Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Portfolio Growth

• Scale the Loan Book: Formulate and execute the growth strategy to scale the merchant lending portfolio safely to cover our markets.
• Credit Policy Ownership: Design, implement, and continuously iterate the Credit Policy and Risk Management frameworks tailored specifically for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
• Capital & Liquidity Management: Partner with the executive team to secure debt facilities, warehouse funding, or off-balance-sheet banking partnerships to fund portfolio growth.
• Department Architecture: Scale the credit department from the current staff to a high-performing team of specialists across underwriting, data science, operations, and collections.

Credit Risk, Underwriting & Data Innovation

• Alternative Data Underwriting: Collaborate with software developers and data scientists to translate Pesapals transactional data (POS cash flows, seasonality, reservation volumes) into predictive scoring models.
• Credit Committee Leadership: Chair the internal Credit Committee, personally reviewing and approving high-value merchant exposures above management thresholds.
• Vintage & Portfolio Analysis: Monitor portfolio health through strict vintage analysis, transition matrices, and early warning systems to mitigate credit migration and macro-economic shocks.

Operations & Collections Control

• Separation of Duties: Enforce structural firewalls ensuring clear demarcation between product growth, loan underwriting, and collection workflows.
• Collections Automation: Optimize the collections architecture, implementing automated reminders, tiered queues (Soft vs. Hard collections), and data-driven recovery triggers to maintain market-leading NPL ratios.
• Regulatory & Compliance: Ensure full compliance with Central Bank regulations (e.g., CBK digital credit provider frameworks), data protection acts, and AML/KYC guidelines across all operating countries.

Candidate Profile & Experience

Required Qualifications

• Experience: Minimum of 8–10 years of total experience in credit risk management, commercial lending, or digital microfinance, with at least 3–5 years in a senior leadership role (Head of Credit, Chief Risk Officer, or Senior Credit Manager).
• Fintech / Digital Lending Track Record: Direct experience working within a Tier 1/Tier 2 digital lender or a progressive commercial bank’s digital lending/MSME cash-flow lending division.
• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Economics, Statistics, Actuarial Science, or a related field. Professional certifications (e.g., CFA, FRM, or Certified Credit Analyst) are highly desirable.

Key Competencies & Traits

• Data-Driven Credit Mindset: Proficient in algorithmic scoring concepts. You understand that a merchant’s daily POS consistency is often more valuable than a physical asset or a 3-year audited financial statement.
• Balanced Risk Appetite: A business enabler who knows how to optimize risk rather than blindly avoid it—understanding when to tighten limits or loosen them to capture safe market share.
• Change & Scale Management: Proven ability to build structures, hire the right talent at the right time, and manage a team through high-growth operational friction.
• Regional Market Context: Deep operational understanding of the MSME ecosystem, merchant pain points, and regulatory terrains.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Portfolio Size: Safe growth of the active loan book toward the OLB milestone.
• Portfolio Quality: Maintenance of Non-Performing Loans (NPL) well within budgeted boundaries.
• Time-to-Decision: Optimization of automated approval rates to deliver instant or near-instant credit decisions to qualified merchants.
• Cost of Risk & Collection Efficiency: Minimizing recovery costs while maximizing the Net Recovery Rate on past-due obligations.