Senior Digital/Design Program Manager

Who Are We?

Sanlam Fintech is a newly established digital first business within the Sanlam Group on a mission to democratize financial advice and solutions for everyone across the African continent. We exist to pioneer inclusive financial confidence helping people build strong foundations to bridge the gap in generational wealth. Our culture us that of agility and constant deployment, we believe in learning fast, learning cheap and learning forward. Our aim is to provide a work environment where knowledge workers can accelerate the development of their ideas and bring innovation to market, at the same time provide compelling career and development proposition that will enable them to realize their dreams.

About This Role

We’re in the exciting process of building a cutting-edge digital ecosystem primarily focused on a new app, and we’re seeking a strategic, delivery-focused Senior Digital/Design Program Manager to help drive digital delivery excellence.

Reporting to the Head of Digital / Head of UX/UI, you will play a crucial role in bridging the gap between the UX/UI team and cross-functional areas such as Product, Tech, QA, Ops and Analytics, to establish a stronger cadence and cohesion in delivery.

You will oversee the digital design portfolio across Loyalty & Rewards in the Sanlam FinTech space, ensuring seamless coordination, faster delivery, and an elevated end-to-end user and customer experience.

What Will You Do?

• Key Responsibilities
• Strategic Portfolio and Operational Leadership
• 1.    Own the digital design (UX/UI) portfolio for Loyalty & Rewards, aligning design and digital strategy with business goals & priority.
• 2.    Govern design workflows with clear stage-gates, prioritization criteria, design readiness criteria, budget oversight, and stakeholder alignment.

End-to-End Delivery Management 
1.    Act as the gatekeeper for UX/UI work intake by supporting Product Owners in refining requirements and ensuring only validated, complete, customer-focused, and technically feasible requests are briefed into the team.
2.    Manage UX/UI team capacity, Jira workflows, and sprints to ensure smooth delivery.
3.    Facilitate collaboration across Product, UX/UI, and Tech by resolving blockers, enabling frictionless handovers, and synchronizing backlog, scope, release, and sprint planning to accelerate delivery.
4.    Oversee BAU and change requests, ensuring incidents, bugs, changes and stakeholder needs are triaged and resolved efficiently.

Stakeholder Collaboration & Alignment
1.    Serve as the central liaison for the UX/UI team and ensure cross-functional alignment by providing clear visibility into roadmaps,  priorities, and dependencies to manage stakeholder expectations and enable informed decision-making around sequencing and trade-offs.
2.    Work in close collaboration with the Technical Program Manager on UX/UI-Tech interdependencies, and with other cross-functional teams on deliverables requiring UX/UI input and execution.

• Analytics, Reporting & Continuous Improvement
• 1.    Report on UX/UI and digital metrics & analytics in board reports and monthly forums, including delivery, performance, and progress updates.
• 2.    Define and track user experience KPIs to measure outcomes and identify areas for improvement.
• 3.    Drive continuous improvement cycles using customer data and behavioural insights, ensuring the digital experience evolves continuously.

What Will Make You Successful In This Role?

• 1.    Strategic thinker with experience working with UX/UI, Product and Tech teams.
• 2.    Data-driven decision-maker with excellent communication and facilitation skills.
• 3.    Proficiency in Agile frameworks and delivery tools (e.g., Jira, Confluence)
• 4.    Adaptable and versatile, with a growth mindset and eagerness to learn.
• 5.    Degree in Business, Project Management, Design, Technology, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• 6.    10+ years of experience in digital delivery, portfolio/program management, design operations, or a related field - ideally within large-scale, complex environments.
• 7.    Proven experience in mobile app delivery

Qualification And Experience

Degree with 10 to 12 years related experience.

Knowledge And Skills

Support business strategies digitallyDigital and social mediaDesign and implement digital processes and policiesRegulationManagement of employees

Personal Attributes

Business insight - Contributing through othersCommunicates effectively - Contributing through othersManages complexity - Contributing through othersTech savvy - Contributing through others

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.

Core Competencies

Cultivates innovation - Contributing through othersCustomer focus - Contributing through othersDrives results - Contributing through othersCollaborates - Contributing through othersBeing resilient - Contributing through others

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 achieving transformation and embraces diversity.  This commitment is what drives us to achieve a diverse, inclusive and equitable workplace as we believe that these are key components to ensuring a thriving and sustainable business in South Africa.  The Group's Employment Equity plan and targets will be considered as part of the selection process.