Head: Sales & Services

Pepkor Payments & Lending; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 700,000 - 900,000; Full time

Job summary

Pepkor Payments & Lending in Cape Town seeks a strategic leader to drive the customer experience and align operations with business strategy, regulatory requirements, and service level targets across Sales and Services. You will lead a team across contact channels, implement outbound sales capability, oversee claims processing, and partner with BI to deliver dashboards and performance reporting.

This role requires building a high-performance culture, budgeting, risk management including

Responsibilities

• Design, implement and refine an integrated Sales & Services strategy aligned to PPL’s objectives, ensuring achievement of SLA commitments, sales targets, customer satisfaction, turnaround and response-time goals.
• Translate functional strategy into annual operating and project plans, clearly communicating departmental direction, priorities and expectations.
• Review, report on and execute operational and project plans to improve departmental productivity year on year.
• Benchmark Contact Centre operations against industry best practice
• Identify automation, AI and digital optimisation opportunities to enhance performance, service delivery and efficiency.
• Manage brand SLAs and quality targets across all service channels, including voice, email, WhatsApp, social media, chat and complaints.
• Resolve escalated and systemic service issues while owning the Contact Centre customer experience and advocacy strategy.
• Use customer insights and trend analysis to drive process, service delivery and customer experience improvements.
• Implement and operationalise Outbound Sales and upselling/cross-selling capability.
• Ensure Sales targets are met and drive conversion optimisation in collaboration with Dialler Support.
• Ensure Service standards, Response time and Quality targets are consistently met or exceeded.
• Establish a performance-driven sales culture with clear accountability.
• Oversee the Claims processing function to ensure Service standards, Accuracy levels, Turnaround time and Quality targets are consistently met.
• Implement controls to mitigate operational, financial, and compliance risks.
• Set and manage departmental KPIs, targets and SLAs, while optimising resources, workflows, systems and processes to improve productivity and reduce cost.
• Ensure proactive resource planning with WFM and People Support
• Maintain effective lateral and vertical flow of work and information within the department.
• Partner with Business Intelligence to develop dashboards and present meaningful operational performance reports to internal and external stakeholders.
• Align with Marketing and Sales on campaigns, targets, marketing initiatives and lead strategies to support operational plans and execution.
• Lead budgeting and forecasting, manage approved expense budgets, and identify, assess and monitor operational, compliance and regulatory risks, including NCA, POPIA and audit outcomes.
• Lead strategic and functional optimisation projects, applying industry best practice to improve service, reduce cost and maximise effciency.
• Drive automation, self-service, AI-and technology-enabled improvements, in collaboration with Product Office to prioritise projects and funtional tickets.
• Build an engaged, high-performance, customer-centric culture through clear communication, teamwork and collaboration across Sales and Services teams
• Manage performance in line with company policies, including regular reviews, coaching, talent development and readiness for changing business needs.
• Maintain structures, skills, capacity, career pathways and succession plans aligned to strategic objectives.
• Recognise strong performance and behaviours, while consistently modeling company values and leadership behaviours.

Job description

Purpose of the Role

The successful candidate will lead and enhance the customer experience while ensuring alignment to business strategy, regulatory requirements, service level agreements, operational performance targets and industry best practice.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Management

• Design, implement and refine an integrated Sales & Services strategy aligned to PPL’s objectives, ensuring achievement of SLA commitments, sales targets, customer satisfaction, turnaround and response-time goals.
• Translate functional strategy into annual operating and project plans, clearly communicating departmental direction, priorities and expectations.
• Review, report on and execute operational and project plans to improve departmental productivity year on year.
• Benchmark Contact Centre operations against industry best practice
• Identify automation, AI and digital optimisation opportunities to enhance performance, service delivery and efficiency.

Operations Management

Customer Service

• Manage brand SLAs and quality targets across all service channels, including voice, email, WhatsApp, social media, chat and complaints.
• Resolve escalated and systemic service issues while owning the Contact Centre customer experience and advocacy strategy.
• Use customer insights and trend analysis to drive process, service delivery and customer experience improvements.

Outbound Sales

• Implement and operationalise Outbound Sales and upselling/cross-selling capability.
• Ensure Sales targets are met and drive conversion optimisation in collaboration with Dialler Support.
• Ensure Service standards, Response time and Quality targets are consistently met or exceeded.
• Establish a performance-driven sales culture with clear accountability.

Claims

• Oversee the Claims processing function to ensure Service standards, Accuracy levels, Turnaround time and Quality targets are consistently met.
• Implement controls to mitigate operational, financial, and compliance risks.

General

• Set and manage departmental KPIs, targets and SLAs, while optimising resources, workflows, systems and processes to improve productivity and reduce cost.
• Ensure proactive resource planning with WFM and People Support
• Maintain effective lateral and vertical flow of work and information within the department.
• Partner with Business Intelligence to develop dashboards and present meaningful operational performance reports to internal and external stakeholders.
• Align with Marketing and Sales on campaigns, targets, marketing initiatives and lead strategies to support operational plans and execution.
• Lead budgeting and forecasting, manage approved expense budgets, and identify, assess and monitor operational, compliance and regulatory risks, including NCA, POPIA and audit outcomes.

Projects and Initiatives

• Lead strategic and functional optimisation projects, applying industry best practice to improve service, reduce cost and maximise effciency.
• Drive automation, self-service, AI-and technology-enabled improvements, in collaboration with Product Office to prioritise projects and funtional tickets.

Leadership and People Management

• Build an engaged, high-performance, customer-centric culture through clear communication, teamwork and collaboration across Sales and Services teams
• Manage performance in line with company policies, including regular reviews, coaching, talent development and readiness for changing business needs.
• Maintain structures, skills, capacity, career pathways and succession plans aligned to strategic objectives.
• Recognise strong performance and behaviours, while consistently modeling company values and leadership behaviours.