Provincial Manager

(Land Bank) is South Africa's only specialist agricultural bank established in 1912, the bank's sole objective is to serve South African commercial and emerging farmers and bring specially designed financial services within their reach. These services enable farmers to finance land, equipment, improve assets and obtain production credit. The Land Bank provides financial services that have moved with the times and continues to provide services to agri-business and constantly reviews its offerings to ensure that they match the needs of an industry. As change has swept across the sector in South Africa the socio-economic makeup of agriculture has altered, bringing new entrants from historically disadvantaged backgrounds on to the land, these new farmers, facing the challenges of establishing sustainable agri-businesses across the agricultural value chain, Land Bank has been a commercial lifeline offering appropriately designed financial products that facilitate personal and commercial viability in a sector that is vital to the sustainability of South Africa and its people.

MAIN PURPOSE OF THE JOB

To plan, direct, lead and manage the provincial sales and marketing strategy for Land Bank Insurance. This includes identification and management of all relevant stakeholders and brokers in the province. The primary purpose of the role to drive the growth of Land Bank Insurance products in the province and to increase Land Bank Insurance visibility in order to optimize new and existing business opportunities. The suitable candidate will have diversified and multidisciplinary knowledge and experience, with strong leadership qualities to strategically and innovatively lead the province. The suitable candidate will demonstrate excellent knowledge, skills and experience in the following key performance areas.

1. Business and Operations Management

• Define and plan the objectives of the Province in accordance with the overall business strategy;
• Determine the deliverables of the Province in line with agreed overall objectives; Ongoing evaluation of operations with input provided on identified potential areas of improvement to bolster the efficiency of the Province
• Monitor, evaluate and manage business performance at provincial level in accordance with the agreed targets and customer service level benchmarks;
• Provide EXCO with timely, relevant, and complete reports on the business performance of the PO
• Build synergy with other divisions within the Bank

2. Business Growth and Delivery of Value Proposition

• Align Provincial Business Plan to the organisation's strategy and determine the applicable deliverables and targets for the province
• Customer service failure recovery interventions / decisions.
• Develop and execute integrated sales, relationship, and portfolio growth strategies that are aligned with the business plan to achieve targets and other agreed objectives at provincial level;
• Support the growth in the Province by identifying cross-selling opportunities, building relationships and increasing customer acquisition and retention;
• Plan, organise and coordinate sales, customer service, and administrative processes to ensure smooth operations within the province aligned to overall business operational model and agreed benchmarks;
• Ensure that the appropriate quality of business is procured for the Region
• Manage profitability of the Province: To ensure that the financial objectives of the Province are achieved by: growth of Province in terms of market share and profitability

3. Development Impact Mandate

• Deliver on agreed provincial development mandate in support of the overarching national targets
• Identify, facilitate and manage the execution of agricultural development projects at a provincial level.

4. Customer Value and Stakeholder Management

• Create a strong sales and service culture, fostering collaboration to drive the achievement of all scorecard targets and behaviours to continuously improve the customer service experience
• Resolve escalated customer complaints / issues promptly and effectively with relevant feedback captured and appropriately communicated.
• Identify, establish and maintain key stakeholder relationships within the province and targeted industry segments in accordance with Land Bank values, including provincial government structures, agriculture role players and local community leaders to create opportunities for growth;
• Liaise with key stakeholders to support appropriate agreements when required;
• Identify marketing and branding opportunities and plan the branding and marketing actions in conjunction with the Marketing team and lead sales and service activities within the Province by coordinating seminars, micro-marketing events, promotional campaigns, product initiatives, etc.
• Conduct presentations on Land Bank Insurance products where necessary

5. Financial Sustainability

• Facilitate the achievement of the agreed financial sustainability and profitability targets for the province;
• Provide input into the annual budget and monitor the implementation by effectively managing costs and avoid over spending;
• Manage the budget in accordance with relevant governance and take appropriate corrective action as required;
• Report to management on the performance of the Provinces at the required intervals reflecting all relevant statistics and performance indicators including; profitability, sales, revenue, expenditure, budget variances and key risks;

6. Strategy

• Strategic direction: Determine short- and long-term strategic goals and priorities of the Province
• Formulation and implementation of the marketing strategy of the Province
• Represent Province on public forums and at meetings where necessary
• Provide a primary point-of-contact for regulatory external stakeholders (Government, private sector, internal stakeholders etc.)
• Lead and influence on behalf of the Land Bank Insurance, local, political, legal and regulatory bodies in order to protect and enhance the Land Bank brand
• Strategic engagement with stakeholders: Continuous liaison with the EXCO, business chambers, government institutions, and private sector to establish and nurture long-term relationships and strengthen the identity of the Bank in the province.

• B Degree in Commerce or a relevant insurance qualification
• Eligible to be appointed as a Representative in line with FAIS requirements
• Experience with business development 10 years
• Operations and service experience
• Stakeholder management experience
• Sales management experience

• Microsoft Office
• Customer service orientation
• Financial / Business Acumen

• Extended hours as and when required
• Willing to travel extensively