Principal Specialist: Strategic Portfolios

About this role

Discovery is looking for a Principal Specialist to work from its head office at 1 Discovery Place, Sandton. The role exists to drive defined strategic initiatives from start to finish. You will turn plans into working solutions that bring measurable results for the business and its customers.

What you’ll do

• Shape value propositions for members, healthcare providers and partners.
• Own feature, journey and requirement development, working closely with product, technology and business teams.
• Run hands-on research, including member insights, provider feedback and market scanning, and turn the findings into clear specs, backlogs and decision papers.
• Design and run commercial models, and help implement pricing, incentives and partnership structures with commercial, finance and partner teams.
• Manage roadmaps, milestones, dependencies and risks, and act quickly when a project goes off track.
• Prepare materials for steering committees and governance forums, and support regulatory readiness, testing and launch.
• Work with partners, providers and clients, and help with onboarding, enablement and handover into operations.
• Equip sales and distribution teams with practical tools, FAQs and playbooks.

What you need

• A relevant Honours degree in Actuarial Science, Business, Commerce, Management, Healthcare, Finance or a related field (required).
• At least 6 years of relevant work experience (required).
• At least 4 years of experience in a management position (required).
• Experience in product design, development, marketing or management within financial services, consulting, healthcare or a related sector (advantageous).
• Experience working in the provision of healthcare (advantageous).
• A Masters degree, MBA or PhD (advantageous).

Is this job for you?

This role suits a senior professional who likes hands-on execution as much as strategy. You should be comfortable owning work from idea to launch, and at ease presenting progress and risks to senior decision-makers. A background in financial services, healthcare or consulting would give you a strong head start.

Tips before you apply

• Have your Honours degree certificate and any postgraduate qualifications ready to upload.
• Show your years in management on your CV, with dates, team sizes and the initiatives you led from concept to launch.
• Give concrete examples of pricing, partnership or product outcomes you delivered, with measurable results where you can.

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