Job description

Position: AVP, Head of Service, Operations & Transformation (Gulf / GCC)

Job Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE hub supporting Qatar, Oman, Bahrain & Kuwait)

The Role: The Head of Service & Operations is responsible for end-to-end operational delivery across employee benefits and protection solutions, including implementation and onboarding, policy administration, billing, claims, collections and customer service. Products are expected to include, as applicable by market, Group Life, Medical, Dental, Personal Accident, Critical Illness and Group Savings/Benefits, including End-of-Service and gratuity-related solutions. Based in the UAE as the primary operations hub, the role will oversee and support Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait, ensuring consistent service delivery, effective controls and scalable processes across markets. The incumbent will enhance the customer experience, drive efficiency, leverage technology, build strong partner relationships and ensure product compliance with applicable UAE and local market regulations, as well as internal governance requirements. Working with other department heads, the incumbent will ensure the working environment, processes, guidelines and values are aligned with One MetLife and the Global Operations strategy. This role is a critical business partner in achieving financial goals, improving operating performance and maintaining a controlled environment that mitigates operational risk across policy issuance, servicing and claims processes.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design and implement an operations strategy that supports commercial commitments, financial objectives, regulatory compliance and scalable service delivery across the organisation.

• Execute on operational and customer service strategy to drive an improved end-to-end customer experience, drive operational efficiency and make it easier for customers to do business with us.
• Manage issuance, claims, services, and collections processes with the objective of meeting agreed service levels, quality standards, and regulatory requirements.
• Establish operations guidelines to ensure the effective functioning of the provider/medical network and the appropriate parameters for claims adjudication, pricing tables, and associated cost controls.

• Define and manage recovery payments and collections strategy across business lines to protect earnings and improve cash-flow discipline.
• Oversee the timely and accurate consolidation of operational financial information, particularly collections and claims data, to support reporting to authorities, home office requirements, regulatory compliance and effective decision making.

• Supervise compliance with internal policies and applicable regulatory requirements across the UAE and the supported markets (Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait) to mitigate regulatory and conduct risks, including (as applicable) anti-money laundering (AML), counter-terrorist financing (CTF), sanctions screening, FATCA/CRS, and other local requirements. Define and manage preventive and corrective action plans associated with internal and external audits to ensure adherence to regional and global operational policies and local regulatory expectations.

• Lead continuous improvement and service process re-engineering to improve operational effectiveness, customer outcomes, control standards and business-line profitability.

• Responsible for strategic technological improvements/implementation to streamline processes from the UAE hub and standardize service delivery across Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait.

• Lead the Digital Transformation and PMO agenda for the Gulf/GCC operations function, including prioritisation and governance of transformation initiatives, delivery tracking, benefits realisation, process automation, change management, and alignment with regional and global technology roadmaps.

• Create an effective and efficient work environment across all locations that will engage and enable associates to improve the customer experience.

• Attract, retain and motivate high-performing talent across the operations function.
• Set goals, monitor performance and evaluate results to ensure departmental and organisational objectives are met and aligned with business priorities.
• Develop differentiated operational capabilities and services by leveraging technology, people and shared best practices.
• Embed a Lean mindset across operations to reduce risk, remove waste and strengthen continuous improvement.
• Support the agency strategy by shaping the operating model, resourcing requirements and operational processes needed to serve this channel effectively.
• Ability to travel across the GCC as required (estimated 10–20%).

Key Relationships:

• Reports to: Regional Head of Operations

• Direct reports/team: 7 direct reports: Claims Lead; Billing & Reconciliation Lead; Underwriting/Policy Administration Lead; Customer Service Manager; Group Savings/Benefits (End-of-Service) Operations Manager; Dental/Provider Network Lead; Digital Transformation and PMO Lead.
• Key Stakeholders: UAE business heads and Functional VP’s/Directors; country leads/points of contact in Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait; local regulators and external advisors; clients, brokers and key partners

Candidate Qualifications:

Essential Business Experience and Technical Skills:

• 10+ years’ experience managing large teams within the insurance industry, with strong strategic judgement and commercial acumen.
• Demonstrated leadership experience across a large, multi-site insurance service or operations organisation.
• Deep understanding of key business and operational metrics, including integrated analytics and strong business and technology acumen to support data-driven transformation decisions.
• Significant change agent and innovator, with the ability to drive meaningful operational transformation while balancing effectiveness, efficiency, customer experience and control.
• Insurance product experience across Group and Retail lines.
• Strong understanding of the regulatory and legislative environment and its impact on insurance products and operations.

• Strong influence, negotiation and conflict resolution skills

• Proven ability to work effectively in a matrixed environment.
• Excellent analytical, decision-making and problem-solving skills.
• Proven ability to manage multiple priorities and strong project management skills, including PMO governance, milestone tracking, dependency management and escalation of delivery risks.
• Strong understanding of market needs that influence excellent customer service, with the ability to adapt MetLife’s operational delivery to create customer value.
• Ability to identify and create opportunities where processes and technology can converge to improve productivity, service quality, automation and scalability.
• Digital transformation leadership, including automation, workflow redesign and adoption of scalable technology solutions.
• Strong PMO discipline with the ability to govern complex initiatives, manage dependencies and translate strategy into measurable delivery outcomes.
• Data-led operational management, using analytics and performance metrics to identify opportunities, monitor benefits and improve decision making.
• Change management and stakeholder engagement skills to embed new ways of working across multi-market operations.
• Strong compliance, risk management and audit orientation.
• Ability to partner effectively with senior executives across distribution, operations, product, finance, Human Resources and other enabling functions.
• Ability to attract, coach, mentor and develop talent.

• Fluent in English required. Arabic preferred; additional languages relevant to the Gulf market are an advantage.

Leadership Competencies: 

• Thinks Strategically – Sets direction aligned to the company’s strategy, applying external and global perspective to meet local and global needs.
• Motivates People – Gains people commitment to achieve business objectives through clear communication of the company’s vision and flexing leadership styles to inspire high performance. 
• Seizes Opportunity – Seeks new opportunities and ways to create balanced business growth while improving operational capabilities.
• Models our Values – Creates a culture that promotes the company’s values and standards through role modeling, accountability and ownership of decisions.
• Focuses on Customers – Promotes customer centricity and ensures focus on creating great customer experiences to achieve competitive advantage.
• Drives Results – Sets aggressive goals and is accountable for continuously driving improved performance, leading change and ensuring high standards.

MetLife: 

MetLife, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, is one of the world’s leading financial services companies, providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to help its individual and institutional customers navigate their changing world. Founded in 1868, MetLife has operations in more than 40 countries and holds leading market positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. 

We are one of the largest institutional investors in the U.S. with more than $588.7 billion in total assets under management as of December 31, 2018. We are ranked #43 on the Fortune 500 list for 2018. In 2018, we were named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) for the third year in a row. DJSI is a global index to track the leading sustainability-driven companies.