Regional Head of Africa at Women's World Banking

Position Summary

• We are seeking an experienced, highly motivated leader to act on behalf of Women’s World Banking as a Regional Head for Africa not only to help deliver on our organization’s strategic goals of advancing women’s financial inclusion in key markets in the region but more generally to expand our impact, presence and oversee work in the region. By evaluating the rolling market needs and trends assessments, the Regional Head will deliver on the vision of identifying how best to implement the organizational strategy in a way that will enhance policies and regulations that focus on women and increase our financial service clients’ market share and profitability while resulting in more empowered women being served with enhanced financial services.
• We believe in being a force for the greater good, devoted to accelerating and growing the financial inclusion of women. With rapidly changing markets, influenced by technology and social behavioral expectations, we are embarking on a new chapter to transform the way we impact financially excluded low-income women.
• Our approach is to solve for market gaps which inhibit the financial inclusion of women. We identify barriers through intensive market research and produce commercially viable solutions through women-centered design which can be scaled for maximum impact. Our work is further amplified through our influencer strategies and global network of professional institutions.

Roles and Responsibilities

The Regional Head will have to know how to run a business and operate independently and on a highly effective business line performance leadership team. You will be responsible for leading, collaborating, supporting and/or coordinating:

• Market Intelligence/Country/Program Insights
• Business Development and Relationship Management
• Network expansion
• Advisory services to policy makers and regulators
• Advisory services to financial service providers (FSPs)
• Fundraising
• Advocacy, Communications and Thought Leadership
• Recruiting

Candidate Profile

You are inherently curious and driven to turn strategy into action. Relevant responsibilities:

• Develop clear roadmap for implementation that is actionable;
• Stay on top of trends and understand the marketplace.

You believe in building alliances and identifying the right partnerships amongst diverse players to be more effective. Relevant responsibilities:

• Identify strategic partnerships to implement regional strategy;
• Enhance Women’s World Banking’s thought leadership in the region;
• Develop and oversee the regional revenue strategy, ensuring that fundraising objectives are consistent with overall organizational

You believe in thinking differently, outside of the conventional norm to drive sustainable and powerful solutions at scale and with impact.

• Identify market trends and leads in priority markets that can be converted into business opportunities;
• Build relationships with new partners and stakeholders both within the private and public sectors;
• Plan business development approaches and pitches;
• Work with team to develop proposals that speak to country/regional needs and objectives and ensure alignment with Women’s World Banking’s strategy;
• Attend and speak at industry events and ensure that information on market trends is disseminated throughout the organization;
• Present to Executive Team business trends with a view to develop content and agenda to achieve learning objectives across partner institutions;
• Provide strategic advisory to policy makers/regulators and FSPs in one or more technical areas in the financial inclusion space, e.g.; digital financial services, savings, sex disaggregated data etc.
• Build and manage a team in the region. You’ll be responsible for the team’s professional development, culture, and impact on the organization.

Required Qualifications

• 15+ years in management consulting in the area of financial services;
• Bachelor’s degree;
• Must be willing to travel within the region; approximately 40-50% travel
• Confident and independent decision maker;
• Experience selling to and advising senior executives/business leaders/government stakeholders;
• Proven collaborative, negotiation and persuasion skills
• Impeccable presentation, verbal, and written communication skills;
• Advanced project management skills;
• Knowledge in business development, sales management, marketing, strategic management and business planning;
• Excellent analytical skills, and the ability to synthesize data and information to provide a high-level view which is accessible to a range of audiences;
• Capable of engaging and influencing senior executives to take action and try something new;
• Excellent stakeholder management skills and ability to engage colleagues at all levels of seniority in partner institutions;
• Ability to isolate problems, articulate them, and quickly implement solutions;
• Self-starter and independent thinker with significant personal ambition and sense of urgency to make business and social impact within the financial inclusion community;
• Intellectual curiosity demonstrated in creative solution-seeking; and
• Strong people manager and the ability to lead and mentor the team by guiding priorities, sustaining professional development and supporting daily activities

Measure of Success

Within the first 75 days:

• Embrace Women’s World Banking’s unique characteristics and offerings in order to market them to potential partners;
• Learn and comprehend Women’s World Banking’s business model;
• Become trained and fully integrate the use of the organization’s systems (e.g,; Salesforce, Hive, DevResults) into your day-to-day activities;
• Fully establish and strengthen existing relationships within the assigned client portfolio;
• Demonstrate your command for the position and ability to drive and secure new business relationships and opportunities, and
• Operationalize your team charter.