Head of Department – Band 4

As a Head of Department, you will hold a management role with accountability for a large operational function. You will lead multidisciplinary teams and be responsible for delivering high-quality operations, strong service performance, and a culture of continuous improvement.

The Head of Department owns the strategy, governance, and operational excellence of eligibility processes, driving accuracy, automation, customer satisfaction, and cost efficiency. The position requires deep understanding of healthcare operations, strong leadership, and the ability to transform complex processes in a high-volume, high-precision environment.

Key Responsibilities

1. Strategic Leadership

• Create and execute the departmental Strategy & Roadmap (multi-year plan).
• Communicate strategic priorities to stakeholders and ensure teams remain aligned.
• Translate organisational strategy into clear operational objectives and success measures.
• Lead digital transformation, automation, and process-reengineering initiatives to improve accuracy, turnaround time, and customer satisfaction.
• Drive a strong performance culture with a focus on innovation, continuous improvement, and service excellence.

2. Operational Leadership

• Lead the day-to-day management of departmental operations across locations.
• Ensure productivity, turnaround time, quality, and customer satisfaction targets are met.
• Own the capacity plan for the department, monitoring staffing needs and proactively addressing risks.
• Drive operational discipline, performance management, and continuous improvement.
• Implement global SOPs, KPIs, and operational frameworks for predictable and scalable delivery.
• Optimize resource utilization, productivity, and quality through robust planning and governance.
• Oversee end-to-end for group onboarding operations including policy setup, membership updates, renewals, and endorsements.
• Oversee end-to-end for Cigna Solution operations for our subrogation partners including admin, eligibility memberships update, and claims processing.
• Drive adherence to service levels (SLAs), accuracy targets, turnaround times (TAT), and process quality benchmarks.

3. People Leadership

• Inspire, motivate, and develop leaders and teams across the department.
• Provide coaching, performance management, and succession planning for all management layers.
• Promote a positive culture, high engagement, and a collaborative team environment.
• Ensure effective recruitment, onboarding, development, and retention practices.
• Lead, coach, and develop large operational teams, building leadership capability.
• Partner with cross-functional and global stakeholders to drive integrated outcomes.

4. Change & Innovation

• Contribute to organisational transformation initiatives and lead department-level change.
• Identify opportunities to enhance processes, customer experience, and operational efficiency.
• Embed a mindset of innovation, problem-solving, and continuous improvement.

5. Collaboration & Stakeholder Management

• Partner effectively with cross-functional leaders across Operations, the wider organisation, and external partners.
• Maintain strong communication channels with stakeholders internally and externally to ensure seamless delivery.
• Use data insights to challenge performance and drive evidence-based decision-making.

6. Reporting, Compliance & Governance

• Produce accurate management information, operational reports, and trend analysis.
• Ensure compliance with risk, audit, and operational governance frameworks.
• Quantify and communicate the operational impact of enhancements and issues.
• Ensure adherence to regulatory requirements, audit standards, and internal controls.
• Establish governance mechanisms to mitigate operational, regulatory, and financial risks.

Your Profile

Experience

• Minimum 12+ years leading large operational healthcare insurance, claims, enrollment, eligibility operations, subrogation, or policy administration.
• Proven experience delivering complex operational outcomes at scale.
• Demonstrable success in people leadership, coaching, and organisational development.
• Strong strategic and operational execution background.

Skills & Capabilities

• Excellent communicator with the ability to influence and engage diverse audiences.
• Skilled in stakeholder management across multiple functions and levels.
• Highly data-driven with strong analytical ability (Excel, BI tools).
• Experienced in driving service improvement and customer-focused enhancements.
• Strong organisational, planning, and prioritisation skills.
• Able to manage ambiguity and lead teams through change.
• Skilled in negotiation, problem-solving, and process improvement.
• Manage operational budgets, cost structures, and financial targets for claims operations.
• Drive cost-efficiency and improve claims cost ratio.

Behaviours

• Results-driven, accountable, and committed to achieving shared goals.
• Demonstrates flexibility, adaptability, and resilience.
• Strong interpersonal skills, fostering trust and collaboration.
• Forward-thinking with a continuous improvement mindset.