Operations Officer at Oikocredit

About the job

• You will be mainly handling the lending administration, using technology as we are gradually moving from manual work to (semi) automated processes. Your will deal with the exceptions, monitor the robots and continue building the automation journey.
• In order to achieve the coordination of the full approval and pre-disbursement processes, as an Operations Officer you will have knowledge of the various relevant cross unit processes.
• You will follow the overarching business process and escalate issues to the Senior Operations Officer as required.

Main Responsibilities

• To support the credit and equity approval process, the Operations Officer schedules and organizes the Credit Committee and Equity Investment Committee meetings, coordinates the approvals required to allow the investment to go ahead, develops the contract sheet in line with business unit requirements and transposing all relevant data into Efront, cross-checks the data with other relevant systems such as WebEPT and Efront, coordinates the pre-disbursement process with input from other relevant departments and coordinates payment with Financial Accounting.
• Typical administrative activities include ensuring system updates, running and distributing standard reports, coordination of invoices, statements and other letters to external parties as well as executing approved requests for changes in access permissions for various systems.
• The Operations team produces and distributes partner invoices and legal demand letters as per the agreed payment schedule and passes cases to the Special Collections Unit where required for further follow up.
• Additionally he/she performs operational and administrative tasks on behalf of Integrated Investments Analysis to support the wind down portfolio.
• For Capacity Building (CB) projects the Operations Officer ensures the relevant CB database is updated in liaison with SPI, the regional CBSP office and Financial Accounting.
• The Operations Officer is also responsible for executing the Oikocredit procurement procedures to centralize contract and purchase order administration. He/she interfaces with Financial Accounting to coordinate the approval of invoices for payments and store related documentation (e.g. proof of delivery) through a centralized archiving system.
• The Operations Officer also coordinates the update of the Chasqui newsletter by requesting input from the investments community and publishing updates on the relevant system.

Qualifications

• Vocational degree.
• More than 4 years’ experience in an administrative or operational environment, preferably with lending administration.
• Sufficiently IT literate to make effective use of the applications and systems required, knowledge of Excel is a must.
• Good understanding of (financial) business processes.
• Experience with workflow automation is an advantage.
• A continuous improvement mindset, experience with continuous improvement methodologies or initiatives is desirable.
• Conscientious personality, eye for detail.
• Fluency in English.