Senior Human Capital Business Partner (Sandton)

Our vision is to be the preferred partner to Corporate and Public Sector entities by providing an awesome client experience and comprehensive solutions that enable the financial resilience and prosperity of those entities and their employees 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 What will you do? Sanlam Corporate is seeking a seasoned and strategically minded Senior Human Capital Business Partner to play a pivotal role in driving the organization’s people agenda. This role is instrumental in aligning human capital strategies with the business’s strategic objectives and values, ensuring the delivery of high-impact, future-fit people solutions.
As a trusted advisor to senior leadership, the incumbent will provide expert counsel on all human capital matters, including workforce planning, employee relations, talent management, organizational design, and employee engagement. The role demands a deep understanding of business priorities and the ability to translate these into actionable people strategies that foster a high-performance culture.
A key aspect of the role includes managing and mentoring junior team members, driving continuous improvement, and ensuring compliance with internal governance and external regulatory frameworks. The incumbent will be expected to foster strong partnerships across the business, enabling leaders to make informed, people-centric decisions that support sustainable growth This position plays a pivotal role in positioning Sanlam Corporate as an employer of choice, fostering a high-performance culture through the acquisition of diverse and capable talent that supports long-term business sustainability Key Responsibilities Strategic Business Partnering

• Collaborate closely with senior leaders to understand business goals and translate them into integrated human capital strategies that drive performance, growth, and transformation.
• Act as a trusted advisor to business leaders on all people-related matters.
• Influence decision-making with insights and evidence-based advice.

Workforce Planning & Organizational Design

• Lead workforce planning initiatives, ensuring the right talent is in place to meet current and future business needs.
• Lead organizational design and restructuring efforts to enable effectiveness and agility.

Develops annual HR strategic plan to support the business area plan

• Contributes towards the business area’s operating plan and develops a people operating plan
• Evolves this in line with changing needs
• Tracks and reports progress on plan to the business on a regular basis

Own Talent Management & Succession Planning for business area

• Builds leadership competence through coaching and guide line management around people processes to deliver the People Strategy
• Implements a talent management framework (including succession management) and works with the Executive and Manco team to implement
• Identifies the immediate and long term talent issues that impact the area and put appropriate plans in place to address
• Drive talent reviews, succession planning, and career development initiatives to build a strong leadership pipeline and retain top talent.
• Support leadership pipeline development and critical skills retention.

Manages Recruitment & Selection

• Work closely with Talent Acquisition COE to ensure alignment to the Talent strategy of the Business unit
• Identify critical and scarce skills for business unit and agree strategies with all relevant COE’s (e.g. Talent acquisition, L&D and Total Rewards) to ensure appropriate pipelines over short and longer term

Employee Engagement & Culture Building

• Design and implement strategies to enhance employee engagement, foster a high-performance culture, and embed Sanlam’s values across the employee lifecycle.

Change Management & Organisational design

• Provide expert guidance on change management initiatives, ensuring smooth transitions
• Facilitates change and transformation initiatives
• Build employee resilience and adoption through structured change enablement
• Drives transformation and change initiatives across the business area and guides the business on the management of risk and the business impact
• Ensures effective organisational design process and structures

Data-Driven People Decision-Making
Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement
Delivers Key HR initiatives
Improves the overall people effectiveness of the business area
Provides specialist ER advice and support
Facilitates reward processes
Manages learning and development implementation
Support business in developing and achieving their EE plan Qualification and Experience
Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Human Resources, Industrial Psychology, Business Administration, or a related field.
• A postgraduate qualification (Honours or Master’s degree) in Human Resources, Organizational Development, or Strategic Management is highly advantageous.

Experience

• Minimum of 7 –10 years of progressive experience in a strategic HR business partnering role, preferably within a corporate or financial services environment.
• Demonstrated experience in talent acquisition, workforce planning, organizational design, and employee engagement.
• Proven track record in leading change management and transformation initiatives.
• Experience in mentoring and coaching HR professionals and business leaders.

Preferred Experience

• Experience in financial services, insurance, or corporate consulting.
• Strategic HR leadership in complex, matrixed environments.
• Hands-on involvement in transformation and digital HR projects.
• Familiarity with modern recruitment and employer branding practices.
• Background in leadership development and coaching.
• Strong grasp of labour relations and governance frameworks

Knowledge and Skills

• Strategic HR expertise and business alignment.
• Full-cycle talent acquisition and management.
• Organizational design and change management.
• HR analytics and technology proficiency.
• Labour legislation and compliance knowledge.
• Leadership, coaching, and mentoring skills.
• Strong communication and stakeholder engagement.
• Problem-solving and innovation mindset.

Behavioural Competencies Digital leadership

• Tech savvy
• Cultivates innovation
• Strategic mindset

Agile leadership

• Manages ambiguity
• Manages complexity
• Drives results

Human centered leadership

• Instils trust
• Build effective teams
• Drives engagement

Core Competencies

• Cultivates Innovation by creating new and better ways for the organisation to be successful.
• Client Focus - Building strong customer relationships and delivering customer-centric solutions.
• Drives Results - Consistently achieving results, even under tough circumstances.
• Collaborates - Building partnerships and working collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives.
• Resilience - Rebounding from setbacks and adversity when facing difficult situations.

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 transformation and embracing diversity and our employment equity plan and targets will be considered as part of the recruitment process. This commitment is what drives us to achieve a diverse workplace with employment equity as a key goal to create an inclusive workforce, representative of the demographics of our society as well as people with disabilities.