Head, Risk Governance (Re-advertisement) at Equity Bank Kenya

The Head, Risk Governance is responsible for establishing and maintaining a comprehensive risk governance framework to ensure that all policies, procedures, and risk management frameworks across the bank are well-defined, regularly reviewed, and effectively implemented. This role ensures compliance with regulatory requirements and best governance practices, promoting a strong risk culture across Equity Bank Limited Kenya.

Key Responsibilities 

Policy and Framework Development

• Develop, implement, and maintain a comprehensive risk governance framework for the bank.
• Support business process re-engineering to ensure that processes are lean, efficient and effective through the elimination of non-value adding activities and identification of opportunities that support/drive the migration of transactions to economically viable alternative electronic delivery channels.
• Support other subsidiaries within the Group in matters processes, policies and procedures review.
• Establish and continuously review the bank’s policies, procedures, and guidelines to align with best practices and regulatory requirements.
• Ensure that risk governance policies cover all key risk areas, including financial, operational, credit, market, fraud, ESG, and strategic risks.

Policy Review and Improvement

• Lead the periodic review and enhancement of policies to reflect changes in business strategy, regulatory requirements, and risk environment.
• Work closely with business units, legal, compliance, and risk teams to ensure policies are well-embedded within the bank’s operations.
• Conduct gap analysis and benchmarking against global risk governance best practices.
• Provide risk governance insights to support decision-making at the executive level.

Regulatory Compliance and Liaison

• Ensure all policies and governance frameworks comply with CBK (Central Bank of Kenya) regulations, Basel III guidelines, and corporate governance codes.
• Act as the primary liaison with regulators, auditors, and external stakeholders on governance matters.
• Coordinate internal and external audits, ensuring timely implementation of audit recommendations.

Risk Culture and Training

• Foster a strong risk governance culture within the organization through training and awareness programs.
• Develop and implement capacity-building initiatives for staff on governance, compliance, and risk management.
• Ensure risk governance principles are embedded in the bank’s decision-making processes.

Enterprise-Wide Risk Management Support

• Work closely with the Heads of Non-Financial Risk to ensure governance frameworks support effective risk oversight.
• Ensure alignment of risk governance with the bank’s strategic objectives.
• Continuously assess governance processes to identify and mitigate emerging risks

Qualifications

Qualifications And Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in law, Business Administration, Finance, Risk Management, or a related field.
• A master’s degree in governance, Finance, Risk, or Business Administration is an added advantage.
• 8+ years of experience in risk management, governance, compliance, or policy development in the banking sector.
• Proven experience in developing and implementing governance policies and frameworks.
• Strong background in regulatory compliance and enterprise risk management.