Regional Manager: SME

Why Join Our Team

Join Nedbank's Business and Commercial Banking SME leadership team and take ownership of regional SME growth at scale. This role offers the opportunity to shape and execute SME strategy, drive sustainable revenue and market share expansion, and lead high-performing sales, service and credit teams in a complex, regulated environment. You will play a key role in delivering differentiated client value, influencing senior stakeholders, and strengthening Nedbank's presence within the SME ecosystem—while accelerating your leadership career through meaningful commercial impact and strategic exposure.

Job Purpose

To provide strategic leadership and commercial ownership of SME coverage within a defined region, driving sustainable revenue growth, market share expansion, and superior client value through the execution of BCB SME strategy. The role is accountable for leading high-performing teams, enhancing customer engagement, and embedding a disciplined credit and sales culture, ensuring delivery against Nedbank's ambition to achieve 15% SME market share.

Job Responsibilities

• SME Sales & Market Share Growth: Lead regional SME acquisition, cross-sell and portfolio optimisation strategies to drive revenue growth (NII/NIR). Deliver against regional growth targets and actively contribute to the BCB SME market share ambition. Identify and unlock sector-specific opportunities within the SME ecosystem. Drive disciplined pipeline management and conversion performance across Business Managers.
• Strategic Coverage & Execution Leadership: Translate BCB SME strategy into regional execution plans and coverage models. Implement dynamic portfolio segmentation and client allocation frameworks to optimise cost-to-serve and ROE. Lead the rollout of new SME propositions, operating models, and enablement initiatives (Project Ignite alignment). Drive agility and responsiveness to changing SME market dynamics.
• Customer & Relationship Leadership: Drive a client-centric, proactive relationship model focused on value creation and retention. Lead high-impact client engagements, especially for complex or strategic SME relationships. Ensure delivery of a seamless and integrated client experience across sales, service and credit touchpoints. Embed customer insight-led decision making through feedback, NPS and digital signals.
• Credit & Risk Leadership: Maintain strong credit oversight and governance across the region. Review and guide complex credit submissions, ensuring quality, sound judgement, and alignment with risk appetite. Balance growth with sustainable risk practices, ensuring portfolio quality and profitability.
• People & Capability Leadership: Lead and develop high-performing SME business teams, including Business Managers and Relationship Service Specialists. Build capability in solution selling, credit writing, sector knowledge and client engagement. Drive a performance-led culture, ensuring clear accountability and high execution standards. Develop a strong succession and talent pipeline aligned to SME growth. Embed a credit-risk culture across teams.
• Financial & Operational Management: Own and manage regional budgets, cost-to-serve optimisation and productivity metrics. Ensure efficient resource allocation, workflow management and operational discipline. Drive execution excellence in projects, systems and process implementation. Monitor and respond to regional performance trends and corrective actions.
• Stakeholder & Ecosystem Leadership: Build strong internal partnerships across Credit, Product, Risk, and Enablement functions. Engage with external SME ecosystem stakeholders (industry bodies, partners, intermediaries). Represent Nedbank in the SME market to strengthen brand presence and credibility.

Professional Knowledge and Competencies

• Strong business and financial acumen
• Advanced credit analysis and credit writing capability
• SME sector and market understanding
• Strategic planning and commercial execution
• Portfolio management and optimisation
• Risk and compliance management
• Data-driven decision making
• Strategic leadership and execution
• Driving high-performance sales culture
• Advanced decision-making and judgement
• Customer-centric thinking
• Leading through change and ambiguity
• Coaching and talent development
• Influencing and stakeholder management

Our Ideal Candidate

• A proven SME or Commercial Banking leader with a strong track record in driving regional sales growth, portfolio optimisation and market share expansion.
• A strategic executor who translates BCB SME strategy into clear regional plans, coverage models and measurable commercial outcomes.
• An experienced leader of leaders, skilled at building high-performing sales, service and credit teams with strong accountability and succession depth.
• A commercially astute professional with advanced financial and credit acumen, capable of guiding complex credit decisions while balancing growth, risk and profitability.
• A client-centric relationship leader who champions proactive engagement, value creation and a seamless end-to-end SME customer experience.
• A credible influencer in a matrix environment, with strong stakeholder management skills and a disciplined approach to governance, risk and regulatory compliance.

Essential Qualifications

Matric / Grade 12 / National Senior Certificate
Advanced Diplomas/National 1st Degrees

Preferred Qualification

NQF 7: Degree in Commerce, Finance, Business or related field
Preferred: NQF 8 (Honours / Postgraduate in Finance or Business)

Minimum Experience Level

• 8–10 years in Banking / Financial Services
• Minimum 5–7 years in leadership roles managing managers
• Proven track record in SME / Commercial Banking and sales leadership

Technical / Professional Knowledge

• Strategic planning
• Budgeting
• Financial Accounting Principles
• Business principles
• Communication Strategies
• Financial Acumen
• Business writing skills
• Capacity planning
• Relevant regulatory knowledge
• Governance, Risk and Controls

Behavioural Competencies

• Aligning and Executing Sales Strategy
• Motivating the Sales Team
• Driving for results
• Decision Making
• Planning and Organizing
• Building the Sales Team
• Driving Successful Customer Engagements
• Coaching