Vacant Positions at PPS

Purpose of the Job:

A professional service agent role, reporting to the Team Manager: PPS Operations. Accountable for providing a professional service to PPS members and associated parties via an inbound contact centre model. This role works strictly on a shift work basis including nightshift work.

Minimum Requirements
Formal Qualifications:

• Matric (Grade 12) essential.
• A 3-year tertiary qualification (Degree/BTech/National Diploma) with relevant business orientation essential

Experience and Knowledge: 

• 2 - 3 years’ experience in an administrative and business coordinating/ business sales support role in financial services essential.
• 2 -3 years Intermediate knowledge of the Life Assurance or Financial Services industry essential.
• 2 years call centre inbound experience is required, preferably in financial services.
• Must be able to work shifts (11pm – 7am, 3am – 11pm, 12 am – 8am and 4am – 12am – times are subject to change)

Computer Literacy:

• Effective use of MS Office applications (Outlook, Visio, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Projects)

Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Skills:

• Be a fast thinker with excellent conflict resolution skills to deal with both irate and complimentary members/intermediaries.
• Customer centric and display a positive and professional image of PPS by building and maintaining relationships.
• Have excellent verbal and written communication skills in English. A good command of the English Language.
• Be a team player by being reliable and trustworthy.
• Have good decision-making skills.
• Be proactive and have an ability to solve problems. 

Duties and Responsibilities
Main duties and responsibilities:

• This incumbent will be responsible for providing professional service to PPS members and associated parties on the phone in a contact centre.
• This will include working across all areas in Servicing and Administration with the ability to process in all facets of the department and resolve queries from start to end.
• The incumbent will be required to be up-skilled and take ownership of their responsibilities within their probation period of 3 months.
• They will be required to make decisions within their mandate and execute a higher quality of service combined with increased quantity as per the performance contract.
• He/she must excel in a pressurised environment and be a quick thinker that applies logic in decision making.
• Execute policies and procedures related to service delivery in Operations and between other areas.
• Identify process and procedure improvements and make recommendations to streamline and simplify processes.
• Escalate systems failures to the appropriate support team in order for the team to stay productive.
• Agree duties with team members in order to achieve operational targets including prioritisation and work schedules 

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Job Advert Summary

As a pivotal leadership position within the PPS Mutual area, the Operations Team Manager reports directly to the Head of Operations and Systems. This role holds the primary responsibility for overseeing the performance of the operations team, with a strong emphasis on driving excellence and maintaining high standards in all aspects of operations.

The primary objective of the Operations Team Manager is to lead by example, ensuring that team members perform at their best while adhering to established business processes and quality standards. This involves providing guidance, support, and development opportunities to team members to enhance their skills and capabilities. Additionally, the Operations Team Manager is tasked with ensuring that business targets and key performance indicators (KPIs) are consistently met or exceeded. The delivery of exceptional customer service is key, which requires a proactive and customer-centric approach. The Operations Team Manager is expected to instill a culture of customer focus and excellence within the team, driving continuous improvement initiatives to enhance the overall customer experience.

Given the dynamic nature of the role, the Operations Team Manager must possess a high level of focus, energy, and responsibility. This role also entails working Australian business hours, including shift work, and requires own transportation. This role plays a critical role in the success of the operations team and contributes significantly to the achievement of organizational goals and objectives.

Minimum Requirements
Formal Qualifications:

• 3-4 years Post Matric qualification in business related studies or equivalent
• Bachelor’s degree in business related studies or equivalent an advantage

Knowledge & Experience: 

• 3 – 4 years of customer service and administration experience specifically in a call centre and back office environment
•  3 – 4 years of call centre management experience
• 1 - 3 years of team leader experience
• 3+ years of experience in the financial services industry
• Demonstrated experience in monitoring inbound and outbound calls and email responses to assess demeanour, technical accuracy, customer service performance, and adherence to company policies and procedures.
• Demonstrated ability to monitor customer queries/complaints and ensure timely closure of cases.
• Take corrective action to rectify processing errors in new business and performance-related issues within the Contact Centre and new business processes.
• Monitor that call centre staff are following correct procedures/processes when logging calls on JIRA.
• Ability to monitor and maintain SLAs and achieve KPIs.
• Call Center Coaching skills.
• Coordinate and facilitate call calibration.
• Assess the quality of performance of PSAs.
• Ability to manage multiple activities, meet deadlines, and adapt quickly to changing priorities.
• Ability to work in a self-directed, fast-paced environment.
• Proven track record in establishing new networks and collaborative relationships.
• Motivate team members and assess performance.
• Participate in hiring and training and keep management updated on team performance.

Duties and Responsibilities
Key Responsibilities:

• Manage and lead the Contact Centre  and Newbusiness team.
• Identifying areas of development, leading, coaching and management of individual/team performance.
• Working with cross-functional teams to deliver exceptional service to all customers according to the published service levels and quality standards.
•  Act as a frontline brand manager for customer interactions and proactively influencing customer perception and experience.
• Cultivate a performance driven team collaborating with support- and other operational teams
• Implement and manage effective systems and practices to ensure the achievement of operational productivity and monthly / annual targets
• Continuously analyse and interpret data to identify optimisation opportunities, gaps and risks
• Ensure compliance to all policy, procedure, regulatory and legal elements of the organisation
• Ensuring the team has the knowledge and skills to answer customers’ queries quickly and effectively
•  Ensuring that the team is adequately skilled and trained to execute on published processes
• Responsible for active resource balancing using resources efficiently and cost-effectively based on demand. 
• Motivates team members and assesses performance.
• Participate in hiring and training and keep management updated on team performance

Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Skills:

• Networking skills
• Proactive
• Client Service Orientated
• Attention to detail
• Problem solving skills
• Target-Driven
• Organisational skills
• Communication skills
• People skills
• Decision making skills
• Team collaboration

Computer Literacy:

• Adaptable in the use of the latest MS Office Package (e.g. MS Excel, PowerPoint, Word, etc.).
• JIRA
• Advanced Excel 

Communication:

• Is articulate and communicates in a logical way and structures information to meet the needs and understanding of intended stakeholders
• Expresses opinions, information and key points of view clearly and assertively
• Anticipates and responds appropriately to the needs, reactions and feedback of team members.
• Transparency in ensuring that key business capabilities are highlighted with a solution orientation approach.

Strategic Orientation:

• Knowledge and understanding of the PPS vision, strategy and products.
• Ability to organise activities/ functions to form a bigger picture

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Job Advert Summary

• The main purpose of this role is to prospect/identify potential clients through active engagement, being aware of the needs of clients in order to best support with accurate information that speaks to their requirements, to process them through sales funnel which ultimately could result in the signing on of a new client.
• Every engagement must be treated as a potential client and service excellence is key.

Minimum Requirements
Qualification:

• Matric

Experience:

• On the job training will be provided.                                                          
• Company software & processes will be provided.

Knowledge:

• Shortterm Insurance – could be an advantage.

Competencies:

• Strong communication & listening skills: need to be able to listen to the needs of the clients.
• Computer literate - MS Office

Skills:

• High Attention to Detail.
• High Standard of Telephone and Email Etiquette.
• Professionalism aligned to company standards.
• Excellent negotiation skills.
• Administration Skills.
• Time Management.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Problem-solving.
• Adaptability to change.
• Stress tolerance.
• Resilience.
• Customer centricity.
• Confidence.
• Driven and motivated.
• Compliance and Rule Orientated.
• Keen interest to learn and develop in the role.
• Self-starter.
• Strong work ethic.
• Proactive.
• Innovative.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Monitoring the effectiveness of marketing campaigns to identify opportunities to improve performance.
• Developing relationships with potential clients by building rapport with them over the phone or via email.
• Coordinating with other departments within the company so that all leads are followed up on and dealt with appropriately.
• To be responsible for making outbound calls daily using data provided.
• To maintain a comprehensive understanding on our various product offerings.
• To be proactive in identifying sales opportunities for all business units based on customer needs.
• To convert the calls and opportunities identified into new business leads.
• To educate potential customers on the company’s products and services.
• To achieve agreed personal and department targets and standards.
• To work closely with the Leadership team to ensure leads are generated within various business units.
• To exceed daily and monthly performance goals.
• Deal with clients in a professional manner at all times aligned to our company values.
• To manage internal and external stakeholder relationships with customer and colleagues.
• To always ensure customer satisfaction and positive impact on brand reputation.
• To act as a brand ambassador for the business and its partners by promoting its various products.
• Ability to work under pressure in a deadline/target driven environment.
• A positive approach to objection handling is essential.
• Ability to work with little supervision.

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Job Advert Summary
A member of the PPS Life Insurance Intermediary Services team reporting to the Team Manager Retentions & Leads. This role will be responsible to nurture the customer relationship and acts as a sales enabler to drive re-purchase loyalty toward PPS products and services.

The Member Benefits Assurance Consultants analyse customer feedback, negotiate with customers, implement retention strategies, and compile reports for the Team Manager Retentions & Leads. A top-class Member Benefits Assurance Consultants is able to improve sales by creating lasting bonds with customers.

Minimum Requirements
Education: 

• A 3-year tertiary qualification (Degree/Nat Dip) in sales, marketing, or related field

Experience:

• 3+ years experience in a similar role.
• 2+ years call centre experience.
• 1 year retentions / sales specific experience in the long term insurance or banking industry.
• Previous Customer Service experience an advantage.

Knowledge and Skills:

• Comprehensive use of MS Office applications (Microsoft Teams, Outlook, Visio, Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Projects).
• MS Access and SQL experience/skills.
• Have excellent verbal and written communication skills in English. A good command of the English Language.
• Have good decision-making skills.
• FAIS and FICA knowledge.
• Knowledge of Financial institutions (advantageous)

Competencies:

• A good business acumen.
• Drive Personal and Team Accountability.
• Willing to share knowledge and give expert opinion, and discuss recommendations.
• Competent writing and communication skills, to present/ communicate/ report on consolidated information.
• Proactive problem solving in pressure situations.
• Results Driven.
• Attention to detail.
• Have an empathetic but strong phone manner.
• Should be self-motivated, reliable and show initiative.

Duties and Responsibilities
Retention Responsibilities:

• Communicating with customers and sales representatives.
• Analyzing customer behavior.
• Gathering information about customer complaints.
• Negotiating with customers to renew contracts and retain business.

Other duties:

• Writing and presenting customer behavior reports.
• Developing aggressive retention strategies based on customer feedback.
• To execute policies and procedures related to service delivery in Operations and between other areas.

Stakeholder management:

• Meeting with the sales team to propose customer retention solutions.
• Building positive relationships with customers and business associates.
• Provide support to the broader Life Operations teams.
• Establish, maintain and build relationships with key stakeholders.

Maintain Product Expertise

• In order to assess the procedures and system functionality, a Member Benefits Consultant must be an expert in the products offered by PPS. This requires one to take the initiative to master every feature and benefit of each product.

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Job Advert Summary
This role will be accountable for leading a variety of activities across two portfolios within the A&D division. Accountable for leading and delivering a dual role as follows:

A&D Communications - the purpose of this role is to actively design and implement the framework for all A&D communications using all relevant platforms. To drive the process of communicating all necessary Technical and A&D Management messages and information timeously to the relevant audiences and stakeholders. To create and identify the most appropriate media to both A&D staff and Financial Advisers to ensure effective communication across the division. 

• Graduate Market development and support – to actively create and identify ways to enhance the work of the Graduate Market division. To consistently support the Marketing Manager, Graduate Market, all Graduate Market Specialists and all External Distribution Area Managers and Life Specialists in the University student campaigns. Build and develop the Graduate market workforce and to unlock sources of young Graduates nationally.

Minimum Requirements
Education: 

• Matric.
• A bachelor’s degree in a relevant field.
• Post Graduate qualification.
• CFP advantageous.

Experience:

• Management experience (10+ years).
• 5 years Senior Management experience essential.
• Marketing or Public Relations experience (10+ years).
• Sales experience (7+years).
• Service and Administration experience (7+ years).
• Communications experience (7+ years).
• Relationship management experience, preferably in financial institution (8+ years).
• Experience working with communication channels and/or varied media platforms.
• Relevant industry experience, particularly in sales and maintaining business relationships (7+ years).

Knowledge and skills:

• Knowledge and understanding of financial services industry and long-term Insurance.
• Marketing management knowledge.
• Sound understanding of current and emerging communication trends.
• Must demonstrate the ability to write professionally for varied audiences. 
• Business Reporting skills.
• Sound communication skills.
• Results and target orientated.
• Innovative and change orientated.
• Strong stakeholder management skills.
• Problem-Solving Skills.
• Sound leadership Skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills to ensure third party management and delivery/buy in.

Duties and Responsibilities

• To design the communication strategy and actively prioritise and align all communication to all intermediaries according to the strategic objectives.
• To define the communication framework of all A&D communications and actively manage the risks.
• To draft all the A&D communications in alignment to the legal framework and structure.
• Design and decide on the strategic plans each year to ensure compliance with A&D communication.
• Approve all PPS business communications to A&D staff and Advisers/Brokers.
• To co-ordinate and distribute all requests by PPS divisions, management and business units for communications and messages to be sent to all A&D staff and Advisers; and collaborate across divisions to ensure alignment.
• To consistently create and prepare effective communications messages to all relevant internal and external stakeholders. This includes but not limited to: general staff communication, technical and A&D Management messages (aligned to group practices and policies); articles; product and legislation related communication; proposals, reports etc.
• To ensure that all communications and messages are professionally compiled and distributed to all A&D staff and Advisers on time, using the most effective media and to the most appropriate audiences.
• Influence and negotiate with A&D Executive Team
• Take accountability for all decision making and problem solving (as it relates to communication), which may at times be complex and risky, and/or require creative thinking and extensive research.
• Ensure a thorough and in-depth understanding of PPS products and their complexities to ensure communication is accurate and unambiguous; To provide national support to all Graduate Market Specialists, Regional Managers, and Life Specialists in the Student projects at all SA Universities and among final year students.
• To define strategic objectives that will drive membership applications and achieve MA targets.
• To ensure strategic alignment of processes, activities, and procedures to ensure that GA’s and selected Advisers convert Membership applications into new members with product.
• Negotiate with and persuade external stakeholders (in senior positions) to open opportunities.
• Prepare necessary proposals and presentations.
• To support regional teams in identifying and opening sources and worksites of young graduates to be worked by GA’s and Advisers.
• To actively communicate and negotiate across all senior levels with internal and external stakeholders.
• To actively participate in and meaningfully contribute to the SET’s across the PPS Group.
• Achieving set targets for the Market Access.
• Build New Clients Bases.

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Job Advert Summary
A leadership role in the Life Operations team reporting to the Claims Manager. This role is responsible for managing a team responsible for assessing Sickness, Permanent Incapacity and Disability Claims as well as Case/Claims Management of ongoing claims. 

Ensure best practice and supporting the company in meeting its objectives.

Minimum Requirements
Education: 

• Degree in Occupational Therapy or Physiotherapy or any other medical/health quality.
• Management qualification would be advantageous.

Experience:

• 10+ years’ experience within the claims environment, of which 3 years as a team leader or team manager. 
• 5+ years’ experience in sickness and permanent disability claims assessment at a senior level.
• Case Management experience is an advantage.

Knowledge and Skills:

• Claims management principles.
• Audit principles.
• Risk management.
• Long Term Insurance legislations background.

Competencies:

•  Problem solving.
•  Business Acumen 
•  Writing and communication skills – including the ability to communicate technical information.
•  The ability to prioritize and multi-task.
•  Teamwork, leadership and motivational skills
•  Proactive thinking.
•  People skills and able to communicate at all levels.
•  Able to handle pressure situations 

Duties and Responsibilities 

Role and Responsibilities:

• Lead a team responsible for long-term sickness claims, Permanent Incapacity and Disability claims
• Authorize claims within the approved Delegation of Authority.
• Respond promptly to all queries/escalations raised by members, PPS Branches, Internal Advisors/Brokers and other stakeholders.
• Align and maintaining process to ensure effective claims assessment and decisions are taken.
• Liaise with internal stakeholders to ensure finalization.
• Attend to complaints received through written or telephonic communication.
• Drive risk awareness and controls within the claims team and report any operational loses.
• Ensure that TCF (Treating Customers Fairly) principles are embedded in the claims assessment process.
• Manage claims assessment output.
• Contribute to the improvement of claims process and member experience.

People Leadership and Culture:

• Provide team leadership ensuring the effective implementation of strategy through leadership of the team members (setting individual objectives, managing performance, developing and motivating staff, provision of formal and informal feedback and appraisal) in order to ensure that the highest level of performance is achieved.
• Mentor team members as needed or required; conducts peer review of key deliverables.
• Creates an environment where people are encouraged to take ownership and use their initiative to find the best way of implementing plans.
• Provide support to claims assessors ensuring clear, concise and transparent communication.
• Work non-standard business hours from time to time.

Risk and Compliance:

• Adhere to internal SLA's to ensure operational efficiency and achievement of agreed customer service standards.
• Compiling monthly Case Management, Permanent Incapacity and Disability reports to expose operational opportunities and risk management in claims.
• Identify trends in claims and train consequences thereof into the claims team and long term management of claims.
• Ensure adherence to audit requirements.
• Ensure adherence to regulatory and compliance requirements

People and Culture:

• Collaboration with Research and Development, Actuarial, Operational Finance, Underwriting, Re-insurers and other relevant role players to effectively manage claims.
• Collaborate with Research & Developments to ensure continuous improvement and updating of work instructions and process documents.
• Provide input in development and updating guidelines to support the assessment of claims.