Job Description

Build a successful career with us
We're all about building strong, lasting relationships with our employees. We know that you have hopes for your future - your career, your personal development and of achieving great things. We pride ourselves in helping our employees to realise their worth. Through its five business clusters - Sanlam Fintech, Sanlam Life and Savings, Sanlam Investment Group, Sanlam Allianz, Santam, as well as MiWay and the Group Office - the group provides many opportunities for growth and development.
Overall purpose of this role
The Senior Business Specialist plays a crucial role in aligning business objectives with agile practices across the organization. This role ensures that business needs are effectively translated into actionable plans for agile teams, fostering collaboration and maximizing value delivery. The Senior Business Specialist will ensure that business strategies are aligned with the features and epics in the backlog, working closely with the agile and project teams to prioritize items based on business value. The Senior Business Specialist reviews every aspect of company operations for the purpose of supporting and improving business processes and system changes, collaborating with business analysts and assisting in the Systems Development Life Cycle process to better serve customers and to make the company operations more efficient.
Key responsibilities
Strategic Alignment

• Collaborate with and support Agile and project teams to align business strategies with development efforts.
• Ensure business needs are effectively translated into actionable plans.
• Work with the development team to validate and develop the most appropriate solutions, assisting with Agile testing, reviewing test cases, and refining user stories.
• Participate in all relevant Agile ceremonies.
• Assist with requirement gathering and refinement for system enhancements and new developments.
• Work with Product Owners to prioritize features based on business value, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives.
• Promote a smooth delivery system for products and services, ensuring new functionality is effectively implemented and utilized within operations.
• Identify business constraints and process inefficiencies and develop corrective actions.
• Drive process improvements and system optimization by reviewing internal processes, procedures, and policies, recommending enhancements for efficiency.

Production Support and Operational Guidance

• Provide operational production support and guidance to employees on complex process issues, system constraints, and manual processes.
• Support and coach employees within relevant operational areas on production issues.
• Analyze root causes of business issues and assist in developing appropriate resolutions.
• Log, track, and conduct user acceptance testing for IT system fixes, bugs, enhancements, and new developments, raising risks for resolution.
• Assist with preparing datasets for system implementation/upload to ensure data correction, system functionality retrofitting, and data integrity.
• Ensure relevant operational areas understand how process and system changes will impact their work and assist in introducing changes effectively.
• Respond to queries and concerns from management in a timely manner.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Facilitate communication between stakeholders, Agile teams, and business leaders to ensure clear understanding of business objectives and priorities.
• Act as a liaison to resolve impediments and ensure smooth workflow.
• Provide regular feedback to Project Managers and Business Managers on progress, issues, and potential solutions.
• Engage with internal and external stakeholders to align business requirements with operational capabilities.

Training and Coaching

• Provide training support for system navigation and manual processes.
• Identify training gaps within operational areas based on process metrics and feedback, arranging necessary training programs.
• Liaise with Trainers on problem areas, reporting training gaps, and assisting in training activities.
• Support trainers in compiling training material for new releases or processes.
• Facilitate 'train the trainer' sessions and assist in training initiatives.

Metrics and Feedback

• Collaborate with Business and Product Owners to assess program predictability and value delivery, providing feedback for continuous improvement.
• Assess program ROI and fitness for use, ensuring solutions meet business needs.
• Obtain and analyze business data for critical decision-making.
• Provide ad hoc data requests in the required format based on system and client needs.

Experience and qualifications

• Matric /Grade 12
• Minimum of 5 years relevant experience in a Group Risk or Employee Benefits setting
• 3+ years hands-on business analysis experience across the financial services industry (preferably within Insurance or Employee Benefits)
• Business Analyst qualification will be advantageous
• Proficient in MS Office Suite with excellent MS Excel skills

Knowledge and skills

• An understanding of the medical underwriting processes, with specific knowledge of the MIP GLR medical underwriting processes currently used by Sanlam Corporate being a strong advantage
• Strong understanding of SAFe and Agile methodologies
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills
• Ability to translate business strategies into actionable plans
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret business metrics.
• Product knowledge and understanding of the Group Risk and / or Retirement Fund Industry
• Understanding of IT environment and System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) advantageous

Personal qualities

• Flexible and Adaptable - Rebounding from setbacks and adversity when facing difficult situations.
• Courage - Stepping up to address difficult issues, saying what needs to be said.
• Manages Complexity - Demonstrated ability and proven record to make complex decisions.
• Ensures Accountability - Holding self and others accountable to meet commitments.
• Plans and Aligns - Planning and prioritising work to meet commitments aligned to organisational goals

Core competencies

• Cultivates Innovation by creating new and better ways for the organisation to be successful.
• Client Focus - Building strong customer relationships and delivering customer-centric solutions.
• Drives Results - Consistently achieving results and meets deadlines, even under tough circumstances.
• Collaborates - Building partnerships and working collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives.
• Resilience - Rebounding from setbacks and adversity when facing difficult situations.

Turnaround time
The shortlisting process will only start once the application due date has been reached. The time taken to complete this process will depend on how far you progress and the availability of managers.
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