CRM Functional Configuration Consultant
Bellville, Western Cape, ZA
Who are we?
Sanlam Life and Savings (SLS) is focused on serving our retail and corporate clients in South Africa and further developing our strategic advantages in the South African market. Sanlam Life and Savings consists of the following business units Retail Mass, Corporate, Risk and Savings, Glacier and various business enabling functions. The Sanlam Life and Savings Office provides strategic direction, coordination and support to the four clusters, as well as performing governance oversight that includes assurance provided by second line of defense functions in SLS, to enable us to meet our business objectives.
What will you do?
Job Purpose
The Microsoft Dynamics 365 Functional Consultant is responsible for the functional integrity, configuration quality, and sustainable evolution of the Dynamics 365 platform within Sanlam. Reporting to the Delivery Manager, this role ensures that business requirements are realised through standard Dynamics 365 capabilities first, with customisation introduced only where there are clear value and technical justification. They will also gather and document technical requirements for developers, support impact analysis for new features, and ensure ongoing platform evolution aligned with Microsoft’s release cycle.
At Salam we position this role at the intersection of business analysis, functional design, and application configuration. Working in close partnership with the Product Owner, Technical Lead, and QA Lead, the Functional Consultant acts as the platform steward, translating business intent into scalable, supportable, and upgrade s afe Dynamics 365 solutions aligned to Microsoft best practices and release cycles.
Role Requirements:
Output/Core Tasks:
Dynamics 365 Functional Design & Configuration (Primary Accountability)
- Own the functional design and configuration of the Microsoft Dynamics 365 platform, including entities, forms, views, business rules, workflows, SLAs/KPIs, queues, case management, and security roles.
- Translate business requirements and “asis” processes into optimised “tobe” Dynamics 365 configurations, prioritising standard, out-of-the-box capabilities.
- Design solutions that maximize outofthebox (OOB) capabilities and ensure customisations are minimal, scalable, and maintainable in collaboration with the Technical Lead and Solution Architects.
- Ensure all configuration choices are scalable, maintainable, and upgrade-safe, avoiding unnecessary customisation and technical debt.
- Act as the authoritative source for how Dynamics 365 is configured and intended to behave.
Functional Analysis & Specification
- Lead functional discovery and design workshops with business stakeholders, Product Owners, and delivery teams.
- Translate business needs into Dynamics specific functional designs and specifications, including:
o functional behaviour
o acceptance criteria
o data and entity modelling
o integration and interface requirements - Gather and document technical requirements for developers, ensuring clarity of intent without directing code implementation.
- Perform impact analysis for new features, configuration changes, dependencies, and Microsoft release wave updates.
- Maintain high-quality, auditable functional documentation that supports delivery, testing, and regulatory assurance
Delivery Collaboration & Execution (Peer Model)
- Report to the Delivery Manager and operate as a peer to the Technical Lead and QA Lead within the delivery team.
- Support sprint planning, backlog refinement, and delivery execution by ensuring configuration readiness and functional clarity.
- Collaborate with developers to validate feasibility and correctness of solutions, without owning or directing custom code.
- Partner with QA to ensure test scenarios, acceptance criteria, SIT, and UAT coverage accurately reflect configured Dynamics behaviour.
- Support release readiness by confirming functional completeness and alignment to agreed business outcomes.
Platform Stewardship, Alignment and Continuous Improvement
- Own the functional integrity and sustainable use of the Dynamics 365 platform within SLS, ensuring consistent, correct, and upgrade‑safe configuration across implementations.
- Ensure alignment to SGT Dynamics 365 platform standards and governance, acting as the primary functional interface between SLS delivery teams and the SGT platform team, and managing configuration exceptions through formal governance.
- Drive a configuration‑first, custom‑last approach, making disciplined decisions on out‑of‑the‑box capabilities versus Power Platform or custom development to minimise complexity and technical debt.
- Stay current with Microsoft Dynamics 365 release waves and roadmap changes, assessing impact on existing configurations and planned delivery.
- Use platform data and telemetry to identify configuration‑led opportunities to simplify processes and reduce cost and complexity.
- Drive improvements that enhance user and client experience while maintaining upgrade safety and platform sustainability.
- Act as a trusted platform advisor and capability builder, promoting reuse, standardisation, and good governance while coaching teams and strengthening internal Dynamics 365 functional capability.
What will make you successful in this role?
Experience
Essential:
- 3–7+ years’ experience working with Microsoft Dynamics 365 (CRM / CE) in a functional consulting capacity.
- Hands on expertise in configuring entities, forms, views, business rules, workflows, queues, cases, SLA/KPI settings, and security roles.
- Experience performing end-to-end business analysis, requirements gathering, and translating requirements into functional/technical specifications.
- Proven delivery within Agile environments.
- Experience collaborating with software engineers during solution design, development, and testing.
- Track record of successful D365 implementations or major enhancement projects.
Advantageous
- Exposure to the broader Microsoft ecosystem: Power Platform (Power Apps, Power Automate), Azure DevOps, Azure Logic Apps.
- Experience in financial services, contact centre environments, CRM modernisation, or large enterprise landscapes.
- Experience working with integration teams (APIs, middleware, service bus patterns).
- Familiarity with data migration, data modelling, or reporting (Power BI).
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in BSc Information Systems, Computer Science, Business Analysis, or equivalent experience.
- Microsoft Certifications (preferred):
o Dynamics 365 Fundamentals (CRM)
o Dynamics 365 Customer Service Functional Consultant Associate
o Power Platform Functional Consultant - Agile certifications beneficial (Scrum Master, Product Owner, Agile BA).
- Any Business Analysis certification (IIBA, BABOK) advantageous.
Competencies
Functional & Technical Competencies:
- Strong knowledge of Dynamics 365 CRM capabilities, configurations, best practices, and governance models.
- Skilled in workshop facilitation, requirements, elicitation, and process mapping.
- Ability to write clear functional and technical specifications for developers.
- Understanding data structures, relational modelling, and integration concepts.
- Ability to optimise business processes through automation, workflow design, and platform capabilities.
- Strong testing awareness: test case design, acceptance criteria definition, and quality assurance mindset.
Behavioural Competencies:
- Strong problem-solving skills and analytical thinking.
- Ability to influence and guide stakeholders with confidence and credibility.
- Excellent communication skills (verbal, written, and technical).
- Collaborative team player with the ability to operate across business and technology divisions.
- Curiosity, initiative, and willingness to stay current with Microsoft’s evolving ecosystem.
- Customer centric mindset with a passion for enabling better user and client experiences.
Personal Attributes
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.
Core Competencies
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.
Closing Date: 27 March 2026
Our commitment to transformation
The Sanlam Group is committed to achieving transformation and embraces diversity. This commitment is what drives us to achieve a diverse, inclusive and equitable workplace as we believe that these are key components to ensuring a thriving and sustainable business in South Africa. The Group's Employment Equity plan and targets will be considered as part of the selection process.