Head, Ecosystems & Alliance at Commercial Bank of Africa Ltd (CBA)

DEPARTMENT: NEW BUSINESS VENTURES

REPORTS TO: GENERAL MANAGER, NBV

JOB PURPOSE STATEMENT

New Business Ventures (NBV) drives the Group’s Digital Financial Services agenda, with a mobile-first business model that seeks to gain significance amongst consumers and entrepreneurs in Africa. The division is mandated to lead the development of strategic capabilities and partnerships, that enhance the bank’s strategic positioning in digital financial services.

NBV currently operates in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Ivory Coast, directly and through strategic partnerships and often times in the context of enabling digital ecosystems.

The Head, Ecosystems and Strategic Alliances will drive this mission by conceiving of, developing or engaging with digital ecosystems that leverage and complement our strategic assets to gain new markets and defend existing markets in support of the company’s strategic ambitions.

At its core, the role involves end-to-end leadership of ecosystem/partnership opportunities, including strategy development, idea generation and opportunity sourcing, business thesis development, deal structuring & negotiation, and execution planning.
Externally, the Manager will develop high level relationships with partner organization business development and sales teams to develop scalable inorganic growth strategies.
The role is for someone who is resourceful and proactive, exhibits outstanding judgment and professionalism, and thrives in a fast-paced and entrepreneurial environment.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Design and execute ecosystem and partnerships management framework and strategies to achieve NBV commercial and brand objectives. (20%)
• Develop and maintain an opportunity assessment framework to guide the identification, promotion and development of new markets, services or capabilities through partnerships and/or ecosystem engagements. (20%)
• Continuously evaluate and refine the ecosystem business model, with due regard to partner capabilities and culture to promote strategic collaboration. (20%)
• Build and influence internal and external stakeholder relationships to position CBA as a trusted, collaborator of innovative financial services. (20%)
• Promote the diffusion of innovation across the markets that CBA operates in, assuring effective learning and collaboration across the various CBA and partner delivery teams. (20%)

COMPETENCIES

• Strong commercial acumen.
• Knowledge and experience in strategy development and execution.
• Excellent communicator with the interpersonal skills to build and influence key relationships
• Strong digital competence
• Effective organizer and ability to execute complex simultaneous tasks.
• Creative problem-solver.
• Knowledge and effective application of all relevant banking policies, processes, procedures and guidelines to consistently achieve required compliance standards or benchmarks.
• Self-empowerment to enable development of open communication, teamwork and trust that are needed to support true performance and customer-service oriented culture.
• Self-motivated, assertive and proactive.

QUALIFICATION AND EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENT

• Masters level degree in Business, Strategy or Technology.
• 10 years’ work experience with at least 4 years in a business leadership role, or entrepreneurship.
• Proficiency in strategy formulation.