Job Description
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.
Why This Role Matters
This is a high-impact role responsible for shaping our national distribution strategy linked to:
- Pet insurance – a fast-growing product with significant market potential.
- STI products
The successful candidate will play a key role in building long-term partnerships, driving innovation, and positioning our insurance solutions as best-in-market.
What will you do?
Senior Business Development Manager & Key Account Manager – Pet Insurance & Strategic Channels
We are seeking an experienced, commercially oriented Senior Business Development Manager & Key Account Manager to drive the growth of our pet insurance portfolio and expand our short‑term insurance offering through strategic partner networks nationally.
This senior role requires a strategic thinker with strong relationship‑building skills, deep commercial acumen, and extensive experience working across insurance and FMCG. The successful candidate will lead national business development efforts, manage high‑value accounts, and ensure strong partnership performance across multiple distribution channels.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Business Development
- Identify, pursue, and secure new business opportunities to grow pet insurance market share across:
- Veterinary networks
- Retail partners
- Breeders, shelters & animal welfare organisations
- Digital and affinity channels
- Strategic channel networks
- Partner-facing sales teams
- Strategic industry alliances
- Develop business cases, proposals, and go‑to‑market strategies for new partnerships.
- Lead national negotiations and contract finalisation to secure multi‑year agreements.
Key Account Management
- Serve as the senior relationship lead for major partners across vet, retail, digital, and strategic channel partnerships.
- Build and maintain long-term relationships with partner principals, insurance channel leads, and executive stakeholders.
- Develop and execute joint business plans that drive revenue, policy growth, and value‑added product penetration.
- Monitor account performance, identify risks, and implement corrective action plans to ensure consistent growth.
Pet Insurance Growth & Channel Expansion
- Drive end‑to‑end commercial performance for the pet insurance product.
- Develop and implement partner-specific sales strategies, training programmes, and product bundling initiatives.
- Oversee partner onboarding, training, and ongoing business support.
- Leverage customer and partner insights to influence product enhancements, underwriting decisions, and digital improvements.
Sales Strategy, Forecasting & Reporting
- Lead annual sales planning, revenue forecasting, and performance management.
- Track key performance indicators across channels and prepare monthly executive reports.
- Drive continuous improvement initiatives to optimise acquisition, retention, and channel performance.
- Ensure CRM accuracy, pipeline visibility, and high-quality partner documentation.
Cross‑Functional Leadership
- Collaborate with Product, Actuarial, Underwriting, Claims, Marketing, and Operations teams to support channel needs.
- Work with marketing to develop co-branded campaigns, partner activations, and consumer education initiatives.
- Represent the business at conferences, partner events, and industry forums.
Skills and Qualifications
Qualification:
- NQF Level 7 or equivalent in relevant fields ( Business, Marketing, Commerce, or related field.)
Experience:
- 7+ years’ experience in Business Development, Key Account Management, or Commercial roles.
- Proven experience in insurance distribution, preferably personal lines.
- Experience working with strategic distribution partners, particularly in insurance or value‑added product environments.
- Strong commercial negotiation skills with a track record of securing and growing national partnerships.
- Excellent stakeholder management, presentation, and communication abilities.
- Ability to travel nationally and manage multiple high‑value accounts simultaneously.
Preferred Experience:
- Experience specifically in pet insurance.
- Understanding of channel sales processes and compliance requirements.
- Experience launching or scaling new insurance products or channels.
- Strong data orientation and CRM management proficiency.
- A track record of securing high value accounts (Portfolio of evidence may be required)
Key Competencies
- Strategic commercial thinking
- Strong relationship-building and stakeholder influence
- High-level negotiation and deal‑closing skills
- Results-oriented with strong accountability
- Analytical and data-driven decision making
- Excellent planning and organisational ability
- Strong communication and executive presence
What will make you successful in this role?
Qualification and Experience
Knowledge and Skills
Personal Attributes
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.