Senior Financial Manager

Who We are?

Come shape a future where the digital-first, advice-led journey to financial confidence begins online!

Sanlam is a leading financial services group, recognized for our innovative approach towards providing comprehensive insurance, investment, health, and credit solutions to millions of clients across Africa. Now, we're on a mission to digitize new and existing business models and activate them to acquire digital-first customer segments that have historically been difficult and expensive to acquire. And we're hiring top talent from around the world to make it happen.

This isn't a traditional finance role—it's an opportunity to influence strategy, champion transformation investments, and build world-class financial capabilities that will define the next generation of digital insurance in emerging markets. If you're energized by complexity, thrive in high-growth environments, and want your financial expertise to drive tangible business impact, we want to hear from you.

What will you do?

This role is based in Bellvile at Sanlam Head Office, reporting directly to the CFO of Sanlam Fintech. You will serve as the strategic finance anchor for our Insurance portfolio of businesses with various different channels, partnerships and business models - owning everything from group and IFRS accounting compliance to Board level reporting. You will partner closely with the Insurance Chief Executive and work across actuarial, treasury, tax, IT, and business units to deliver integrated financial leadership.

What you will Own

IFRS 17 Mastery & Financial Control This is the technical heart of the role. You will own IFRS 17 implementation, interpretation, and ongoing compliance across all insurance portfolios, including:

• Flawless month-end, quarter-end, and year-end financial closes with zero defects
• IFRS 17 disclosures, reconciliations, and audit-ready control documentation
• Seamless coordination with actuarial teams on technical provisions, Value of New Business (VNB), and embedded value calculations

Strategic Planning & Business Partnership

• Lead multi-year budgeting and planning cycles aligned to business strategy
• Champion transformation investments with compelling ROI narratives
• Provide analytics-driven insights on capital allocation, market positioning, and competitive dynamics
• Drive forecast reliability improvement and continuous financial modelling

Risk, Governance & Compliance

• Maintain robust Risk and Control Matrices (RACMs) and CURA registers
• Champion King IV governance principles and Companies Act compliance
• Ensure zero-breach regulatory return submissions
• Serve as first-line risk champion for emerging financial and insurance-specific risks

Tax Strategy

• Manage corporate income tax, dividends tax, VAT, and insurance-specific tax treatments
• Leverage Sanlam Group tax expertise to optimise tax positioning while maintaining full SARS compliance

Reporting & Executive Communication

• Prepare Board and Audit Committee materials that combine financial sophistication with strategic narrative
• Drive PowerBI, SAP, and HFM reporting automation for real-time, self-service analytics
• Manage VNB submissions, DCF valuations, and embedded value reporting in partnership with actuarial and Group Finance

Digital Transformation

• Lead finance digitisation initiatives — automation, chart of accounts redesign, master data governance
• Build scalable financial processes that grow with the business without proportional headcount increases

What you will bring: Qualification and Experience

Non-negotiable requirements:

• CA(SA) qualification
• Demonstrated, hands-on IFRS 17 expertise within an insurance environment — this is a critical technical requirement, not a nice-to-have
• Minimum 8–10 years' senior management experience in Financial Services, including experience leading a team and substantial insurance exposure

Technical skills:

• Comprehensive mastery of IFRS standards in complex insurance group structures
• Advanced taxation knowledge including insurance-specific considerations
• Proficiency with SAP, HFM, PowerBI, and/or Tableau
• Familiarity with prudential regulatory requirements and SARS compliance frameworks

Leadership qualities:

• Ability to translate complex accounting and financial concepts into clear, compelling executive narratives
• Proven influencing and stakeholder management skills at Board and C-suite level
• Strong cross-functional collaboration — you build bridges, not silos
• Ownership mentality with the drive to coordinate end-to-end delivery
• Comfortable navigating ambiguity in a fast-paced, high-growth environment

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.

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. 

Our commitment to transformation

The Sanlam Group is committed to transformation and embracing diversity and our employment equity plan and targets will be considered as part of the recruitment process. This commitment is what drives us to achieve a diverse workplace with employment equity as a key goal to create an inclusive workforce, representative of the demographics of our society as well as people with disabilities.