Head of Technology and Operations (PAPSS) at African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank)

Reference Number: LEEBLR12
Location: Cairo, Egypt

Pan African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS)

• The Pan African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) is the first centralized payment market infrastructure for processing, clearing and settling of intra-African trade and commerce payments. PAPSS is an arm of the African Export- Import Bank (Afreximbank), which is a pan-African multilateral financial institution, established in 1993 for the purpose of financing and promoting intra and extra African trade. Afreximbank operates and manages PAPSS.
• PAPSS is now ready to start operations and is looking for experienced individuals, who are innovative, entrepreneurial and imbued with the passion and commitment to transform Africa through trade.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for every aspect of PAPSS operations and technology management.
• Oversee the development and implementation of information technology strategy, standards, process, frameworks, methodologies and KPI’s in support of the PAPSS Initiative’s objectives including automation and continuous process improvements.
• Oversee payment system operations including clearing and settlement operations.
• Develop, maintain and deliver reports on technology and operations team delivery, including KPIs on delivery and on-going efficiency.
• Provide global strategic and technical direction for a highly services oriented PAPSS IT and operations.
• Establish and maintain technology team delivery tracking, communicating information, and challenging team delivery
• Ensure consistent best practices, processes, and procedures for technology operations
• Engage with technical partners and stakeholders to navigate challenges and identify risks and opportunities for technology Operations.
• Develop, maintain and implement the IT Security strategy for the organisation.
• Manage the technology and vendor selection processes supporting build-buy-partner decisions
• Define and manage the technology landscape and blueprint for entire solution stack

Requirements
Qualification and Skill:

• Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related technical field from a well-recognized university and post graduate degree is a must. Professional certifications will be an added advantage.
• Minimum 12 years of experience in Telecommunications, Banking, Fintech, Consulting and related field.
• 8+ years of demonstrable experience in managing large-scale technology operations for large scale digital products within a high growth, global, matrixed environment.
• 3+ years in developing solution architecture and leading Technology operations teams for digital payment product development and complex system integration projects.
• Experience managing digital payment switching (clearing) operations or demonstrate evidence of exceptional understanding of clearing operations and payment system clearing and settlement.
• Previous experience managing large scale Card processing technology and switching operations for any of the global brands is a great advantage.
• Proven ability to set technical vision and build the technical product roadmap from launch to scale; Drive continuous product improvement; Effectively align resources to achieve key business priorities, including appropriate scope, high quality and timely product releases.
• Experience in establishing product sustainability (e.g. disaster recovery, business continuity plan etc.)
• Experience with building and managing scalable and reusable service-based architectures including APIs, serverless, and microservices frameworks.
• Experience with managing data streaming, ETL and messaging/integration platforms & frameworks like Apache Spark, Hadoop, Kafka, Redshift etc.
• Experience with backend/platform engineering, scaling performance engineering, security, Disaster Recovery, etc.
• Experience building complex API integrations with multiple SaaS, BaaS and Legacy Enterprise service bus integrations.
• Experience with payment standards and SWIFT infrastructure.
• Strong understanding of information security and regulatory compliance.
• Strong knowledge of DevOps and cloud infrastructure services (AWS, Google and Azure preferred).
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English. Knowledge of any of French, Portuguese and Arabic is an advantage.
• Analytical skills.
• A proven background in IT delivery or planning roles, with an interest in technology and Fintech.
• Excellent relationship management skills that enable you to work with multiple internal and external stakeholders.
• The ability to effectively drive change in a dynamic environment across multi-functional teams.
• A creative thinker with a broad understanding of the needs of technologists and senior leadership.

Benefits and Contractual information

• Permanent
• USD tax exempt salary
• Willing and able to relocate to Cairo, Egypt
• Suitably qualified candidates from all African nationalities are encouraged to apply