Operations Manager

Job Advert Summary

(Land Bank) is South Africa’s only specialist agricultural bank established in 1912, the bank’s sole objective is to serve South African commercial and emerging farmers and bring specially designed financial services within their reach. These services enable farmers to finance land, equipment, improve assets and obtain production credit. The Land Bank provides financial services that have moved with the times and continues to provide services to agri-business and constantly reviews its offerings to ensure that they match the needs of an industry.

As change has swept across the sector in South Africa the socio-economic makeup of agriculture has altered, bringing new entrants from historically disadvantaged backgrounds on to the land, these new farmers, facing the challenges of establishing sustainable agri-businesses across the agricultural value chain, Land Bank has been a commercial lifeline offering appropriately designed financial products that facilitate personal and commercial viability in a sector that is vital to the sustainability of South Africa and its people.

MAIN PURPOSE OF THE JOB

Develop functional unit business plans for both the life and non-life insurance business to contribute to the achievement of strategic objectives of the organisation.
Oversee the effective functioning of claims management processes across all product lines to drive efficient client serving and customer centricity.

1. Operations Management:
Processes and Systems

• Lead the development, implementation and maintenance of a suitable policy administration systems and IT applications for all product lines, both life and non-life.
• Direct and manage the implementation of policy administration and ensure proper documentation and record keeping.
• Ensure that manual processes are appropriately automated and drive innovation and continuous improvement through collaboration and agile work practices.
• Maintain data in an acceptable format and ensure that it is disseminated to relevant departments on a timely basis.
• Identify solutions to enhance cost effectiveness and increase operational efficiency.
• Develop compeling business cases to support new initiatives at improving efficiencies.
• Manage system debit order collections, premium allocation, refunds and reconciliations.
• Manage the Sasria portfolio and ensure that relevant rates are embedded in the system.
• Manage regulatory reporting e.g. Conduct of Business Returns and Liquidity Reports etc.
• Develop, maintain and optimize end to end business processes and work flows.
• Ensure effective reporting on business performance and tailor reports using the latest tools and software e.g Power BI, Qlikview to drive business insights.

2. Claims Management

• Plan, lead and coordinate the claims function, fostering an environment of continuous improvement and excellence.
• Design processes and procedures to ensure effective claims processes and strategies to adherence to service level standards.
• Develop effective automated systems for handling claims, and lead procurement efforts for the acquisition of such systems within PFMA guidelines.
• Maintain claims register for all classes of business and ensure response is provided to claimants timely.
• Monitor and conduct regular audits on claims mandates to binder holders.
• Effect cost savings and management of claim assessment costs.
• Optimise the claims reporting process, finding innovative ways to make it easier for clients to lodge claims.
• Maintain and provide accurate claims data to the actuarial department for reserving purposes.
• Identifying claims trends and alerting underwriters where loss ratios are deteriorating.
• Perform monthly analysis and reporting of claims data to identify trends, fraud and possible problem areas.
• Handle all internal and external audit queries relating to claims.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of industry regulations and ensure compliance in all claims handling procedures.
• Deliver exceptional customer service by effectively communicating with all stakeholders and resolving claims expediently.
• Develop appropriate systems for handling and tracking complaints.
• Manage and resolve customer queries in line with…