Jobs in South Africa

To provide strategic oversight, deep technical claims expertise, and process innovation across Africa Life's end-to-end claims process. The role ensures consistent, integrated, and high-quality claims experiences across markets by aligning operations to product intent, underwriting, finance, and customer service.

This role brings a strategic, risk-focused, and client‑centred lens to a critical value chain function and establishes a clear claims philosophy and principles across Africa Life, ensuring claims practices are not only efficient but consistent, fair, and aligned to business strategy and client trust.

• Degree in Insurance and Risk Management, Law, Business or related field (essential)
• Claims, fraud, or forensic investigation certifications (desirable)
• Training in operational risk or process improvement (desirable)
• 7–10 years of progressive experience in insurance operations, with a strong focus on claims management and strategy
• Proven track record in leading or overseeing claims functions across multiple product lines
• Experience in fraud detection, forensic reviews, and claims risk management, ideally with exposure to African market dynamics
• Direct involvement in claims integration with underwriting, finance, actuarial, and product development functions to ensure alignment across the value chain
• Background in designing or implementing group‑level claims frameworks, policies, or governance standards
• Experience in analysing large claims data sets to identify trends, cost drivers, and opportunities for strategic intervention
• Exposure to cross‑country operations, managing or advising on claims practices in multiple jurisdictions
• Hands‑on experience with claims systems and workflow tools (e.g., administration platforms, fraud detection systems, CRM or case management systems)
• Leadership or mentoring of claims teams or assessor groups, including capability building and training
• Experience working in regulatory and compliance‑heavy environments
• Demonstrated ability to influence without authority, shaping operational improvements and governance by engaging senior stakeholders across functions
• Experience applying business analysis techniques to claims contexts – requirements gathering, process mapping, and solution design
• End‑to‑end claims lifecycle and processing systems
• Product design, benefit rules, and underwriting principles
• Fraud detection strategies and techniques
• Life insurance regulatory frameworks in African markets
• Claims accounting, provisioning, and reconciliations
• Cross‑functional integration with service, finance, and reinsurance
• Understanding of medical conditions and disability assessments, ideally with a background or exposure to clinical or allied health professions

• Develop a business unit level claims framework and governance model.
• Lead claims analytics and deep dives into fraud trends and anomalies.
• Align claims policies and processes with product, underwriting and finance.
• Design and optimise claims workflows and handovers between countries and functions.
• Define and monitor claims‑related KPIs, SLAs, and operational benchmarks.
• Use claims experience insights to recommend upstream changes to product design, underwriting practices, and policy administration systems, ensuring alignment with risk appetite and reducing claim friction.
• Partner with actuarial and reinsurance to refine agreements based on emerging claims trends and risk behaviours.
• Develop and embed a group‑wide claims philosophy and best practices, ensuring alignment across countries.
• Assess the impact of claims practices on policyholder behaviour, including retention and lapse rates, and recommend interventions.
• Act as the escalation point for complex or disputed claims from in‑country assessors, providing guidance and final decisions where required.

• Shape claims experience strategy to balance customer empathy with business risk.
• Analyse complaints and claims turnaround data to identify improvements.
• Collaborate with service and product teams to improve communication and transparency in the claims process.
• Escalate issues from claims trends to distribution and sales teams, ensuring that customer disclosures, training, and scripts accurately reflect product intent and reduce disputes.
• Drive end‑to‑end improvements across the value chain by linking claims feedback to upstream functions, enhancing overall customer experience and trust.

• Identify and prevent claims leakage and inappropriate payouts.
• Support claims provisioning and reconciliations.
• Partner with finance on claims reserve adequacy and recoveries.

• Enable in‑country claims teams through training, standards and technical support.
• Mentor and coach in‑country assessors, not only on process but also on professional judgement, claims philosophy, and client empathy.
• Share best practices and promote a culture of fairness, risk awareness and continuous improvement.
• Act as a subject matter expert to cross‑functional teams.