Principal Officer – Business Integrity and Compliance at Safaricom Kenya

Job Description

• Reporting to the Senior Manager – Business Integrity and Compliance, the Principal Officer – Business Integrity and Compliance will proactively execute the Safaricom Compliance Programmes, coordinate the execution of Compliance framework by the business functions and carrying out assurance activities to ensure compliance with the laws, regulations, Business Code of Conduct, business policies and standards using a risk based approach.  

Responsibilities

Health and Safety

• Uphold the company code of conduct, policies and procedures, ensuring integrity and accountability in every aspect of your work.
• All employees have a responsibility to adhere to safety, health, and wellbeing policies, guidelines and procedures in all actions and decisions.

Implementation and management of companywide Business Integrity and compliance program 

• Anchor the compliance program (policies, guidelines, standards, protocols, infrastructure, tools, etc.) and provide support to business in implementing the same.
• Be the face of compliance, by ensuring that queries, clarifications and ethical dilemmas of the business are duly addressed.
• Promote initiatives for driving and embedding the compliance program, including roll-out of the new policies, providing inputs for enabling compliance by addressing the challenges faced by the business, etc.
• Conduct Compliance Risk Assessment to identify and prioritize compliance risks for the business area that need to be managed.
• Carry out monitoring and assurance activities on compliance programs on a regular basis.
• Coordinate the Compliance Champions to ensure controls and compliance culture is inculcated throughout the organization.

Internal Controls Framework Oversight

• Drive the implementation and management of the control framework promoting strong self-assessment culture and ownership of risks and controls by first line. 
• Promote and embed risk management and control culture within business units.
• Delivery and management of the Control Framework activities, primarily Critical Process Assessment and Risk and Controls Self-Assessment, including reporting and tracking of progress.
• Support the identification of new and emerging risks through proactive process reviews.
• Provide support in identifying and resolving control issues and themes including managing the resolution of audit and other control issues.
• Drive synergies in the control framework mechanisms and identify opportunities to improve the control environment including new products and processes.
• Working with Enterprise Risk and Resilience and Internal Audit to ensure proper operational risk management.
• Ensure effective reporting of any noted issues, risks, and business impact of controls deficiencies and track remediation to completion.

Execution of Safaricom code of conduct 

• Implement and enforce the Code of Conduct within the organization. This involves training and education, monitoring and reporting mechanisms, and consistent enforcement and consequences for violations.
• Training and awareness of staff on the following areas:
  • Establishing a solid foundation of ethical principles.
  • Addressing specific ethical difficulties
  • Exercising ethical decision-making
  • Fostering diversity and inclusion
  • Providing ongoing training
  • Emphasizing compliance with laws and regulations
  • Safeguarding the company’s reputation and guaranteeing safety.
• Support investigations by assisting with monitoring timelines and ensuring adherence to the investigation protocol as per the Safaricom Code of Conduct and Breach Management Standards.

Governance

• Provide strategic oversight and leadership in the tracking, monitoring, and closure of control issues and audit findings arising from Combined Assurance Reviews across the business.
• Ownership of the policy governance architecture, lifecycle and compliance reporting. 
• Drive accountability and timely resolution of all risk and control-related actions, ensuring alignment with regulatory expectations and internal governance standards.
• Lead root cause analysis initiatives, ensuring lessons learned are embedded into business processes and control frameworks to prevent recurrence.
• Drive the Control Environment review and reporting processes for Safaricom, ensuring consistency, accuracy, and timely delivery.
• Champion integration and synergy across control mechanisms, identifying opportunities to streamline processes and enhance the overall control environment.

Core competencies, knowledge and experience:

Business Competencies:

• Good networking skills, both with internal and external stakeholders.
• Good communication skills and the ability to prevail upon.
• A self-starter and self-driven in understanding the needs of the business and the expectations of the compliance role.
• Ability to gather insights and translating them into education material.
• Eye for detail and good analytical mind for interpreting facts and circumstances.
• Sensitivity towards confidentiality, right to privacy and discreteness in communication.
• Intuitive skills with understanding of the human psyche in conducting investigations.
• High calibre inter-personal and intra-personal skills.

Risk Management

• Directly manage and develop a high performing team of Cluster Control Champions and partners, providing direction, support and coaching as required.
• Champion governance, risk and control best practice, developing an appropriate risk culture across the business.
• Promote a culture of sound conduct and service excellence in all dealings with internal clients (and external parties as appropriate).

Innovation

• Create psychological safety so everyone can have an impact.
• Fuel innovative ideas from others and test them to enable growth.
• Explore successes and failures with curiosity and resilience; fearlessly recognizing lessons learned.
• Share your ongoing learning and personal purpose with others.
• Learn fast from digital adoption, using learnings to drive simplicity, scale and efficiency.

Collaboration

• Articulate your team’s role in making our strategy happen, prioritizing and aligning resources with current and future needs.
• Actively collaborate to break silos and hold your team accountable to do the same.
• Develop others to make the most of their talents and coach them to take ownership to get things done.
• Create an inclusive environment ensuring the safety and wellbeing of others.
• Live our Purpose and demonstrate the highest Standard of integrity.

Qualifications

• A Graduate with a Degree in Business, Law, Accounting, Engineering or IT.
• Professional certification in Risk management and Information systems e.g. CISA or CPA (K) or equivalent.
• Audit background is preferable.
• At least 8 years (most should be in management positions) proven experience in risk analysis in a telecommunications environment.
• Good knowledge of ISO37001.
• Ability to analyze significant amounts of data and information and distill it to the key points in analyzing risks in a given situation.
• Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills to work with various internal/external stakeholders. 
• Strong background in auditing, accounting or the legal field.
• Detailed knowledge of GSM, Financial Services and Fintech environments business models and processes.