Head Of Channel Activation (JHB)

Metropolitan is one of the oldest financial services brands in South Africa. With a 125-year legacy of serving the communities in which it operates, Metropolitan represents true empowerment in serving Africa's people through affordable financial solutions that create financial growth and security. Metropolitan operates in South Africa, but the brand is also present in 7 African countries including, Namibia, Botswana, Kenya, Ghana and Lesotho. Metropolitan provides financial wellness solutions that meet the needs of low-income clients, including funeral insurance, health, savings, hospital cash-back cover, retirement solutions and life insurance. www.metropolitan.co.za

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The Head of Chanel Activation is accountable for leading the strategic development and execution of product marketing initiatives that directly support and enhance sales performance. The role bridges product development, marketing, and distribution, ensuring life insurance offerings are well-positioned, effectively communicated, promoted and meet customer and channel partner needs.

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, Commerce, or a related field


• 8–10+ years’ experience in marketing, product, or sales in financial services or insurance


• 3 years management experience


• Experiential milestones: Ability to work with a matrix organisation and deliver through & with others. Customer segmentation completed, Proven marketing strategies and campaigns end to end planning & execution, Strategic abilities demonstrated. Working in a high-volume, fast-paced environment, with multiple stakeholders


• Proven experience leading product marketing in a B2B/B2C sales channel context


• Familiarity with TCF, POPIA, FAIS, and other relevant regulatory requirements

SKILLS

• Strategic thinking and commercial acumen


• Strong communication, storytelling, and stakeholder engagement skills


• Negotiations skills, flexibility and adaptability


• Deep understanding of life insurance products, sales processes, and customer behaviour


• Data-driven mindset with strong analytical skills


• Ability to lead cross-functional projects in a fast-paced, regulated environment


• Personal Mastery and Leadership


• Innovative and creative excellence


• Excellent project management skills and the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously

• Develop and execute marketing strategies tailored to each sales channel.


• Develop GTM strategies for new and existing life insurance products that align with business objectives.


• Design and execute customised marketing plans for each channel segment , ensuring alignment with their unique characteristics and customer base.


• Craft clear value propositions and messaging tailored to different sales channels (e.g., tied agents, brokers, Digital direct, Telechannel etc).


• Understand the product lifecycle to develop appropriate marketing strategies for different stages (launch, growth, maturity, decline).


• Create targeted marketing collateral and promotional activations that drives brand visibility and supports the customer journey.


• Apply a strong understanding of the business challenge, operating model, market trends, product propositions to identify new opportunities and drive revenue growth.


• Collaborate with Channel partners to ensure plans are implemented effectively and make necessary adjustment based on real time feedback and performance.

Sales Enablement:

• Develop comprehensive marketing plans that equip channel employees with essential lead generation material collateral to support product education customer acquisition and retention efforts.


• Integrate marketing brand chapters within the channel environment in a relevant manner that will support channel objectives.


• Ensure alignment between our business goals and channel’s partner activities.


• Align product messaging with customer needs and competitive positioning.


• Design and deliver impactful product launch campaigns and roadshows to channel.

Market & Competitor Intelligence:

• Continuously monitor the competitive landscape, market trends, and customer insights.


• Conduct market research and competitor analysis to gather insights on customer behaviours, preferences and market trends.


• Utilise the insights to refine marketing strategies enduring data driven and aligned with overall business goals.


• Identify market gaps and opportunities for product differentiation.

Cross-functional Leadership:

• Collaborate with Product Development, Distribution, Digital, Legal, and Actuarial teams to ensure commercial readiness.


• Lead the alignment between product roadmap and distribution strategy.


• Influence product prioritisation based on market needs and commercial viability.


• Lead cross functional teams to develop and implement channel marketing strategies.


• Forster strong relationships with channel partners to align marketing initiatives with business objectives.


• Support and guide channel employees to enhance their on the grand brand activation skills and performance.


• Manage external relationships with agencies.

Performance Monitoring & Optimisation:

• Define and track KPIs (e.g., sales volumes, penetration, campaign ROI).


• Recommend plans to close the product sales performance gap by channel by regions.


• Analyse performance data to refine strategies, optimise campaigns and improve outcomes.


• Evaluate the impact of promotional activities on channel sales and adjust tactic as necessary.


• Gather feedback from channel partners to inform product enhancements and communication.


• Present performance insights to executive leadership and recommend adjustments.

People:

• Create a positive work climate and culture to energise employees, give meaning to work, minimise work disruption and maximise employee productivity.


• Demonstrate exemplary leadership behaviour, through personal involvement, commitment and dedication in support of organisational values.


• Select and recruit suitably qualified talent in line with Employment Equity principles and METROPOLITAN values


• Drive a culture that guides and directs best practice, fostering an environment of continuous learning, improvement and cohesiveness.


• Enable a learning and growth culture whereby information regarding successes, issues, trends and ideas are actively shared between team members.


• Execute effective workforce planning practices to ensure that staffing requirements are accurately forecasted.


• Identify employee growth and development needs and schedule interventions to enable ongoing development, training and personal growth.


• Effectively manage performance within the team in order to ensure business objectives are achieved.


• Encourage innovation, change agility and collaborative working relationships with peers and stakeholders.

Finance:

• Develop and manage marketing budgets, ensuring proper allocation of resources to maximise ROI on shopper marketing initiatives


• Control the budget for area, including the authorisation of expenditures and implementation of financial regulations.


• Manage high risk and problematic financial issues in area of accountability and contribute to the development of policy.


• Identify solutions opportunities to enhance cost effectiveness and increase operational efficiency.


• Implement and manage financial risk methodologies, techniques and systems and use to monitor and report on financial activities.


• Implement and provide feedback on the effectiveness of financial policy, practice and procedures preventing illegal, unethical or improper conduct.


• Implement risk management, governance and compliance policies in own practice area, to identify and manage governance and risk exposure liability.


• Provide input into the risk identification processes and communicate recommendations in the appropriate forum.