Jobs at Santam Insurance

JOB DESCRIPTION

• The incumbent will form part of the IT4IT Team (the IT Support Team) and work with all the development teams (Guidewire, JDE, Microsoft, Java, etc.).
• This includes working specifically with Technical Architecture and Release & Deployment Management to support and maintain the IT Support technical infrastructure, DevSecOps processes & procedures.
• Specific emphasis for this role will be the support of the development teams, implementation of alerting & monitoring and the support of infrastructure and application components.

PRINCIPLE ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Technical support of IT Support technology (hardware, software, including upgrades, resolving vulnerabilities). The technology is primarily based on Atlassian products, but also includes other software and technology components.
• Administration of infrastructure deployment, technical support procedures, application deployments & releases, servers, nodes, databases, etc.
• Monitoring and management of hardware & software resources across all environments and taking pro-active action where required.
• Collaborating with Architects, Technical Specialists and Team Leaders on ways to automate and improve the development, release management and production observation processes & procedures
• System troubleshooting and maintenance
• Installation of software (from operating systems through to applications) across environments
• Management and leadership of the IT4IT Team

General Functions

• Consult with the Solution Architects on the development platforms (Guidewire, JDE, MS D365, .Net, Java, Cloud) in terms of application configuration and infrastructure to support application services
• Identification of bottlenecks and process inefficiencies and collaborate with team to create and implement improvements
• Identification of potential risks / issues and give input into risk plan
• Develop and maintain a comprehensive understanding of the internal workings of key software packages within IT Support.
• Work with key vendors to understand their current and future offerings & services with a view of adopting and driving broad implementation
• Manage, mentor and support the rest of the IT4IT Team.

Quality Assurance

• Work as a team member with Development teams and technical staff, to ensure the solutions/amendments are implemented according to best practice
• Participate in various Troubleshooting & Problem-Solving initiatives setup and managed by Technical Support and/or SGT

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• National Diploma / Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Statistics, Informatics, Information Systems, Information Technology, Engineering or another quantitative field preferred
• Minimum of 2 - 3 years relevant experience
• Working experience with Windows & Redhat Linux.
• Working experience with Atlassian DataCenter and clustering.
• Proficient in development languages such as Java and Python.
• Experience with CI/CD (continuous integration, continuous delivery) tools
• Experience in application development, version control, support and release management
• Experience with Docker and Kubernetes for container management and orchestration.
• Expertise in setting up and managing and maintaining Nexus, Sonar and Bamboo and Bitbucket
• Experience working with and supporting complex systems deployed to cloud (i.e. AWS) would be beneficial

KNOWLEDGE

• Familiarity with monitoring tools and the management thereof
• Understanding of software development principles and practices
• Good understanding of complex IT environments, network infrastructure such as load balancers, network proxies, NFS/NAS, etc.
• Knowledge of security best practices, encryption, and identity management and the ability to implement security measures in CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure
• Understanding of Agile and Scrum methodologies.
• Familiarity with both SQL and NoSQL databases and Round Robin databases.

COMPETENCIES

• Competent in problem solving and troubleshooting at application and networked infrastructure levels
• Creativity in finding efficient solutions to technical problems
• Stakeholder management as it relates to business and technical users at different levels in the organisation
• Research and presentation skills
• Must be able to work in a team focused highly pressurised and dynamic environment
• Investigation and analysis of information
• Planning and organisation
• Communication of technical guidance and instruction to team members
• Ability to write technical instructions in the use of programs and / or program modifications
• Ability to accept accountability for actions and decisions
• Ability to lead and direct resources

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What will you do?

• This role will be in the Santam Re & International business unit, based in Cape Town.
• This suitably qualified and experienced individual is responsible for the following for the outwards reinsurance business: financial planning and analysis, budgeting support, performance tracking and reporting to the core management team, implementing finance automation solutions, working with the finance business partnering as well as the financial reporting teams to ensure all income statements are accurate and up to date.
• The role is required to ensure the timely delivery of accurate and complete information with the necessary insight on treaty performance per cedant for the outwards business.
• The role will ensure that the necessary disciplines of technical accounting, cash management as well as debtor and creditor management are performed accurately and in a timely manner, in accordance with industry best practice.

What will make you successful in this role?

Financial Operations

• Review and document the accounting treatments for all outwards treaty business and ensure the accurate recording of same based on the nature of each underlying treaty.
• Develop the necessary routines to ensure the timely and accurate processing of all outward reinsurance transactions and processing of all outward reinsurance bordereauxs. This includes the automation of routine manual transactions.
• Run the finance operations project team (informal) to ensure that the necessary emphasis is placed on areas of focus as notified by senior management.
• Work with the business to develop and implement an activity-based cost allocation model to ensure each business unit carries its proportional share of the cost base. These costs include both direct costs and shared costs which are allocated from Group companies.
• Identify and action opportunities for process and cost optimisation across the business (not limited to the finance function).
• Accurate processing into each respective business unit’s income statement, with insightful variance analysis to ensure all BU CFOs can explain the movement in their outwards reinsurance accounts.
• Ownership of the full transaction lifecycle for all outwards business – from source to record, including the capture of payment instructions for processing via the payments system.

Automation and Process Optimisation

• Actively seek out opportunities to automate functions within the finance team to reduce the manual effort involved in day-to-day reporting.
• Work closely with the IT system development team to optimise IT routines and automated financial entries to ensure accurate financial reporting.

Financial Planning & Analysis

• Collaborate with the financial reporting and business partnering teams through the monthly reporting cycle.
• Ownership of the outwards reinsurance month-end reporting process.

Governance, Compliance and Controls

• Establish a sound system of financial controls over all processes within functional area.
• Ensure that standard operating procedures are documented for all core functions within the financial operations team, including the preparation of a risk and control matrix.
• Collaborate with internal and external assurance providers through the respective reporting cycles.

Team Development

• Mentor and develop staff across the business to ensure we inculcate a culture of excellence, process optimisation and collaboration across all teams.
• Provide financial and accounting training to staff in need, as well as to the broader business to ensure that performance is well understood.
• Actively support own staff, and the broader finance team, to adopt automation through technology and support the finance change champion’s efforts in this regard.

Qualification and Experience

• CA (SA) essential
• 2+ years Post Qualification Experience
• Audit Background, preferably in financial services
• Non-life insurance / reinsurance experience is advantageous
• IFRS 17 implementation and application experience highly advantageous

Skills

• You have a proven track record of delivering meaningful, impactful work throughout your career.
• You have a minimum of 2 years of post-qualification experience and understand the construct of an effective financial operations function.
• You have strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the vision to see solutions beyond current system capabilities.
• You are technically strong in IFRS and can explain complex concepts at all levels – from senior management to new career entrants.
• You understand how to design, implement and monitor a financial control environment.
• You have enhanced communication and presentation skills and enjoy working cross-functionally building relationships across an organisation.
• You can adapt, and thrive, in a fast-paced and evolving environment where you will need to roll up your sleeves.
• You are adept at leading and mentoring diverse, high-performing teams and proactively supporting team members who need guidance to perform at the required level.

Competencies

• Collaboration
• Client focus
• Drives results
• Flexibility and adaptability
• Cultivates innovation
• Driving strategy
• Commercial orientation
• Change leadership
• Talent enablement
• Decision making
• Leadership
• Reporting and Administration
• Balances stakeholders