Head of Credit

Key responsibilities

• Credit Risk Strategy and Governance.
• Develop and implement a credit risk strategy aligned with business strategy, risk appetite and growth objectives.
• Set credit risk parameters, limits, approval thresholds, concentration limits and portfolio quality standards.
• Review credit policies, products and lending processes; advise Management on the credit implications of new products, markets and segments.
• Ensure credit decisions are objective, well-supported and compliant with laws, regulations and delegated authority limits.
• Credit Analysis and Approval.
• Lead the Credit Analysts to deliver high-quality, independent and timely assessment of applications, covering repayment capacity, credit history, cash flows, collateral, existing debt, sector risk and overall risk profile.
• Ensure proper verification, due diligence and documentation before approval and disbursement.
• Approve proposals within delegated authority, escalate those outside limits, and challenge analysts’ assumptions where necessary.
• Monitor turnaround times and coach analysts on recurring weaknesses without compromising credit quality.
• Portfolio and PAR Management.
• Hold overall accountability for portfolio quality, monitoring PAR 1, 7, 30, 60, 90 and NPLs daily, weekly and monthly.
• Analyse performance by product, Fulfilment Centre, Relationship Officer, segment, sector, vintage, loan size and location.
• Establish early-warning indicators, monitor concentration risk, and conduct portfolio reviews, stress testing and scenario analysis.
• Ensure portfolio growth does not compromise asset quality, and give Management actionable recommendations.
• Debt Recovery, Collections and PAR/NPL Reduction.
• Lead the Debt Recovery Unit; set recovery targets and segment delinquent accounts by risk, arrears age, exposure and security.
• Drive recovery through customer engagement, payment plans, restructuring, collateral recovery, demand notices, external agencies, auctioneers and legal action.
• Set PAR/NPL reduction targets, hold weekly PAR review meetings, and track roll rates (Current → PAR → NPL), cure rates and recovery rates.
• Analyse root causes of delinquency and work with Business and Operations to fix systemic issues such as poor underwriting, weak documentation and follow-up.
• Credit Policy, Analytics and Reporting.
• Develop and update credit policies, procedures, scorecards and risk-rating tools, including restructuring, write-off and recovery guidelines.
• Identify control gaps in the credit lifecycle and promote process improvement and automation.
• Maintain credit risk dashboards and provide timely, accurate reports to Management, committees and the Board on portfolio size and growth, PAR, NPLs, collections, recoveries (including from written-off accounts), roll and cure rates, write-offs, concentration, approval quality and credit losses.
• Legal Recovery and External Service Providers.
• Escalate qualifying accounts for legal action and monitor progress with the Legal function.
• Manage external collection agencies and service providers against performance standards while controlling recovery costs.
• Note: Legal retains responsibility for legal opinions, drafting and litigation; the Head of Credit owns the commercial recovery strategy and outcome.
• Credit Control, Compliance and Audit.
• Ensure compliance with credit policies, lending authorities and security perfection before disbursement.

Candidate requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Business Administration, Commerce, Banking, Credit or Risk Management, or a related field. A Master’s degree, a professional qualification in credit, risk, banking or finance, and membership of a relevant professional body are added advantages.
• Minimum 8 years’ progressive credit management experience in a Microfinance Institution, Bank, SACCO or other regulated financial institution, including at least 5 years in a senior credit role (e. g. Head of Credit, Credit Manager, Head of Credit Risk).
• Direct ownership of credit quality and portfolio performance, with measurable improvements in PAR, NPL, collections and recoveries on a significant lending portfolio.
• Strong preference for MFI experience, particularly with Microfinance, SME, Business, Boresha or similar portfolios.

Required skills