Head of Transformation

Job Description Summary

The Head of Transformation is accountable for end-to-end transformation delivery across Cigna Healthcare Middle East & Africa, spanning operating model redesign, technology and data modernization, regulatory readiness, and execution discipline. This role operates in a highly regulated, fast‑scaling environment, market buildouts, complex government integrations. This role requires a senior transformation leader with the confidence and credibility to operate at executive level, challenge peers, and make difficult prioritization decisions in high‑stakes environments.

Cigna Healthcare is a global health service company with roots in the US, serving more than 180 million customers and patients throughout the world. We deliver quality health care through choice, predictability, affordability and through integrated capabilities and connected, personalized solutions that advance whole person health. Cigna’s mission is to help our customers improve their health, well‑being and sense of security by providing access to care.

With our whole health approach, we’re focused on addressing health concerns, improving resilience, reducing stress levels and emotional health issues. Our employer promise is to remain steadfast in our commitment to fostering growth and improving lives by offering meaningful work within a positive, inclusive culture that prioritizes our colleagues. We champion teamwork and collaboration and empower our people with cutting‑edge technology to drive efficiency and amplify their impact in everything we do.

Together we strive to create an environment where every individual thrives and contributes to meaningful change.

• Transformation Leadership & Operating Model
• Define, own, and continuously re‑prioritize the MEA transformation roadmap, with explicit accountability for sequencing initiatives based on regulatory urgency, value at risk, and delivery capacity.
• Hold authority to recommend stopping, pausing, or re‑scoping initiatives that do not deliver measurable outcomes or jeopardize regulatory or operational stability.
• Evolve and lead the Transformation Office (TO) including Lean Portfolio Management, ensuring value streams are defined, funded, and sequenced. Oversee execution of enterprise initiatives, impacting MEA value streams.
• Institutionalize agile and product‑led operating models across MEA, ensuring adoption translates into faster time‑to‑market, improved delivery predictability, and measurable flow improvements.
• Partner with the business and support functions, to align operating model changes, budget cycles, workforce plans, vendor strategies, and benefit realization.
• Program & Initiative Delivery (Execution Excellence)
• Own the delivery of a multi‑year enterprise transformation portfolio, including but not limited to digital distribution, customer self‑service, claims and medical cost transformation, provider network enablement, and core platform modernization.
• Accountable for delivery outcomes across a matrixed environment, including dependencies on Operations, Technology, Finance, Markets, and third‑party vendors.
• Drive cross‑functional collaboration and dependencies management (Scrum of Scrums, ART Sync), ensuring blockers are escalated and resolved quickly.
• Institutionalize benefits realization, tracking both leading indicators (adoption, and lagging outcomes.
• Change Management & Culture
• Champion agile and customer‑centric mindsets; coach executives and teams on lean/agile, product ownership, and hypothesis‑driven delivery.
• Design and execute change plans (communications, stakeholder mapping, training, role clarity, incentives) using proven frameworks.
• Build on transformation capability by developing delivery talent (RTEs, Scrum Masters, Product Owners, PMs, BAs) and shaping Communities of Practice.
• Data, Technology & Process Modernization
• Advance data and analytics foundations (data quality, governance, BI/self‑service, AI/ML use cases) to improve business outcomes.
• Lead process re‑engineering and automation (Lean, Six Sigma, workflow digitization, RPA).
• Partner with Technology while retaining outcome accountability for platform…