Managing Executive: Life Insurance

Empowering Africa’s tomorrow, together…one story at a time.

Job Summary

Provide strategic leadership for the Life Insurance business by delivering customer-centric solutions that drive growth, innovation, and sustainable performance across segments, products, and channels. Future-proof the business by anticipating evolving customer needs, market dynamics, technological advancements, and regulatory developments, ensuring long-term competitiveness and resilience. Ensure strong governance, risk management, and regulatory compliance, while fostering trusted partnerships with regulators, Boards, and key stakeholders to support effective oversight, strategic execution, and the protection of the license to operate.

Job Description

Strategy and Execution

• Define and lead the Life Insurance strategy with clear objectives, success metrics, and forward-looking market, customer and regulatory insight.
• Drive sustainable growth, profitability and shareholder value through disciplined strategic choices, portfolio optimisation and effective capital allocation.
• Drive disciplined execution of strategic priorities, with continuous performance monitoring and course correction.
• Drive cost-to-serve as a core strategic priority, reshaping the current business model to improve efficiency, scalability and fitness for the future.
• Lead innovation, ecosystem partnerships and digital transformation initiatives that strengthen competitiveness and support long-term value creation.
• Provide market, competitor and global best practice insights to inform strategic direction.

Customer and Proposition Leadership

• Own the customer and value proposition strategy, ensuring relevance, competitiveness, differentiation and sustainable value creation across customer segments.
• Lead the design and delivery of integrated, personalised customer experiences across products and ecosystems.
• Leverage customer, market and data insights to identify emerging needs, inform innovation priorities and shape future customer propositions.
• Build a culture aligned to customer outcomes and sustainable financial performance.

Growth, Innovation and Portfolio Performance

• Drive sustainable revenue growth, profitability and shareholder value through disciplined portfolio, product and distribution strategies.
• Optimise portfolio performance through effective management of product mix, customer segments, pricing, capital deployment and risk-adjusted returns.
• Drive product innovation through digital-first, customer-informed design and delivery.
• Identify and capture new growth opportunities through market expansion, strategic partnerships, emerging customer needs and ecosystem development.
• Increase Life Insurance contribution to overall PPB performance.
• Monitor market, competitor, technology and regulatory developments to proactively adapt the business and maintain sustainable growth.

Artificial Intelligence, Data & Digital Transformation

• Leverage data as a strategic asset to inform pricing, risk, product development and growth decisions.
• Embed digital-first ways of working to enhance customer experience and operational efficiency.
• Champion automation, platform optimisation and scalable innovation to unlock business value.
• Lead business transformation initiatives that modernise the operating model, accelerate digital adoption and ensure long-term organisational relevance and resilience.
• Harness Artificial Intelligence, machine learning and predictive analytics to improve decision quality, accelerate innovation, enhance risk management and personalise customer experiences.
• Ensure responsible governance, ethical use and effective risk management of data, AI and emerging technologies in line with regulatory, customer and business expectations.

Risk, Governance and Compliance

• Provide executive oversight of risk, capital, compliance and control frameworks.
• Ensure alignment with regulatory requirements and protection of the license to operate.
• Lead integrated governance and risk management across the Life Insurance portfolio.

Talent and Leadership

• Build leadership capability and a future-fit workforce aligned to strategic priorities.
• Drive succession planning, talent development and performance management.
• Foster an inclusive, high-performance culture that strengthens engagement and transformation delivery.
• Provide oversight of people-related risks and escalated employee matters.

Stakeholder and Ecosystem Management

• Build strong, trust-based relationships with regulators, partners and key stakeholders.
• Influence industry outcomes and stay ahead of regulatory and market developments.
• Secure alignment and sponsorship across PPB Pan-Africa leadership for strategic priorities.
• Identify, build and execute strategic partnerships as a key future differentiator, strengthening ecosystem reach, proposition relevance and growth execution.

ROLE REQUIREMENTS

Qualifications and Experience

• Post Graduate Qualification (NQF8) in Commerce; Finance, Actuarial Science, Insurance, Business Management, Risk Management, Law or related field.
• 15+ years of experience in Financial Services, including 7+ years in senior executive roles
• Expertise in Life Insurance regulation, governance and risk management
• Deep expertise in Life Insurance regulation and capital management

• Experience engaging with regulators, industry forums, and strategic stakeholders across multiple markets

Leadership Capabilities

• Shaping Strategy | Building Customer Value | Impacting Society | Leading Innovation (Technology and AI driven) | Delivering Results | Leading & Developing teams | Stakeholder Management | Building Partnerships

​Technical Capabilities

• Expertise in Life Insurance products, distribution, customer segments and market dynamics.
• Understanding of Life Insurance regulation, governance, compliance and risk management.
• Capital management, capital risk, underwriting, pricing principles and portfolio performance.
• Commercial acumen and ability to manage P&L, profitability and sustainable growth.

Education

Postgraduate Degrees and Professional Qualifications: Business, Commerce and Management Studies (Required)

Absa Bank Limited is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer. In compliance with the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998, preference will be given to suitable candidates from designated groups whose appointments will contribute towards achievement of equitable demographic representation of our workforce profile and add to the diversity of the Bank.

Absa Bank Limited reserves the right not to make an appointment to the post as advertised