The role is to provide regional leadership in IT to ensure the ongoing delivery of best-in-class technology, enable operational capabilities, and support minimum IT and operational standards to realise the VisionFund Strategy. The role is responsible for reducing Operational Cost Ratio (“OCR”) for the region, ensuring regional alignment with the global Technology and Operational Maturity Strategy, and leading and managing regional technology change. The RIT must ensure digital solutions support regulatory requirements, operational process refinement that realises efficiency gains, reduce costs, support drivers of growth, and reduce risk of manual processes. They must ensure digital solutions support expected volume growth, expansion and reduction in geographic reach, support scale of operational best practice and operational excellence, and yield quantifiable business benefits in the field for clients and MFIs – in line with the VisionFund Strategy. The RIT must ensure regional IT equips end-users with appropriate technology that enables them to deliver performance – both social impact and fiscal and considers the future role of technology in Microfinance.
Responsibilities
Daily direct and matrix management of resources in the region, including 11 ITMs and their teams (approx. 35/40 people across the organisation).
Regular engagement and leadership with the Regional Operations Director to ensure operations standards are upheld and capabilities enabled with the delivery of appropriate and best-in-class technology to drive fiscal and impact performance.
Ensuring that MFIs have the skills and competencies both within IT and business functions to use their technology to maximum effect, identifying deficiencies that need to be addressed, and support them in skills training and capacity building so that they become more capable in managing technology;
Ensure that MFIs have and effectively enforce the required IT policies and procedures in place. Monitor and evaluate how IT policies and procedures are implemented. This includes but it is not limited to data security, backup, physical security, timely replacement of hardware, disaster recovery plans and any other policy in area of system administration.
Ensure that appropriate approval levels, rights, authorities and controls are built in to any system platform application or any software in use to ensure there are no gaps in internal control and support regulatory, business governance, and the operating model RACI.
Overseeing and support of MFIs in implementing significant IT projects, in particular system upgrades and implementations, to ensure that the various phases of the project are designed correctly and executed to plan;
Champion the “Change” elements of any given project / programme, working with global SME’s (the Strategy Impact & Services team and others), to review, document and implement changes necessary to drive operational maturity, policy / control alignment and efficient / effective operational environments (seeking cost savings / enhanced service capabilities);
Tracking what is happening in MFIs in the region on a regular basis. In practice this means ‘meeting’ at least monthly with the local IT teams and being given monthly reports to regional team on their activities and issues, and then helping solve issues if escalated (see next point);
Working with WV’s specialist technical support to support MFIs when there are systems issues, bringing in vendor support as required;
Identifying opportunities to improve regional efficiencies and performance through ideas like regional processing centers virtually or remotely;
Reviewing annual plans and budgets and ensuring that adequate provision is being made so that the MFI is on a path to sustainability in its use of technology;
Support for Regional Head (“RH”) in global strategy development for delivering business and impact goals through the use of technology platforms, people and processes;
Ensuring IT projects adhere to global policy and procedures, and designing policy and procedures where any are lacking; and
Support RDs in reviewing annual plans and budgets and ensuring that adequate provision is being made so that the MFI is on a path to sustainability in its use of technology.
Strategy:
Work together with local and global management to ensure an effective regional IT strategy is in place that supports the global DOC strategy and realization of the VisionFund Strategy, focusing on the digital and operational maturity of business processes and impact on people;
Core Functionality:
Develop and maintain a core set of functional requirements building on the ‘standardisation’ work, and lessons learned from MFIs around the globe;
Roll-out Plan:
Develop a manage a detailed plan of how the systems strategy will be rolled out including core banking applications, infrastructure, support and ‘other technologies’; and
Resources:
Lead the hiring, budgeting and management of resources that will support the communication and roll out of this strategy. Working with Regional and MFI management to document an Operational Maturity strategy plan for each MFI, outlining the Digital / Change solution roadmap. Championing / escalating priorities to Regional / Global management.
Evaluating each MFI’s OCR reality and determining areas of opportunity to make necessary changes to drive down OCR. These can be initial manual changes or as part of an overall Change Programme.
Working with DOC peers to document / track deployment plan. Escalating priorities and funding / resource needs. Recommend MFIs for strategic systems initiative and present prioritization plan.
Hiring of key personnel with required experience and background.
Budget / Funding:
Work together with Regional Head and Regional Operations Director on proposal on regional systems budgets and funding.
Project Management:
Ensure all projects are effectively managed.
Job Requirements
Required education
: Bachelor's degree
Required relevant work experience
: 5 years
Required languages:
English (Spoken: fluent | Written: fluent)
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