Head of Mortgages- EBKL at Equity Bank Kenya

This role is responsible for driving the strategic direction and operational execution of the Bank’s mortgage and commercial property credit products. This leadership role, through collaboration with our retail and business banking segments, is pivotal in maximizing profitability, expanding market share, and ensuring our products consistently meet the evolving needs of our customers.

Key Responsibilities 

Strategic Product Planning & Growth

• Design and execute comprehensive long-term, medium-term, and short-term product strategies for mortgages and commercial property credit products, ensuring alignment with the overarching retail and business banking objectives to drive sustained growth and profitability.
• Conduct market and product forecasting to identify emerging trends, pinpoint growth opportunities, and proactively adapt our offerings.
• Cascade compelling value propositions and strategies across all Retail and Business Banking teams, fostering a unified approach to market engagement.
• Monitor market dynamics, competitor activity, and customer feedback to identify opportunities for product enhancement, sales optimization, service improvement, operational efficiency, and overall volume and value growth.
• Collaborate with segments and the branch network to understand regional market nuances, identify key business drivers, and develop locally relevant solutions that address specific customer needs and competitive pressures.
• Identify and address competitive threats, collaborating with internal stakeholders to develop and implement effective counter-strategies.

Product Lifecycle Management

• Oversee the entire mortgage and commercial property credit products value chain, from ideation to post-launch performance, to maximize revenue and profitability in line with business objectives.
• Lead the end-of-the-end governance process for product introductions, including developing robust business cases, conducting competitor analyses, managing product approvals. This includes driving stakeholder engagement, developing comprehensive staff training programs, and crafting effective go-to-market strategies.
• Provide strategic support for all product campaigns, ensuring effective promotion of both new launches and existing offerings.
• Monitor and manage product performance against targets, utilizing key metrics and activity measures to identify areas for improvement and ensure optimal portfolio health.
• Assess product team productivity and effectiveness through daily portfolio trackers, weekly profitability analyses, and monthly watch-list assessments.
• Facilitate recurring performance reviews with key stakeholders, including Credit, Operations, Pricing, Capital Management, and Segment Heads, to ensure collaborative management of the mortgage portfolio.
• Prepare impactful product performance management reports to senior leadership on a regular basis.
• Serve as the primary representative for retail and business banking on all product-related matters in various internal and external forums.
• Forge strategic alliances and partnerships to enhance the organization's capacity for innovation, incubation, and market penetration of cutting-edge products and solutions.

Financial & Risk Stewardship

• Maintain stringent control over the mortgage products area's budget, ensuring efficient allocation and utilization of resources.
• Establish robust operating expenditure budget control measures, ensuring systematic accounting of all revenue and expenditure for the team.
• Ensure all product operations adhere strictly to regulatory and compliance frameworks, maintaining defined tolerance levels.
• Ensure effective administration of all operational aspects of the mortgage product portfolio.

Stakeholder Engagement & Influence

• Cultivate a strong presence across all business units to establish and nurture key relationship platforms, enabling the product team to effectively roll out financial solutions that attract new business and expand market share.
• Forge powerful relationships with internal and external stakeholders to foster synergy and teamwork, ultimately optimizing revenue growth and profitability.
• Build credibility across all relevant retail and business banking functions, ensuring seamless coordination and integration of all product development and management activities.

People Leadership & Development

• Manage a high-performing team, fostering a culture of excellence and continuous improvement.
• Strategically lead the recruitment, development, and retention of top talent, ensuring the team possesses the necessary skills and competencies to meet current and future business needs.
• Build organizational capabilities by anticipating future requirements and providing best-in
• Coach and mentor team members, fostering their professional growth.
• Effectively delegate authority and responsibility to empower, motivate, and enhance the effectiveness of all direct and indirect reports.
• Champion the Bank's core values, ensuring they are consistently lived within the team.
• Oversee the successful implementation of the leadership promise and employee engagement programs.
• Facilitate open communication, resolve team issues, escalate concerns when necessary, and provide ongoing feedback.
• Manage individual and team performance and development, including regular one-on-one sessions, comprehensive performance appraisals, and appropriate recognition for achievements.

Qualifications

Qualifications, Experience

• Bachelor's Degree in business-related areas preferably in Real Estate, Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, Economics etc.
• Postgraduate qualification, preferably in business-related discipline, is an added advantage.
• Professional qualifications in Credit/Financial Analysis Certifications i.e., Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) or its equivalent e.g., ACCA, ACA as well as Real Estate or Lending Compliance are key to this role.
• Minimum relevant 12 years’ work experience in the lending/banking sector, 5 of which must be in senior management or supervisory role within mortgage underwriting, credit origination or credit risk management.
• Practical knowledge of property valuation and regulatory requirements.
• Experience in credit monitoring, administration or credit risk management at a senior level.
• Demonstrate a thorough understanding lending strategy, credit risk, policies, and processes.