Head of Retails Credit Risk at I&M Bank

JOB PURPOSE: 

The purpose of the job is to enhance the quality of the loan portfolio within the Retail Sector and Business Banking of the Bank, also known as Business, Personal and Premium (BPP). The role holder will serve as the Team Leader of Retail Credit Risk and support the PBB teams to enable Digital lending as well as other forms of lending. His/her role will involve being part of relevant Credit Committees and ensuring facilities approved are within the Banks’ lending policies and procedures. He /she will also be in charge of driving credit policies, credit scoring, credit analytics, coordinating Credit Risk Operations and end to end monitoring within the department as well as across the Group. He/she will help in establishment of professional credit structures, processes and credit culture for Retail Lending including implementation of various Collections strategies. Given the importance of Collections in the Retail Risk environment, local/ regional knowledge of practices will be desirable.

KEY JOB RESPONSIBILITIES/ACCOUNTABILITIES:

The Incumbent will report to the GM-Credit / AGM – Business, Personal and Premium Banking  and will be responsible for:

A.   Retail Credit Risk Analysis Leadership

• Leading relevant BPP Credit Committees as required and ensuring facilities are approved within the Bank’s lending policies and procedures;
• Identifying where there are breaches of policy and putting in place controls and mitigation strategies.
• Driving portfolio growth through scaling up portfolio including digital lending within the risk parameters; strong understanding of the end to end retail process in essential for the Group.
• Developing and implementing Personal Business Banking lending analytics, credit policies, scoring and end to end monitoring including Collections.
• Focussing on the development and review of internal credit scoring for retail lending including the digital lending platform on an ongoing basis with strong credit analytics.
• Focussing on driving various growth strategies of BPP with a balanced risk approach, to ensure loss rates are within approved levels.
• Ensuring strategic alliance with collection agencies and effective monitoring of their performance.
• Assisting and managing any third party alliances for loan origination including their commercial terms, business case, credit scoring models and Service Level Agreements (SLAs), etc.
• Executive oversight of offer letters to ensure that the conditions of sanctions have been captured correctly and offer letters are free of errors.
• Ensuring Turn-Around-Times (TATs) as per agreed Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for assessment of Credit Applications referred to Retail Credit Risk.
• Monitoring Legal and Regulatory developments that impact Risk and lending processes to ensure that Retail Credit compliance is within local legal and regulatory requirements at all times.
• Monitoring local and national economic indicators as they affect lending processes. 
• Reviewing of procedures and PBB credit policy in line with current needs, changing market and review of credit products
• Developing a small team of Retail Credit analysts who will provide sustainable support to the Head of Credit

B.   Ensuring compliance with Bank Loan policies

• Ensuring credit analysts reviews requests are in compliance with laid out policies and reporting trends and issues requiring corrective actions
• Developing and providing automated Retail Credit solutions wherever possible to minimise operational losses.
• Ensuring implementation of effective controls over Retail Credit Model implementation and evaluating the efficacies of the scores generating by the Bank’s Scorecard Development team.
• Ensuring policy breaches/ exemptions are properly authorized at the correct level.
• Proactively improving the Bank’s retail credit portfolio through continuous improvement.
• Ensuring that BPP and Retail Credit operates within Risk Appetite at all times and any exceptions are appropriately authorised.

C.    Budgeting

• Preparing departments budget at the beginning of the year (derived from the overall Bank budget).
• Ensuring departmental costs are maintained at approved level in the year by containing operational costs.

QUALIFICATIONS AND COMPETENCIES REQUIREMENTS:

 Academic & Professional Qualifications

• A Bachelor’s degree preferably in Business, Finance or Accounting.
•  Professional Banking or Accountancy qualifications will be an added advantage

 Experience

• At least 10 years of Banking experience of which the last 5 years must be within a Retail Credit Risk environment.
• Experience in third party alliances and partnerships on Digital lending.
• High data rationality, detail consciousness with high analytical and numerical skills.
• Ability to interpret financial and legal documents.
• Good computer skills.

    Essential Knowledge

• Credit assessment, Management and Monitoring skills within the Retail Segment across individual and business entities segments.
• Thorough understanding of the Small and Medium Enterprises and Personal Lending dynamics associated with the lending to the PBB / Retail segment.
• Have a thorough understanding of the formulation and evaluation of Retail Credit Models. including Credit Scoring.
• Experience of local credit rating agencies would be desirable.
• Financial analytical skills and understanding of key aspects of Retail Credit Policy
• Communication & report writing skills.
• Well versed on CBK’s prudential guidelines pertaining to lending.
• Knowledge of the Bank’s operating procedures and approval process.
• General appreciation and awareness of the current business trends and practices.
• Good understanding of other markets and lending environment within the East African market

 Key Critical Competencies

• High level of people management and negotiation skills to be able to deal with different stakeholders.
• Excellent knowledge of general banking procedures and policies as well as regulations.
• Able to adjust quickly to different work situations; remain composed under pressure and stressful situations.
• Must be able to understand financial data and scoring methodologies applicable to Retail Credit.
• Attention to detail to ensure accuracy in the development of Retail Credit models; detect errors; follow through on corrections and mitigate risks as soon as they are identified.