Discovery – Health| Head of Functional Enablement 

Head of Functional Enablement

About Discovery

Discovery’s core purpose is to make people healthier and to enhance and protect their lives. We seek out and invest in exceptional individuals who understand and support our core purpose, and whose own values align with those of Discovery. Our fast-paced and dynamic environment enables smart, self-driven people to be their best. As global thought leaders, Discovery is passionate about innovating in order to not only achieve financial success, but to ignite positive and meaningful change within our society.

About Functional Enablement

Serves as a point of central coordination of functional development through research and best practice, whilst delivering the strategic initiatives working across the Discovery composite and supporting the day –to –day management of operational activities. Functions that make up the unit are Business Relationship Management, Customer services, Digital Services, Finance and Billing Operations,  workflow Optimisation, Claims Enablement, Managed Care, Disease Management and New Market Integration.

Key Purpose                   

• To enable, implement and lead the Core Enablement strategic initiatives of the business, which include but are not limited to, EXCO initiatives, Service Team initiatives as well day to day operational initiatives.
• Implementation of new and improved customer journeys
• To lead a team of specialist functional teams
• To ensure that the division meets or exceeds its deliverables.
• To ensure employee satisfaction and engagement and effective stakeholder management. 

Key Outputs         

The successful candidate’s key outputs will include, but will not be limited to, the following:

Strategy and implementation

• Sets and develops strategies within Functional Enablement to enable and enhance improved efficiency and customer experience outcomes in line with organization objectives
• Evaluate and assess the strategic direction of the Functional Enablement Team and to develop plans in order to align to the business strategy
• Developing strategic and operational plans to drive, lead, and represent projects and key initiatives impacting the Discovery Health Operations division.
• Recruiting and attracting the best talent in the region and building strategies to become the employer of choice for the employment market in the region.

• Input into strategic and operational debate and design that informs the direction and deliverables of the business unit.

Change Management

• Rapid innovation and digitization requires proactive change management tactics and implementation to ensure that staff are well oriented and prepared to enable a smooth transition

Risk Management

• Monitor the implementation of risk management strategies with the Division to curb potential anti selection, cyber and financial fraud and complying with audit governance and principles.
• To own business continuity and disaster recovery plans for the team.

Leadership

• To lead a high performing functional team and to recruit, develop and align the team, to the strategic direction of Discovery Health.
• To manage direct reports and to ensure that they are guided, coached and mentored to effectively manage their own teams and achieve divisional objectives.
• Provide direction for the division through actively communicating and being a visionary leader.
• Overseeing staffing and resource planning and ensuring optimum resource planning
• Ability to debate and express clear key points of an argument in a credible manner.
• Decision-maker with a solution oriented approach who is able to identify, drive, and implement effective decisions.
• Adapts interpersonal style to suit different people or situations.
• To manage projects and to ensure that they meet their strategic aims and that operational issue are attended.
• To elevate and enhance the culture and sentiment of the team, ensuring robust talent management (attraction, development and retention).
• Demonstrate human centered leadership and creating a psychologically safe environment for employees to thrive.
• Being a force for social good and driving corporate social engagement and skills development
• Assist and support the Functional Teams, in preparation of proposals for operational improvements and changes for both external and internal distribution.

Financial Management

• Demonstrates financial astuteness and prudence
• To provide input into the annual budget of ~R100m.
• Manage expenses in line with this budget and report on variances either negative or positive from the approved budget.

Stakeholder management

• Overseeing the success of the division by liaising with Exco stakeholders in the business.
• Building effective relationships to create strategies and translate these into effective deliverables to ensure successful execution thereof.
• Constant interaction with highly strategic thinkers and relationship building on an executive business level.
• Exceptional interpersonal communication with a wide and effective networking ability to establish good relationships with highly intellectual counterparts and build strategic relationships.
• Own and chair key forums with participants at an executive level.

Thought Leadership

• To assist and lead detailed research and analysis, to provide substance to the ideas and direction from the executive team.
• Ensure that knowledge of legislative updates and industry changes and how this affects your business units.
• Constantly challenging and shaping the status quo.
• Effective decision-making by applying entrepreneurial knowledge and “out of the box” thinking and weighing up the risks involved.
• Demonstrates an understanding of how one issue may be a part of a much larger eco-system.
• Produces workable solutions to a range of problems.
• Takes account of a wide range of issues across, and related to, the organization.
• Strategic thinker who can use an entrepreneur approach to developing processes and formulating concepts.
• Dynamic, strategically minded visionary who adapts to changing circumstances. Accepts new ideas and change initiatives.
• Keeps up to date with competitor information and market trends. Identifies business opportunities for the organization.
• To review processes and to identify opportunities for process improvement and optimisation.
• To analyse competitors and to benchmark with similar departments in other companies and to report back to Senior Management.
• A thought leader in functional enablement excellence and the management of project related initiatives that emerge.

Analytics

• Developing and generating appropriate reporting to business in respect of your division.
• Analyzing and problem solving by identifying key issues and relationships from a base of information.
• Analytical ability with numerical and verbal data by breaking information into component parts, patterns and relationships. Probes for further information or greater understanding of a problem. Makes rational judgments from the available information and analysis.

Competencies

• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills.

• Ability to make prompt, clear decisions, which may involve tough choices or considered risks.
• Provides others with a clear direction.
• Establishes good relationships with customers and staff. Builds wide and effective networks of contacts inside and outside the organisation. Relates well to people at all levels.
• Makes a strong personal impression on others. Gains clear agreement and commitment from others by persuading, convincing and negotiating.
• Analyses numerical data, verbal data and all other sources of information. Makes rational judgments from the available information and analysis. Produces workable solutions to a range of problems. Demonstrates an understanding of how one issue may be a part of a much larger system.
• Rapidly learns new tasks and quickly commits information to memory. Gathers comprehensive information to support decision making
• Works strategically to realise organisational goals. Sets and develops strategies. Identifies and develops positive and compelling visions of the organisation’s future potential.
• Sets clearly defined objectives. Plans activities and projects well in advance and takes account of possible changing circumstances.
• Manages time effectively. Identifies and organises resources needed to accomplish tasks.
• Focuses on customer needs and satisfaction.
• Sets high standards for quality and quantity.
• Works in a systematic, methodical and orderly way. Consistently achieves project goals.

Qualifications & Experience               

• Tertiary qualification preferably in Business Management, and/or Finance with strong mathematics, analytical or business focus
• Post graduate qualification and or MBA (preferable)
• Intermediate / Master skills on Word, Excel, Powerpoint, MS exchange
• Minimum 8-10 years of experience within Discovery Health
• Minimum 5 years of management experiences
• Minimum 3 years of senior Management experience - including people management, strategy roll out, key accounts and relationship building
• Proven track record of successful implementation of business process change projects and stakeholder management (internal and external)

Technical Skills or Knowledge:

• Excellent Senior and external stakeholder management
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Advanced Project management skills
• Knowledge of customer journeys and digitization
• Insurance and Healthcare industries knowledge
• Understanding Call Centres and Operations, Premium collection processes, procedures and systems
• Corporate account management
• Quality management in a corporate environment
• Financial Management in a corporate environment
• Service Delivery and the ‘value chain’ concept
• Business processes in a corporate environment
• Business Process improvement
• Negotiation skills

EMPLOYMENT EQUITY   
                             
The Company’s approved Employment Equity Plan and Targets will be considered as part of the recruitment process. As an Equal Opportunities employer, we actively encourage and welcome people with various disabilities to apply.