Business Consultant

Sanlam Life and Savings (SLS) is focused on serving our retail and corporate clients in South Africa and further developing our strategic advantages in the South African market. Sanlam Life and Savings consists of the following business units Retail Mass, Corporate, Risk and Savings, Glacier and various business enabling functions. The Sanlam Life and Savings Office provides strategic direction, coordination and support to the four clusters, as well as performing governance oversight that includes assurance provided by second line of defense functions in SLS, to enable us to meet our business objectives.

As a Business Design Consultant, you will be an internal Management Consultant providing strategic business advisory services across Sanlam Life and Savings, translating strategy into executable business designs.

Core accountabilities include:

• Leading and conducting strategic investigations aligned to SLS and Group priorities.
• Shaping Target Operating Models, service offerings, business models, and value propositions.
• Developing robust business cases, including quantified costs, benefits, and commercial viability.
• Designing end to end changes to operating models, including processes, structures, capabilities, technology, and ways of working.
• Facilitating strategic conversations with senior stakeholders to align on direction and design choices.
• Supporting CX led innovation, digital transformation initiatives, and cross business integration efforts.
• Ensuring reusability of designs, patterns, and intellectual property across SLS.
• Assist with investigations; propose and evaluate solutions; and provide insights into strategy
• Develop ideas into concepts to realise the strategic objectives
• Facilitate strategic conversations where these services are required
• Initiate, design and deliver change through the management of investigations along the change life cycle
• Ensure that the case for change is made and decided, outcomes agreed, costs and benefits quantified and included in Business Cases
• Define the new Service Offering in terms of customer, products, service and channels to realise the strategic intent
• Define and design market appropriate business models, value propositions, client engagement models and new internal capabilities
• Design, integrate and deliver changes to the Operating Model (business processes, organisation structures, interfaces, locations, external relations, information, technology) to enable the Service Offering and deliver strategic intent
• Manage the Business Analysts and any other resources assigned to the investigation including those resources leading the IT change sub-projects
• Assist business and technical designers in understanding design choices and business consequences of those choices and provide recommendations to preserve integrity of the overall solution
• Lead CX focused innovation teams to create competitive and differentiated products, processes and services
• Lead and drive innovation processes to enable Sanlam's digital transformation strategy
• Design and lead RFI and RFP processes
• Ensure that investigation milestones, deliverables and outcomes are achieved
• Assist with continuous insight development for Business Architecture standards and methods
• Ensure reusability of models, patterns and designs

Role Requirements

Qualifications

• Degree or 3-year diploma, preferably business or IT related

Knowledge and Experience

• At least 5 years' experience in Business Architecture and/or Management Consulting and/or leading multi-discipline change projects
• Knowledge /experience within the Life Assurance industry (or in broader Financial Services industry)
• Understanding of ongoing perspective of the strategic issues facing the Life Assurance/ Financial Services industry
• Ability to articulate complex or technical concepts & issues in business terms
• Management style that accommodates both strategic / big-picture and detail work
• Ability to manage specialist & multi-discipline resources
• Understanding of / experience in Project Management methodologies & Business/ Operating Modelling methodologies & standards. This includes both agile and waterfall delivery methodologies.
• Exposure and experience with Customer Led and Design Thinking methods
• Drives innovation
• Strong focus on meeting customer needs
• Drives results (individually & in partnership model)
• Collaborates & works effectively in a team
• Flexible and adaptable
• Contributes to team learning & development
• Strong leadership & influencing skills
• Resilient & persistent
• Conceptual thinker
• Strong analytical & problem-solving ability
• Ability to communicate effectively & clearly at Senior & Executive levels

Business Architecture review and business process architecture implementation

Feasibility studies and documentation of underlying business architecture

IT governance, compliance and quality improvements

Business Process Mapping

Business Processes and business requirements definition

Organisational savvy - Contributing through others

Manages complexity - Contributing through others

Business insight - Contributing through others

Optimises work processes - Contributing through others

Being resilient - Contributing through others

Collaborates - Contributing through others

Cultivates innovation - Contributing through others

Customer focus - Contributing through others

Drives results - Contributing through others

The Sanlam Group is committed to achieving transformation and embraces diversity. This commitment is what drives us to achieve a diverse, inclusive and equitable workplace as we believe that these are key components to ensuring a thriving and sustainable business in South Africa. The Group's Employment Equity plan and targets will be considered as part of the selection process.