Principal Officer SasolMed at Sasol

Purpose of Job

• The Principal Officer (PO) is the accountable executive and visible representative of Sasolmed (Sasol’s in-house medical scheme), acting on behalf of the Board of Trustees to ensure that the Scheme is governed, managed and administered in compliance with the Medical Schemes Act, the Scheme Rules and applicable laws.
• The role requires a highly competent, credible and member-oriented professional who can support the Board of Trustees in ensuring effective governance, regulatory compliance, sound administration and responsive service to members. The Principal Officer must demonstrate excellent stakeholder relationship management, strong attention to detail, disciplined execution, a strong sense of urgency and deep knowledge of medical scheme governance.
• Key Accountabilities

Strategic Leadership

The Principal Officer acts on behalf of the Board of Trustees to:

• Lead the development of the Scheme’s long‑term strategy (3–5 years) and business plan;
• Ensuring alignment between Sasolmed’s strategy and Sasol’s broader employee value proposition;
• Identifying emerging risks, trends and innovations (e.g. digital health, value‑based care, demographic shifts);
• Scenario modelling for sustainability (e.g. ageing profile, chronic disease burden, cost drivers).

Governance

The Principal Officer acts on behalf of the Board of Trustees to:

• Serve as the Scheme's primary liaison with the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS), ensuring timely submission of all statutory returns, responses to regulatory enquiries, management of inspections, implementation of directives and maintenance of a constructive regulatory relationship;
• Ensure that proper registers, books and records are maintained, and that accurate and complete minutes of all Board and Committee meetings and resolutions are recorded and retained;
• Ensure that robust governance, risk management and internal control systems are implemented, maintained, periodically reviewed and that material risks, control and compliance matters are appropriately reported to the Board and relevant Committees;
• Ensure all reasonable steps are taken for timeous payment of contributions to the Scheme in terms of the Medical Schemes Act and the Scheme's Rules;
• Ensure that the Board contracts and maintains professional indemnity insurance and fidelity guarantee insurance as determined by the CMS;
• Obtain expert advice on legal, accounting, governance and business matters as required, or when requested by the Board and Committees;
• Take all reasonable steps to protect confidentiality of medical records;
• Ensure that the Board is constituted in terms of the Medical Schemes Act and the Scheme's Rules;
• Monitor and manage the performance of the Administrator and third-party contracts, ensuring accountability, responsiveness, service quality, effective governance and the timely resolution of operational, compliance and control matters;
• Conduct and/or facilitate training, endeavor to ensure that Trustees attend mandatory training, and report on Trustee training;
• Follow up that the Scheme rules are approved by the CMS; and sign contracts on behalf of the Board in accordance with the Delegation of Authority (DoA).
• Ensure compliance with POPIA and all applicable information governance requirements, including oversight of member data privacy, cybersecurity controls, third-party data processors, data-sharing arrangements and incident response protocols;
• Coordinate the Scheme's assurance activities including internal audit, external audit, actuarial reviews, compliance monitoring and implementation of assurance recommendations.

Benefit and Contribution Design and Analysis

The Principal Officer is responsible to:

• Guide the Board in designing benefit and contribution structures;
• Ensure compliance with the Act in terms of benefits and contributions;
• Monitor the financial position of the Scheme;
• Ensure that the annual budget is prepared and approved by the Scheme;
• Monitor the solvency of the Scheme;
• Monitor the income and expenditure of the Scheme;
• Review actuarial valuation reports and ensure that Board decisions are informed by appropriate actuarial analysis;
• Monitor reserves, contribution adequacy, healthcare inflation trends and long-term financial sustainability of the Scheme.

Communication

• In terms of the Act, any notice given to the Principal Officer is deemed to be given to the Scheme. The onus lies with the Principal Officer to ensure such information is distributed to the relevant stakeholders including reports and information to assist the Sasol Wellness team to inform the Group Executive Committee (GEC) of wellness trends and identified health risks in the workplace, and actioned as appropriate;
• Ensure a communication strategy and plan is in place to effectively communicate with all relevant stakeholders at the appropriate time;
• Ensure that members receive adequate, accurate and timely information regarding their rights, benefits, contributions and obligations in terms of the Scheme Rules and the Medical Schemes Act;
• Act as the visible and credible face of Sasolmed to members, and ensure ongoing open communication channels between the Sasolmed office, service providers, the Administrator and members;
• Monitor member experience indicators including complaints, appeals, query resolution, call-centre performance, digital adoption and member satisfaction;
• Liaise with the Employer and be an integral stakeholder in the delivery of wellness initiatives in the workplace, as well as the provision of information to support integrated reporting;
• Ensure a formal complaints and escalation management framework exists, including monitoring trends, root-cause analysis and implementation of corrective actions;
• Leverages partnerships with Occupational Health Services to complement organisational health strategies, improve access to preventative and supportive care, and enhance the overall health and wellbeing of employee-members.

Other business of the Scheme

The Principal Officer is responsible to:

• Assist the Chairperson of the Board with the governance, risk management (strategic, operational, clinical and reputational) and mitigation as per requirement of both the Council of Medical Aid Schemes (CMS) and King V, regulatory compliance and strategic management of the Scheme;
• Support the Chairpersons of the various Committees in terms of agenda development, meeting preparation, follow-up of allocated actions and the timely escalation of matters requiring Board attention;
• Manage Sasolmed’s operations budget as per Board mandate;
• Represent the Scheme at industry conferences/associations as determined by the Board;
• Ensure that members have adequate recourse to processes for queries, disputes, complaints or legal action against the Scheme;
• Ensure Managed Care interventions are appropriate and in line with the regulations;
• Strong clinical governance oversight in monitoring clinical risk trends (such as, hospital admissions, chronic disease prevalence, Prescribed Minimum Benefit compliance);
• Manage the relationship and performance oversight of the Administrator and other key service providers, ensuring a seamless, well-integrated and responsive working relationship with all key role players;
• The Principal Officer considers the Administrator’s recommendations on detecting, preventing and addressing fraud, waste and abuse, and oversees their implementation within the approved DoA, escalating material matters to the Operations Committee or Board of Trustees as required;
• Be the key liaison person for trustees, ensure that trustees have undergone appropriate induction programmes, are timeously informed of meetings, receive accurate meeting packs, have access to regulatory information and are supported through ongoing training opportunities and capability-building;
• Exercise the discretion to oppose any CMS complaint or subsequent appeal, taking into account the recommendations of the Administrator and any other subject matter expert at the time;
• Ensure business continuity and disaster recovery plans are in place;
• Drive digital transformation and data governance (digital health innovation solutions);
• Establish, maintain and periodically review a risk management framework covering strategic, operational, financial, clinical, legal, cyber-security, data privacy, fraud and reputational risks;
• Implement and maintain a service provider management framework with defined performance measures, SLA’s and risk management;
• Promote fair treatment of members and ensure that Scheme policies, benefit administration and operational practices support equitable, transparent and consistent outcomes;
• Provide oversight of the Scheme's clinical governance framework, including quality of care indicators, managed care effectiveness, Prescribed Minimum Benefit (PMB) compliance, clinical risk management and healthcare outcomes.

Reporting

• The Principal Officer is accountable for accurate, timely and well-governed reporting to the Board, Committees and relevant regulatory bodies regarding the activities of the Scheme. The role also includes regular reporting to Sasol on the status of Sasolmed, material risks, key member matters and other issues requiring stakeholder awareness or action.

Meeting Attendance and Frequency

• The Principal Officer must attend meetings of the Board and all Sasolmed Committee meetings, as well as any other appropriate meetings which may include meetings arranged by Sasol as and when required.
• The attendance at Sasolmed meetings will be in an Ex Officio capacity.

Formal Education

• Post graduate degree in either HR Management, Accounting, Finance, Law, Relevant Health Care, Business Administration or Management. Professional governance qualification/certification, Principal Officer certification, compliance qualification/certification, CA(SA), admitted attorney, registered healthcare professional, actuarial qualification or equivalent will be advantageous.

Working Experience

• At least 10 years’ experience in medical scheme administration. Minimum 10–15 years' experience in medical schemes, healthcare funding, healthcare administration or related regulated environments, including at least 5 years in a senior leadership, governance, executive management or Principal Officer role.
• Track record of successful health, clinical and / or wellness delivery in a matrix environment.
• Sound multi-functional stakeholder management and engagement abilities.
• Demonstrated ability to work with urgency, accuracy and discretion in a highly regulated environment, with strong attention to detail and a clear commitment to member service.