Payroll Lending Manager – Public Sector at Strivo Labs

• We are seeking an experienced Payroll Lending Manager – Public Sector to drive the growth and performance of the public-sector payroll lending portfolio.
• The successful candidate will be responsible for developing and managing government/MDA partnerships, driving loan origination and disbursement, managing portfolio performance, and ensuring effective check-off deductions, remittance, credit risk management, and regulatory compliance.
• The role requires strong stakeholder and relationship management skills, particularly within government and public-sector environments, as well as the willingness to travel extensively across Nigeria.

Key Responsibilities
Lending Growth & Strategic Partnerships:

• Build, onboard, and manage relationships with government MDAs, payroll administrators, employers, corporates, and SMEs to establish and sustain salary deduction and check-off arrangements.
• Drive loan origination, disbursement volumes, and portfolio growth across public and private-sector segments in line with approved targets and risk appetite.
• Identify and develop new MDA mandates, employer partnerships, and business development opportunities to expand the payroll lending pipeline.
• Collaborate with Sales, Business Development, Credit, Risk, and other relevant teams to drive portfolio growth.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with key public-sector stakeholders to support business growth and protect existing lending arrangements.

Underwriting, Deduction & Loan Management:

• Develop and continuously improve underwriting criteria for public and private-sector borrowers, considering factors such as grade level, years to retirement, deduction limits, employer standing, industry risk, employment tenure, income verification, and deduction reliability.
• Coordinate with government payroll platforms and employer HR/payroll teams to validate employment status, salary, deduction consent, and ongoing remittance.
• Monitor deduction and remittance performance and promptly resolve issues relating to non-remittance, partial remittance, or deduction stoppages.
• Track employment changes, including redeployment, promotion, transfer, retirement, resignation, termination, and change of employer, to minimise repayment disruptions and portfolio delinquency.
• Manage repayment transitions where payroll deductions cease, including moving affected accounts to direct collection arrangements where required.

Portfolio Risk, Compliance & Recovery:

• Monitor government policies, public-sector pay structures, employer restructuring, salary delays, financial distress, and other risk indicators that may affect portfolio performance.
• Adjust lending exposure where necessary based on emerging portfolio and employer-level risks.
• Own portfolio quality across the payroll lending book, including Portfolio-at-Risk (PAR) and Non-Performing Loan (NPL) performance.
• Drive appropriate remedial, collections, and recovery actions on delinquent accounts.
• Work closely with Legal, Compliance, Credit, and Risk teams to ensure lending activities, deduction arrangements, and employer partnerships comply with applicable regulatory and internal requirements.
• Maintain an appropriate balance between portfolio growth, credit quality, risk management, and regulatory compliance.

Stakeholder & Relationship Management:

• Maintain effective relationships with MDA officials, government payroll administrators, pension administrators, treasury officials, employer HR/payroll teams, and other relevant stakeholders.
• Protect existing deduction arrangements and identify opportunities for portfolio expansion.
• Proactively resolve stakeholder, operational, payroll, deduction, and remittance-related issues that could affect loan repayment or portfolio performance.
• Navigate complex public-sector and government stakeholder environments while maintaining strong professional relationships.

Reporting & Performance Management:

• Prepare periodic management reports covering loan origination, disbursement, portfolio growth, PAR, NPL, remittance rates, MDA mandates, employer partnerships, and other key portfolio indicators.
• Track loan approval and disbursement turnaround times and drive improvements against agreed service and performance targets.
• Monitor portfolio performance against agreed growth, quality, and operational targets.
• Provide management with actionable insights on portfolio performance, emerging risks, deduction trends, and business growth opportunities.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Economics, Business Administration, or a related field.
• 6–10 years of experience in consumer or retail lending, with demonstrable exposure to public-sector, payroll, or check-off lending.
• Proven experience managing a lending portfolio and driving portfolio growth and performance.
• Strong understanding of public-sector payroll/check-off lending, deduction, and remittance structures.
• Established working relationships with government payroll platforms such as IPPIS, SIFMIS, state equivalents, or MDA payroll units is strongly preferred.
• Experience managing lending portfolios through changes in government administration or public-sector policies is an advantage.
• Strong credit assessment, underwriting, portfolio management, and analytical skills.
• Strong portfolio analytics and performance reporting capabilities.
• Proficiency with loan management systems and reporting tools.
• Experience in fintech, consumer lending, or digital credit operations is highly preferred.
• Relevant professional certification in credit, risk, banking, finance, or a related discipline is an advantage.
• CIBN, RIMAN, ICAN, or equivalent certification is an added advantage.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, particularly within government, public-sector, and union environments.
• Strong negotiation and relationship management skills.
• Demonstrated experience driving lending growth, portfolio improvement, or operational transformation initiatives.
• Strong regulatory and business awareness, with the resilience and adaptability required to operate in complex public-sector environments.
• Strong ownership, judgement, and follow-through.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and meet portfolio targets.
• Willingness and ability to travel extensively across Nigeria.

What We’re Looking For:

• The ideal candidate should have strong experience in public-sector payroll or check-off lending, with the ability to build and maintain government/MDA relationships while managing lending growth, portfolio quality, deductions, and remittances.
• You should be commercially driven, highly organised, and comfortable navigating complex stakeholder and regulatory environments while maintaining strong portfolio performance.

Note: Growth Bonus is involved.