight and report risks; Compiles risk assessment reports and informs the Strategy Execution Office and PM to take appropriate action.⇒ Developing tools and analysing results of the Strategic initiatives: Interact with initiative leads to define the right tracking tools and systems to monitor success of implementation; Create systems and tracking mechanisms.⇒ Developing KPI’s and analysing the results of the overall Strategy Execution Office initiatives: Interact with teams to define the right KPI’s and tracking tools; Develop appropriate strategies to assess the impact of the overall transformation programme successes.

Johannesburg

Business Unit Strategy ☆ Strategy Planning & Development ☆ Behavioral Economics ☆ Projects▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬As the Programme Manager for the Strategic Business Unit, I oversee the successful end-to-end execution and delivery of strategic initiatives & project portfolios within various business clusters. ⇒ Key player in the development of business unit strategy by assessing the "as is" situation and recommending potential improvements to products and services. ⇒ Drive the end-to-end delivery of strategic initiatives through robust project planning including identification of the appropriate project team and project reporting. ⇒ Supervise project teams including performance, project milestone and timeline review. ⇒ Negotiate funding for initiatives and review the financial business care for identified strategic initiatives to ensure constructive cost management. ⇒ Ensure support for key programmes/ initiatives by assigning project ownership, agreeing and documenting support requirements and mobilising business sponsors. ⇒ Implement and maintain key performance indicators for projects to realise benefits defined in the programme business case.

Jhb & Pta

Strategy Planning & Development ☆ Business Performance ☆ Behavioral Economics ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ As the Executive Member & Head: Business Planning & Strategy, I directed all aspects of strategy developments and planning for the business. My accountabilities included strategic analysis, identification of key strategic initiatives & risks and tracking business performance. I conducted analysis of competitor, economic, sociopolitical and regulatory developments to determine impact of trends on business. I participated in the development of the Medium Term Plan (MTP) through the provision of counsel to senior managers in translation of strategic plans into operational outputs. ⇒ Embedded strategy development in the business by driving business strategy implementation through business planning, target setting, communications and human resources. ⇒ Instrumental in identifying key strategic initiatives, enabling the Personal Loan Team to base business decisions on market information & customer needs research and achieve targets. ⇒ Created and formalised a new governance process for unsecured lending by integrating and documenting informal and formal processes, leading to greater accountability and transparency in the business. ⇒ Systematised an effective business performance control process to track and monitor progress on key strategic initiatives as well as identifying and rectifying issues with greater speed, to reach financial and growth targets. ⇒ Established a new retention strategy and project management initiative for Personal Loans, enhancing retention capability to achieve a retention target of ZAR 900 million per annum. ⇒ Part of the team that explored digital enablement of loans.

Johannesburg Area, South Africa

Strategy Planning & Development ☆ Revenue Generating Strategy ☆ Competitive Intelligence▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬I led strategy development, planning and embedding for the business, including understanding the overall business vision, strategic intent, objectives, business imperatives and key supporting programmes to grow strategies aligned with the overall intent. I conducted data gathering and insight to develop strategic recommendations for the business, including customer experience and insight analysis. I was a key participant in the development of the Medium Term Plan (MTP) by driving the MTP 1 & 2 documents. ⇒Developed and instituted a formalised detailed strategy in the business unit to track strategic initiative performance and measure it against business unit financial targets, resulting in business unit PBT growth of 30% in 2011. ⇒ Initiated a channel and marketing strategy with the CVP team to increase ABSA's presence in the market and ensure year-long presence, customised each quarter, to focus on specific customer needs and increase access for customers whilst targeting low cost channels, ensuring turnaround of the personal loans business. ⇒ Spearheaded the development of several sales strategies to improve sales efficiencies including: the Personal Loans Bridge; balance scorecard; and the development of the E2E strategy. ⇒ Played a key role in ensuring that product development was aligned to the targets and strategy of the business unit, resulting in overall achievement of goals with regards to cash back loan offer, express loan and mobile loan products. ⇒ Identified the top 50 branches (out of 900 branches nationally) from which the business could extract growth through the creation of a regional analysis model to determine potential personal loan opportunities at branch level. ⇒ Translated initiatives within functional areas to ensure that targets were realistic and related to real market opportunities.

Johannesburg Area, South Africa

Competitor Strategy ☆ Customer Analysis and Insight ☆ Medium Term Strategy▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬As the Manager for Customer Insights I ran the department to intimately understand, analyse and interpret the size, growth areas, competitor strategies and activities of the retail bank's target market. I acted as the single entry point for all customer market research, collation and interpretation to gain a holistic understanding of customer dynamics, trends, markets, behaviours and needs to translate information into customer insight and strategic intelligence. I was actively involved in the strategic view of the Medium Term Plan (MTP). ⇒ Suggested the development of a retail bank economic model to forecast the economic outlook, acting as an early warning system and planning mechanism by anticipating changes in product demand 6 months in advance in order for the retail bank to become more sensitive to changes during the economic downturn. ⇒ Built an income growth potential model to enable the Business Head to set realistic targets at magisterial level which accurately determined the potential of regions, allowing the business to be proactively managed and reach business goals. ⇒ Empowered the bank in deciding medium term strategies based on market research of competitor, economic, sociopolitical and regulatory trends. ⇒ Awarded the Prestige Bronze Award in recognition of outstanding performance, based on the Regional Intelligence Model and Medium Term Plan.

Midrand

Strategy Planning & Development ☆ Customer Analysis and Insight ☆ Research▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬In this role I was accountable for understanding the strengths of the business vision, goals and market reality, to formulate strategic themes and communicate the strategy in clear, measurable objectives. ⇒ Implemented a strategic intelligence capability for Flexi Banking Services, including completion of the Mass Market Centre of Intelligence, giving the division a tool to analyse the business and market for the first time in its history. ⇒ Informed the business strategy process by refining and upgrading the mass market and micro lending regional fact bases to highlight potential opportunities and threats to the business. ⇒ Strengthened the understanding of and improved customer experiences by conducting internal research as well as commissioning external research which evaluated the "as is" situation and implemented measures such as call centre scripts, welcoming calls and SMSs and product value adds. ⇒ Was the only employee out of 70 staff in the division to be awarded the highest performance rating (level 5) in 2006.

Johannesburg Area, South Africa

Strategic recommendations ☆ Competitive Intelligence ☆ Research & Analysis▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬As the Team Leader for strategic intelligence, strategy and planning, I continuously maintained and initiated strategic change in the group through gathering strategic information on the domestic and global landscape, applying strategy analysis tools and techniques to make recommendations about the group's strategic positioning and strategy. ⇒ Initiated the Assumption Based Tracking Model which applied a strategic perspective on assumptions on measurable tracking indicators, giving the business insight into changes that needed to be made. ⇒ Led the team and presented the Macro Environmental Reviews twice a year to the Board and Executive Committee. This presentation of trends in the banking industry assisted the Executive Committee to determine the future strategy of ABSA Group. ⇒ Authored the Macro Environmental Overview for the Annual Report.

Johannesburg Area, South Africa

Competitive Intelligence ☆ Economics ☆ Industry trends ☆ Competitor Analysis ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬As an Industrial Economist, I undertook research on economic issues and changes in economic policies relating to impact on domestic and global industry. A key focus in this role was the development of a strategic competitor database and index, to continuously gather and monitor information regarding the banking industry and competitor activity to determine market and industry trends as well as prediction of future activities of competitors. ⇒ Aided in the successful unbundling of Hoescht SA from RMB by making recommendations based on industry trends research. ⇒ Initiated an external e-business group to discuss banking industry issues quarterly- this group has now been taken over by PwC. ⇒ Delivered a tactical and strategic database, including value added tools such as a competitor ranking index, banking reports, soft information and statistics, strategic research, banking alert, quarterly reports, STEEP index and annual report. ⇒ Investigated potential opportunities for the bank and product houses through detailed analysis of companies (including operations, managerial and financial structures). ⇒ Researched various industries to understand their competitive position in domestic and international markets to determine risk grading, potential business and investment opportunities. Industries included: pulp and paper; aluminium; zinc; ferrochrome; ferromanganese; polymers; pharmaceuticals; white goods; furniture; cosmetics; packaging; gaming; wholesale; commercial & business banking; tourism; and fertiliser, to aid final business decisions regarding success of applications for finance.

Sandton

Business Planning ☆ Research ☆ Competitive Intelligence ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬In this role, I engaged in research in various broad economic fields (including trade and industrial policy, modelling, macro-economics and spatial development) serving the interests of the IDC as well as the country. I authored numerous speeches, articles and reports. I was a specialist in non-ferrous metals and IDC representative on wool and mohair cluster study steering committee. ⇒ Stimulated industrial development through identification of appropriate areas for Government Tax Holiday Scheme initiative, which allowed companies to qualify for a tax rebate if they manufactured certain goods, in specific industries and in specific locations. Conducted research on selected economic and socio-economic factors as well as potential benefits to proposed areas, resulting in those areas qualifying for a tax holiday for a period of 3 years. ⇒ Collaborated in developing the Industrial Development Zone policy through exploring requirements such as potential size, structure and criteria for industry inclusion as well as incentives to attract companies. Customised a specific package of potential incentives to attract investors/companies, based on international best practice in a South African context, resulting in the establishment of the Coega IDZ.

P.Hd Candidate, Behavioural Economics

M Com (Econ), Economics

Bcom (Econ); Bcom (Econ) Hons, Economics

Activities and Societies: B Com Rag committeeResponsible for marketing and communication