Chief Operations Officer (COO) at Higher Education Loans Board (HELB)

HELB GRADE 2

Job Purpose:

Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operations Officer (COO) is responsible for spearheading the formulation of sound policies, strategies and systems that will drive the vision of the institution, ensure effective and efficient execution of Credit Management function with a loan book in excess of Kshs.93 Billion and customer base in excess of 1,000,000, timely and equitable annual processing and disbursement of loans, bursaries and scholarships to over 394,000 students in 342 local and foreign higher learning institutions with an annual budget of over Kshs.17 Billion and 31 partner funds worth over Kshs.1.4 Billion. Overseeing timely repayment of all matured loans worth Kshs. 69 Billion from over 560,000 past beneficiaries to create a sustainable revolving fund, provision of accurate data for processing of all products applications and management of all institutional documents for ease of storage, retrieval and utilization to support the HELB’s operations and overseeing optimization of digital service delivery to improve customer satisfaction index and aligning the Directorate to the institution’s
enterprise risk management framework.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Overseeing the setting and driving institution’s vision and operational strategy, spearheading the monitoring of all credit management, Enterprise Electronic Data & Documents Management, business development and institutional relationship management functions to ensure conformity to institutions objectives and the formulation of Institution’s strategic direction to support the strategic initiatives on the core mandate of the institution;
• Overseeing preparation, co-ordination and monitoring of Operations directorate’s annual work plans to achieve set divisional targets and overall institutions objectives, overseeing formulation, implementation and monitoring of directorate action plan, policies and systems for efficient and effective execution of the divisional functions by ensuring it is aligned to the Institution’s overall Strategic Plan;
• Spearheading the formulation, implementation and evaluation of market penetration strategies for existing and new markets through recruitment of new customers and product development to drive business growth in line with the set institution’s targets, strategic and operational management of both electronic and manual records to support the institution’s operations in achieving its objective and the coordination and efficient management of the digitization process including
• managing the process of change and review, and implementation of the strategic and operational plans;
• Spearheading the management of institutional digitization framework for efficient service delivery, formulation and promotional programs and other special event activities to grow student numbers as per the institution’s Strategic Plan and quality assurance for product development, creating awareness and uptake in the targeted markets;
• Overseeing the motivation and retention of staff with the aim of enhancing service delivery within the directorate, execution and review of the approved divisional budgets, ensuring alignment to the institutions budget, setting of comprehensive annual performance goals in the division to meet the overall objectives of the institution;
• Spearheading continuous re-engineering of business processes within the division for process
• improvement, evaluating all periodic performance reports from all business units within the directorate for informed decision making, creating and fostering a sustainable success-oriented, accountable environment within the directorate for attainment of divisional and institutional objectives;
• Spearheading the formulation and review of Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and Memorandum of Understanding with strategic partners to ensure compliance, development and implementation of the division Business Continuity Plan in alignment to the institution’s Business Continuity Management Framework, implementation of the Enterprise Risk Management framework for governance and risk compliance within the directorate;
• Overseeing strategic planning, student’s loan budget and forecasting of business requirements, decision-making process, negotiations with the various stakeholders for additional student funding and translating strategy into actionable goals for performance and growth to ensure implementation of institution-wide goal setting, performance management and divisional action plan;
• Overseeing credit management of over 1,000,000 current and former students with loans totaling over Kes. 113 Billion since inception, disbursement of funds to over 342 in local and ing institutions of over 31 external partner funds, management of Self Protection Scheme with annual premium contributions of over 110 Million to mitigate against credit risk exposure; and
• Approving simulation, allocation and disbursement of loans, Scholarships and Bursaries, oversee the determination of number of eligible persons to be granted loans, scholarships, and bursaries annually and advising the Chief Executive Officer accordingly to ensure prudent management of the annual student loans budget, bursary, scholarship, and other partner funded programs of over 17 Billion, overseeing the development of the criteria and conditions governing the granting of loans, scholarships and bursaries, loan repayment and recovery function of over 69 Billion mature loans from past beneficiaries, facilitating partnership with financial institutions, development partners and other relevant stakeholders for the purpose of disbursement and recovery of mature loans to ensure business continuity;
• Spearheading development & implementation of succession planning policies for business continuity, inculcating the culture of mentoring and coaching across the directorate as a cornerstone to talent management, succession planning and business continuity, oversee the implementation of enterprise risk management framework within the Directorate and the preparation of Performance reports and emerging issue to ensure institutional and divisional targets
• are met; and
• Recommending loan waiver requests to the Board where applicable, participating in international duty through Association of African Higher Education Financing Agencies (AAHEFA) operations committee for benchmarking on best practices, coordinating preparation of Loan Disbursement and Recovery Committee Board papers in line with corporate governance practices, spearheading the implementation of the Credit Policy, HELB Act and any legislative and regulatory framework in managing the institution’s products.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Social Sciences or related field from a recognized institution
• Master’s Degree in Social Sciences or related field
• Leadership course lasting not less than four (4) weeks
• At least fifteen (15) years’ relevant work experience five (5) of which should be in a senior management level in a comparable institution.