CEO - FinChoice Africa at FinChoice Africa

Job description

The ideal candidate for this role will be responsible for leading and managing the expansion of the group’s financial services business into Africa

Key objectives of the role

• Grow the FCA portfolio of African countries into which the financial services products are sold to customers
• Develop financial services (personal loans and insurance) products suitable for the mass market consumer in these countries
• Develop the technology and operational processing capability for selling, managing and collecting the products, leveraging the group’s infrastructure where appropriate
• Manage the credit risk of the lending portfolios
• Manage the insurance cell captives in Mauritius and South Africa, and other insurance partnerships as they arise
• Build and direct the team and culture of FCA where appropriate, the personnel on the ground in-country

Key Performance Areas (KPAs)

• General management and strategy
• Set the financial services lending and insurance strategy for the African markets in which FCA operates or will operate
• Ensure the execution of the strategy to meet the agreed budgets
• Talent Recruit and develop suitable personnel to grow the existing team to meet the business requirements where appropriate, in local African countries
• Manage the culture of the business and ensure alignment with the Group’s value
• Liaise with group experts, if required, for consulting advice on product design, marketing, credit risk, finance, operations and technology
• Financial performance
• Maintain 5-year forecasts to shape the strategic objectives of the business and ensure long-term financial viability
• Increase overall profitability of the business and shareholder value
• Ensure adequate focus on operational performance across the business
• Improve operating expense control processes and governance
• Balance investment in revenue growth and cash flow requirements
• Process and systems
• Strong focus on technology as an enabler for the financial services business. Strategic imperative to shift the customer relationship increasingly to digital and away from call centre:
• Back-end automation to streamline processes and reduce need for manual intervention
• Front-end platforms (especially mobile internet, USSD and SMS) to improve the customer experience through self-service engagement
• Data analytics (response modelling, credit risk management, reporting, forecasting)
• Call centre operations
• Despite the shift to digital, the call centre plays and continues to play an important role in the customer engagement:
• Telemarketing to acquire and retain customers (selling both loans and insurance)
• Inbound / Customer service to process inbound sales and service requests that customers choose not to complete digitally
• Collections team to rehabilitate delinquent loans and lapsed insurance policies
• Back office team for processing of non-customer-facing tasks
• Manage SLA for outsourced call centre operations in South Africa
• Continually review business processes and systems to ensure efficiency and effectiveness
• Innovation and product development
• Lending and insurance product design, including the design of the workflows and channels needed to sell and service the products
• Strong emphasis on optimising customer experience, especially tailored to the mass market African female via her cell phone device
• Managing credit risk
• Ensure that the business applies responsible credit practices in the acquisition and account management of this consumer credit business
• Implement effective credit solutions and credit marketing to increase customer acquisition and profitability
• Effectively balance growth and risk within the debtors’ portfolio
• Consistently review credit offering and ensure that credit offering remains innovative whilst balancing long-term profitability
• Ensure credit product design, pricing and procedures comply with local consumer credit regulation
• Risk management and governance
• Effectively identify, assess and prioritize risks associated with the business strategy and deliverables
• Formulate and implement effective and appropriate mitigation strategies to address risks
• Ensure that the operations of the business are managed within all required legal and regulatory compliance frameworks

Requirements

Qualifications

CA, Engineering, MBA or equivalent experience

Experience & Skills

• Minimum of 7 years’ hands on experience developing and implementing profitable strategies in a sizeable company preferably within the credit, financial services, insurance and/or loans sectors
• Minimum of 5 years’ experience in a senior financial and/or operational role including people management
• Familiarity with diverse business functions such as business development, finance, operations, credit risk, customer analytics, marketing, etc
• Knowledge of corporate governance and general management best practices
• Experience in annual planning, budgeting, reporting and risk management
• Experience in developing and implementing organisational processes and procedures
• High ethical standards with knowledge of compliance with national legislation and international corporate governance principles
• Proven track record of succeeding within a results-driven environment
• Ability to work with information systems and MS Office

Attributes & Behaviours

• Disciplined self-starter with a strong commercial understanding, an entrepreneurial attitude and innovative mind-set who takes full ownership with a big picture approach and execution
• A proven leader with exceptional management and a proven track record to development a successful diverse team to deliver against set targets and ensure solid business growth
• Demonstrate superior business acumen and results and systems orientation with strong financial and analytical skills
• Consistent and effective communicator (both verbal and written) at all levels with strong influencing, negotiating and inter-personal skills
• Demonstrate the ability to build and maintain trusted strategic and long-term relationships both with internal and external stakeholders
• Demonstrate resilience, tenacity and maintain high levels of drive and initiative within a pressurised and isolated environment
• Assertive completer with a hands-on approach and a pro-active ability to coordinate activities and resources effectively