Head of Life Insurance

About us Southern Cross has supported New Zealanders on their health journeys since 1961, providing access to the private healthcare they need, when they need it. A member-focused friendly society, we are driven by a purpose to empower our more than 950,000 members to live well for longer - to thrive and live with more healthier years in their life. With a vision for a healthier Aotearoa New Zealand, first and foremost our priority is improving the health and wellbeing of our members. This is an exciting time to be part of our journey. In return for your extraordinary talent, we offer a high-performing, values-based team environment, with our people at our heart. About the role We’re looking for an experienced and strategic leader to step into the newly created role of Head of Life Insurance. This pivotal position will shape the future of our Life Insurance business—driving sustainable growth, expanding our offerings through partnership and ensuring alignment with Southern Cross’s purpose and values.You’ll be responsible for developing and executing a growth-focused roadmap, scaling distribution channels, leading transformation initiatives, and ensuring regulatory compliance. Your leadership will ensure our Life Insurance proposition delivers real value to our members and stands out in the market. Key Responsibilities Amplify our market impact by leveraging the strength and recognition of the Southern Cross brand Lead the Life Insurance strategy, expanding products, channels, and member value. Develop and execute a strategic roadmap for growth and innovation. Drive growth through a strong partnership with our life insurance provider. Build a compelling market presence using the Southern Cross brand. Deliver personalised, targeted marketing initiatives. Ensure compliance with regulatory and risk obligations. Champion customer-centric product and service design. Lead transformation across systems, processes, and delivery. Collaborate with internal teams and external partners. Build strong networks across the insurance and consulting sectors. About you 10+ years’ experience in the insurance industry, ideally in life or health insurance. Proven leadership of a P&L with a track record of delivering portfolio growth and strong customer outcomes. Broad expertise across customer engagement, marketing, and product development. Strong strategic thinking and organisational leadership skills. Excellent relationship management and stakeholder engagement abilities. Our values who we are and what’s important to us. Ngākau nui. Āhurutanga. Tikanga. Join a proudly diverse team, that's always there, always real, always true. If you thrive in a caring, honest and open culture, we think you’ll love working with us. We know that it’s our team’s culture and wellbeing that underpins all we do, and the engine moving us forward. This is why we encourage and reward our employees to live well and offer tangible ways to achieve a true work-life balance. Southern Cross employee benefits include: five days of wellbeing leave per year health insurance for you and your immediate whānau life insurance cover and discounts on pet and travel insurance extra parental leave benefits and financial wellbeing support ability to participate in our workplace wellbeing programme. This is not all. If you need more time to support your whānau, you’ll have the opportunity to purchase flexi-leave, and each year you have a volunteer day to spend with your team contributing to a cause or community of your choice. Our commitment to LGBTQIA+ and minority communities is reflected in our culture, and we facilitate an active and vibrant Diversity and Inclusion Forum which is well supported across the organisation. If you share our commitment and passion, we’d love to hear from you.