Job Description

Closing Date 2025/10/07
Reference Number MMH250912-2
Job Title Head of Compliance and Legal
Position Type Permanent
Role Family Legal and Compliance
Cluster Momentum Insure Company Limited
Remote Opportunity Some of the time
Location - Country South Africa
Location - Province Gauteng
Location - Town / City Centurion
Introduction
Momentum Group Limited (Momentum Group) is a significant player in South Africa's life insurance and integrated financial services sectors. We are a proud Level 1 B-BBEE South African-based group dedicated to building and protecting our clients' financial dreams. Our client-facing retail and specialist brands, including renowned names such as Momentum, Metropolitan, Guardrisk, and Eris Properties, play a pivotal role in fulfilling this purpose.
Our federated model emphasises empowerment, accountability, and continuous engagement with all our stakeholders. Designed in close consultation with leaders across the group, this operating model aims to unleash each business unit's inherent energy and commercial drive through our collaborative federated approach. Visit us at www.momentumgroupltd.co.za
Disclaimer As an applicant, please verify the legitimacy of this job advert on our company career page.
Role Purpose
The Head of Compliance and Legal is a senior-manager responsible for overseeing Momentum Insure's compliance and legal functions. This role is responsible for overseeing the implementation and monitoring of the compliance and legal strategy to assist Momentum Insure in honouring their responsibility to comply with all regulatory requirements. This role involves providing strategic legal and regulatory advice to the organisation's leadership, managing regulatory risk, fostering a strong relationship with regulators and industry bodies, lead the compliance and legal function to ensure compliance with all applicable laws and regulations and oversee the company's regulatory complaints management process.
Requirements
Experience and Qualifications:

• A bachelor's degree in law (LLB) is the minimum requirement.
• A master's degree in law (LLM) or other post-graduate qualification in compliance and/or legal preferred.
• Must be a qualified attorney with the right to practice law in the relevant jurisdiction.
• A minimum of 10 years of post-qualification experience, with a significant portion of that time spent in a senior or management role, preferably within a corporate or in-house compliance and/or legal department within the insurance industry and/or regulatory bodies.
• A strong understanding of key relevant regulatory requirements in the non-life insurance industry (Prudential Authority, Financial Sector Conduct Authority, Information Regulator) is essential.

Reporting Structure: The Head of Compliance and Legal will report directly to the Chief Risk Officer (CRO) of Momentum Insure. This role will also have a dotted line reporting relationship to the Momentum Group Head of Compliance and Legal.
Duties & Responsibilities

• Head of Compliance Control Function: Fulfilling the role as the Head of the Compliance Control Function of Momentum Insure. Conducting regular risk assessments to identify potential compliance risks and developing strategies to mitigate these risks. This involves evaluating the company's operations, policies, and procedures to ensure they align with regulatory requirements and industry standards and implementing proactive measures to address identified risks and enhance the overall compliance framework.
• Strategy and advice: Oversee and provide advice to the Board of Directors, Audit and Risk Committee, senior management, and wider business on all legal and regulatory matters, including business decisions, strategic initiatives, and corporate governance.
• Regulatory advice and monitoring: Managing and supporting new regulatory processes and ensuring changes and developments in legislation, regulations, guidelines, and practices are analysed, evaluated, implemented, monitored and reported.
• Developing, implementing and monitoring compliance programs: Creating and maintaining policies, procedures, and internal controls to ensure Momentum Insure operates within all applicable laws and regulations.
• Risk management: Identifying and mitigating potential compliance and legal risks to the company. This includes proactive measures like developing and implementing risk management frameworks and reactive ones like effective compliance monitoring and managing litigation and legal disputes.
• Regulatory and industry relationships: Fostering strong relationships with regulators and industry bodies to ensure the company's interests are represented and to stay informed about regulatory changes and industry best practices.
• Regulatory engagements and submissions: Coordinating all regulatory engagements and submissions, ensuring timely and accurate communication with regulatory authorities, and maintaining comprehensive records of all regulatory interactions.
• Reporting: Regularly provide and discuss compliance and legal reports to senior management, the Audit and Risk Committee and the Board of Directors, highlighting compliance, regulatory and legal risks, issues, and recommendations.
• Regulatory complaints management: Overseeing the company's regulatory (including NFO) complaints management process, ensuring that all complaints are tracked, addressed, and resolved in a timely manner, and identifying trends and major issues to be addressed.
• Regulatory training: Ensuring that compliance, regulatory and legal training is conducted and staff are kept abreast of regulatory developments and requirements.
• Contract management: Overseeing and reviewing the drafting and negotiation of a wide range of legal documents and contracts to protect Momentum Insure's interests.
• Team leadership: Managing, mentoring, and developing the internal compliance, legal and regulatory complaints team, and overseeing the selection and management of external legal and governance third parties (if and when required).
• Budgeting: Developing and managing the department's budget, ensuring efficient use of resources.
• Stakeholder engagement: Building trusted advisor relationships with internal and external stakeholders and ensuring they are provided with service excellence.

Competencies

• Strategic agility: The ability to align compliance and legal strategy with the company's overall business objectives.
• Communication: Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Leadership: Proven leadership and management skills to motivate a team and drive performance.
• Problem-solving: Strong analytical and problem-solving skills to navigate complex compliance, legal and business issues.
• Negotiation: Impressive negotiation skills to secure the best outcomes for the company.
• Integrity: Unquestionable ethical standards and a commitment to promoting a culture of integrity.
• Business acumen: Strong background in commercial, financial, and insurance law with expertise in overseeing a compliance and/or legal function.
• Resilience: Assertive and resilient, able to work under pressure and handle stress in ways that do not negatively impact others.
• Interpersonal skills: Interpersonally agile and strong at building relationships at all levels.
• Adaptability: Comfortable with change and able to deal with the unexpected.

Policy
We are committed to Employment Equity, diversity and inclusion when recruiting internally and externally. All appointments are made in alignment to our Employment Equity goals and we encourage people with disabilities to apply.

Skills Required