Project Manager - Insurance

We're looking for a hands-on Project Manager to deliver technology and business change projects in an insurance or financial services environment. You'll own delivery end to end: plan, track the budget, report progress and finances to stakeholders and the steering committee, and keep teams moving.

This is a delivery role, not a programme director or head-of-projects role. It suits someone who has run several projects at a bank, insurer or asset manager and wants to keep delivering.

Key responsibilities

Delivery

• Plan, run and close medium-to-large technology and business projects from start to finish
• Define scope, milestones and success criteria, and build detailed project plans
• Run delivery using Agile, Waterfall or a hybrid approach, depending on the project
• Coordinate business analysts, developers, testers, vendors and business users
• Manage risks, issues, assumptions, dependencies and change requests (RAID)
• Oversee UAT, business readiness and handover to business-as-usual

Project financial reporting

• Build and own project budgets, forecasts and cost tracking
• Report actual against budgeted spend, explain variances and take corrective action
• Manage funds release, purchase orders and vendor invoices in line with financial controls
• Track resource costs and benefits realisation

Governance and stakeholder reporting

• Prepare steering committee (SteerCo) packs, status reports and executive dashboards
• Present project health, financials, risks and decisions to sponsors and senior stakeholders
• Keep project documentation audit-ready and in line with PMO standards
• Make sure projects meet regulatory and compliance requirements, such as POPIA and FSCA conduct rules

Requirements

• 6 or more years in project delivery, including at least 3 years as a Project Manager running your own projects
• Experience delivering projects at an insurer, bank, asset manager or other financial services firm
• A track record of project financial management: budgets, forecasts, cost tracking and variance reporting
• Experience preparing SteerCo packs and reporting to executive stakeholders
• Working knowledge of Agile (Scrum or Kanban) and traditional methods (PMBOK or PRINCE2)
• Strong MS Project, Jira or Azure DevOps, and Excel skills
• A relevant degree or diploma (IT, Commerce or Business)
• A project management certification such as PMP, PRINCE2 Practitioner or Certified Scrum Master
• Based in Johannesburg or able to commute to the office on hybrid days

Nice to have

• Insurance experience (life, short-term or reinsurance), or projects such as IFRS 17, SAM or policy administration system replacements
• Regulatory or compliance projects (POPIA, FICA, Conduct of Business, TCF)
• Digital channel delivery: apps, portals, digital wallets or chatbots
• Power BI or similar for project dashboards
• SAFe experience