Country Relationship Leader

Job Description

Our Health and Benefits business helps large and mid-size clients control health and welfare plan costs, improve health outcomes, and promote employee engagement through broad-based, state-of-the-art interventions. We provide solutions encompassing creative plan design, vendor evaluation and management, pricing and funding strategies, data analytics, valuation support, legal compliance and governance strategies.

As a Country Relationship Leader in the Manila Global Delivery Center (GDC), you will be responsible for ensuring that country deliverables across all process teams are completed within expectations. You are required to have a good understanding of how the country operates, what the client (internal and external) needs, and how processes are performed in the delivery center. Stakeholders' management is a critical skillset needed for success as you will often be required to manage escalations and assess request for service against capabilities and resourcing to make well-balanced decisions to achieve win-win for all stakeholders involved.

In Summary, your role is to support the business in achieving the operational and financial goals of the business and the company. Knowledge of Health & Benefits (H&B) is a must in order to understand the end-to-end services we provide to the Asia Pacific countries and leverage on the resources to provide value-add to H&B Local Country Teams. As a Country Relationship leader, you will be part of the leadership team working closely with the Asia Pacific GDC Leader, Operations Leader and respective H&B leaders to develop action plans, identify risk/issues, manage talent and performance, and act as the escalation point. You will collaborate with Internal Team Leaders, Client Managers, Account Executives and other roles located in various Asia Pacific countries we are supporting. You will have the ability to significantly grow your client and project management skills by working on cutting edge projects alongside leaders in the industry.

Process, Operations & Stakeholder Management
• Deliver/ Manage KPI's and metrics in line with the prescribed targets
• Work closely with Regional Operations Leader & Line of Business Leaders from Asia Pacific regions to develop annual business targets, Area of Focus and Goals.
• Prioritize and organize work according to business priorities
• Develop an in depth understanding of the technical aspects of the process.
• Driving process improvements within team for improved efficiency, client experience or better risk controls
• Periodic review of process risks and ensuring adequate controls are in place.
• Meeting with stakeholders to discuss process related challenges and opportunities
• Work with relevant stakeholders for effectively resolving escalations.
• Leading projects / tasks E2E in coordination with onshore stakeholders
• Identify, implement and follow-through initiatives that will drive process improvements, gain efficiencies impacting financials

Resource Planning
• Forecasting and planning of resource requirements
• Manage resources efficiently through peaks and troughs in the business cycle.
• Ensure contingency planning is in place for critical resources
• Identify niche skills and able to do cross-skilling, as needed
People Management / Development:
• Setting appropriate goals & expectations for the team and conducting regular progress reviews.
• Work closely with individuals and groom them to their full potential.
• Assessing and developing competency levels to make sure team members have the expertise needed to add value to the business.
• Proactive identification of performance issues. Creating action plan and coaching them to improve performance.
• Conduct 1-1 and team meetings in line with Operational Engagement Framework.
• Managing attrition and absenteeism in the team
• Conduct/Initiate Engagement activities to foster camaraderie and teamwork

In addition to this direct business work, you will:
• Attend training, meetings and/other educational events to increase understanding of trends, regulations and developments in the market
• Develop an awareness of the insurance carrier and vendor marketplace
• Understand and effectively articulate carrier / vendor challenges limiting delivery
• Receive training from experienced consultants and assist to review client needs
• Comply with internal excellence and compliance requirements
• Contribute to the development of new intellectual capital

Top 5 Competencies
• Focusing on Clients
• Working in Teams
• Driving Excellence
• Influencing Stakeholders
• Developing Talent

Qualifications

Skills:
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English
• Strong client service orientation and ability to respond to multiple stake holders effectively and in a timely manner
• Ability to work on multiple tasks in a fast-paced environment while adhering to strict deadlines and quality is a must
• Flexibility and proven ability to identify and resolve complex issues at root cause
• Well organized and detail oriented
• Preferably experienced in conducting transitions/ knowledge transfer activities.
• Highly developed problem solving, critical thinking and analytical skills
• Demonstrated leadership and vision in managing staff groups and major projects or initiatives.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and a collaborative management style
• Self-starter attitude and ability to establish priorities, work independently and with limited supervision
• Excellent Microsoft Office skills, particularly in Excel and PowerPoint
• Bachelor's degree preferred

Experience:
• 5+ years' experience working with Health and Benefits plans, ideally gained in a benefit consulting/brokerage firm or health underwriting/actuarial function of an insurance company
• 3+ years Team Leader experience
• Knowledge and experience in organizational effectiveness and operations management, implementing
best practices

WTW is an Equal Opportunity Employer

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