Head: Customer Propositions & Decision Intelligence (Head: CP&DI) at Sanlam Group

Strategic Context

• The Head: Customer Propositions & Decision Intelligence (CP&DI) role is pivotal in translating the Board-approved strategy narrative, business plan, and budgets into tangible delivery. This is especially important as NMSIS evolves into a platform orchestrator within the MultiChoice ecosystem, in addition to its current and continuing role as risk-bearing steward.
• This position brings together product development, proposition design, pricing, customer insight, loyalty mechanics, behavioural economics, commercial risk ownership, and data-driven decision-making to deliver offerings that drive engagement, retention, cross-sell, and profitability across multiple licences (as the case maybe).
• In the TOM, the Head: CP&DI acts as the critical link between prudential soundness, commercial viability, and customer value. The role includes designing and managing the full product lifecycle—from development and placement through to performance management and decommissioning.
• This requires leveraging NMSIS’ composite licence for microinsurance solutions, while also orchestrating bundled or standalone offerings from Sanlam, Santam groups, and other partners. Each solution must align to risk appetite and economic expectations  
• The role ensures propositions are embedded seamlessly into customer journeys via the MultiChoice distribution network, supported by Sanlam Fintech’s Digital Financial Services Platform (BlueApp, Glue Integration Platform, Digisure PAS). 
• A key expectation is that the Head: CP&DI will translate  NMSIS’ competitive advantages (its “silver bullets”) into scalable, risk-sound products and propositions that deliver clear, tangible benefits to customers while adhering to prudential, commercial, and regulatory requirements. .
• The Head: CP&DI will also steward NMSIS’ decision intelligence efforts, leveraging both internal and partner analytics resources (e.g., MultiChoice CII, TrueSouth) to support data-led decision-making across growth and operational priorities in NMSIS and the broader JV. This includes influencing decisions related to product prioritisation, pricing strategy, customer segmentation, and distribution channel optimisation. 

Role Profile

• Role Profile: Head – Customer Proposition & Decision Intelligence (CP&DI)
• Reports to: CEO
• Location: Cape Town / Johannesburg
• Dotted-Line Reports: Proposition Managers, Product Development Managers, Pricing Specialists, Actuarial & Analytics Partners, Loyalty/Rewards Design Leads
• Key Interfaces: CEO, CGO, COO, CFO; Product, Actuarial & Analytics teams (Sanlam/Santam); Sanlam Loyalty & Rewards; MultiChoice Marketing/Product/Rewards/CII teams; TrueSouth (NMSIS HAF); Marsh; and other strategic partners.

Mandate

• Lead the product and propositions portfolio for NMSIS and the broader Sanlam | Santam | MultiChoice JV. The role carries a dual mandate:
• Product Risk Ownership: Serve as the first-line product risk owner under the NMSIS microinsurance licence. Responsible for product economics, pricing, and lifecycle management—subject to prudential oversight by the HAF (outsourced to TrueSouth or Sanlam/Santam, with possible future insourcing).
• Proposition Orchestration: Coordinate the design and delivery of customer-centric, commercially viable, and risk-sound propositions across multiple licences and partners (e.g., Sanlam Life, SDM, Santam, MiWay, Satrix), integrated seamlessly into the Sanlam Fintech Digital Platform, white-labelled for MultiChoice customers.
• The role also leads Decision Intelligence, leveraging internal and partner analytics (e.g., MultiChoice CII, TrueSouth) to drive insight-led decisions across customer acquisition, retention, pricing, and performance management—aligned with key business metrics:
• Customer: Persistency, lapse rates, CLV, cross/upsell
• Profitability: CAC payback, margins, loss ratios
• Technology: Claims automation, premium reliability
• Talent: Productivity metrics tied to sales economics
• Additional responsibilities include strategic support to the CEO (e.g., business case evaluations, cross-licence placement frameworks).

Key Responsibilities (Summary)

Product Stewardship & Risk Ownership

• Serve as the first-line product risk owner under the microinsurance licence.
• Oversee bundled and standalone products from Sanlam, Santam, and other partners.
• Ensure compliance with prudential guardrails and customer value standards.

Proposition Development & Ecosystem Integration

• Define and drive proposition strategy in line with NMSIS’s orchestration model and business priorities.
• Manage a cross-portfolio of life, non-life, credit, investment, and value-added offerings.
• Ensure integration with MultiChoice customer journeys and platform touchpoints.

Decision Intelligence & Analytics

• Build and lead NMSIS’s Decision Intelligence capability, utilising CII and analytics partners.
• Translate insights (e.g., CLV, segmentation, propensity modelling) into actionable strategies.
• Deliver dashboards and analysis for EXCO decision-making across growth and operations.

Pricing & Commercial Strategy

• Shape and validate pricing structures in partnership with actuarial and finance teams.
• Monitor and optimise distribution channel performance and economics.
• Ensure product profitability and alignment with budget targets.

Loyalty & Behavioural Economics

• Collaborate with BOOOST and MultiChoice Rewards to embed loyalty mechanics.
• Use behavioural science to drive customer retention and long-term value.
• Integrate loyalty into proposition design and strategic growth priorities.

Executive Collaboration

Work closely with:

• CGO: Ensure propositions are omni-channel enabled.
• COO: Align operations and customer experience with proposition delivery.
• Product Providers: Adapt and co-develop offerings for MultiChoice customers.

Competencies and Attributes

• 8+ years at a senior leadership level, with a strong overall track record
• Strategic product and proposition leadership in regulated/licensed, multi-partner ecosystems.
• Expertise in customer insight, analytics, pricing, and proposition design.
• Actuarial/analytical expertise with strong understanding of product and commercial requirements
• Deep knowledge and experience of product and product ecosystem development, 
• business intelligence, and distribution or sales support highly advantageous.
• Exposure to the distribution/sales environment within insurance or financial services
• Commercial acumen with ability to balance customer value and business returns.
• Strong influencing skills across senior stakeholder networks.
• Innovative and data-driven mindset.
• Skilled communicator able to simplify complexity.
• Ability to navigate complexity and ambiguity, making informed decisions even when complete information is not available.

Success Measures

• Launch of key propositions under the NMSIS licence with HAF approval.
• Implementation of cross-licence placement frameworks.
• Decision Intelligence delivering actionable insights (e.g., CLV, segmentation, lapse rates).
• Improvement in customer retention, product profitability, and support for revenue growth.
• Loyalty/rewards mechanics embedded into propositions with measurable impact.

Immediate Priorities

• Finalise the proposition roadmap aligned with strategy and budget.
• Deliver initial wave of commercially sound products into the MultiChoice ecosystem.
• Align loyalty initiatives with product strategy.
• Operationalise the Decision Intelligence function with scalable analytics partnerships.
• Establish performance dashboards (CLV, segmentation, channel economics).

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Actuarial Science (or equivalent analytical qualification)

Additional Notes

• The CP&DI function provides long-term product stewardship by integrating product risk management with proposition orchestration.
• Experience in embedded finance, multi-partner product launches, and behavioural economics is highly advantageous.
• A key success factor is the ability to design sustainable, insight-led propositions that create long-term customer and business value.