Job Openings at Safaricom Kenya

What we’re looking for;

• In keeping with our current business needs, we are looking for a person who meets the criteria indicated below

Reporting to the Chief Enterprise Business Officer , the role purpose is as highlighted below;

• The ICT Sales Lead is strategically accountable for driving end-to-end commercial execution, revenue growth, and market leadership across ICT solutions within the Enterprise Business Unit (EBU). The role leads the development and execution of a high-performance ICT sales strategy across Large Enterprise, SME, and Public Sector segments, ensuring delivery of integrated, customer-centric solutions spanning connectivity, cloud, cybersecurity, managed services, IoT, digital platforms, and enterprise applications.
• The role translates the Enterprise strategy into disciplined go-to-market execution, structured account management, and solution-led selling, ensuring strong alignment between customer needs and the organization’s converged ICT offerings. The Lead owns the full ICT sales lifecycle—including pipeline generation, deal conversion, contract closure, and revenue realization—while ensuring profitability, pricing discipline, and margin protection.
• Operating as the single point of accountability for ICT sales performance, the Lead ensures sustained pipeline health, bid excellence, and execution rigor across all segments. The role champions consultative and solution-based selling, driving cross-sell and upsell of ICT solutions by orchestrating internal teams across product, technology, solution architecture, and delivery functions.
• The role works in close partnership with Converged Business Solutions, Systems Integration & Enterprise Platforms, Enterprise Operations, Commercial Excellence, Financial Services, Technology (TES), and external partners to ensure seamless Lead → Order → Delivery → Care execution, safeguarding both revenue realization and superior customer experience.
• A strong emphasis is placed on industry verticalization, ensuring that ICT offerings are tailored to sectors such as Government, BFSI, Healthcare, Manufacturing, and Transport, enabling the organization to deliver differentiated, value-driven solutions. The Lead also drives capability development within the sales organization, building strong commercial acumen, solution-selling capabilities, and execution discipline.
• Ultimately, the role ensures that ICT solutions become a key driver of enterprise transformation, delivering scalable, secure, and future-ready technologies that enable customers to achieve operational efficiency, innovation, and growth.

Thus, the Lead is strategically accountable for:

• ICT Revenue Performance & Growth Execution: Drive delivery of annual and multi-year ICT revenue, bookings, and margin targets across all enterprise segments through disciplined pipeline management, conversion optimization, and profitability control.
• Unified ICT Go-To-Market Execution: Lead centralized ICT sales execution, embedding structured account management, vertical-specific playbooks, and data-driven targeting to drive scalable growth.
• Converged ICT Solution Selling: Champion integrated solution selling across cloud, connectivity, cybersecurity, IoT, managed services, and digital platforms to maximize cross-sell and customer value.
• Strategic Account & Executive Relationship Management: Provide strategic leadership for ICT sales by driving solution-led growth, shaping complex opportunities, overseeing commercial execution, and enabling effective collaboration across Account Management and cross-functional teams to deliver revenue growth and customer business outcomes.
• Public Sector & Large Deal Ownership: Lead complex ICT bids and proposals, ensuring strong governance, competitive positioning, and successful deal conversion in Public Sector and large enterprise accounts.
• Vertical Industry Penetration: Drive sector-specific growth strategies by aligning ICT solutions with unique industry needs, supported by specialized sales capabilities and tailored offerings.
• Sales Governance & Commercial Discipline: Embed strong forecasting, deal governance, pricing discipline, and margin protection mechanisms in collaboration with Commercial Excellence.
• Pipeline Development & Conversion Excellence: Ensure sustainable pipeline growth, improved win rates, and reduced sales cycle times through structured sales processes and performance management.
• Cross-Functional Orchestration: Coordinate effectively with product, technology, solution architecture, and operations teams to deliver end-to-end solutions and seamless execution.
• Capability Development & Sales Excellence: Build a high-performing ICT sales organization through coaching, training, and strengthening solution-selling and commercial competencies.
• Innovation & Market Leadership: Continuously evolve ICT propositions by leveraging market insights, emerging technologies, and partner ecosystems to maintain competitive advantage.
• Anchored in Safaricom’s purpose of Transforming Lives, the role ensures that ICT and digital solutions are widely adopted, commercially scalable, and deeply integrated into the operations of enterprises, SMEs, and public sector institutions. It drives digital transformation by enabling organizations to leverage connectivity, cloud, cybersecurity, IoT, and data-driven platforms to improve efficiency, unlock new revenue streams, and enhance customer experiences, while fostering inclusive growth, innovation, and sustainable expansion of the digital ecosystem.

Responsibilities

Key accountabilities and decision ownership:

• Revenue Strategy, Growth & Commercial Performance
• Own full P&L accountability for ICT revenue, bookings, margin, and long-term value creation across Enterprise, SME, and Public Sector.
• Drive forecast accuracy, pipeline coverage, and conversion efficiency to ensure predictable and sustainable performance.
• Enforce pricing discipline, deal quality, and margin optimization across all commercial activities.
• Make critical decisions on revenue trade-offs, investment priorities, and strategic deal participation.
• Go-To-Market Strategy & Execution Excellence
• Design and continuously evolve a unified, data-driven ICT go-to-market model across segments and regions.
• Own prioritization of target markets, accounts, and opportunities based on analytics and business impact.
• Ensure alignment between sales, product, and customer requirements to maximize commercial success.
• Decide on GTM investments, coverage models, and strategic sales motions.

Solution Portfolio Leadership & Integrated Selling

• Lead the shift from product-led to solution-led selling across connectivity, cloud, cybersecurity, IoT, and managed services.
• Define portfolio positioning, bundling strategies, and value propositions that drive customer transformation and ROI.
• Sponsor consultative selling methodologies and ensure adoption across the sales organization.
• Own decisions on solution prioritization, packaging, and cross-sell/upsell strategies.

Strategic Accounts & Executive Engagement

• Provide strategic leadership for ICT sales engagement across key enterprise customers, ensuring alignment of solutions with customer business priorities and digital transformation objectives. 
• Direct the development and execution of ICT sales strategies in collaboration with Account Management teams to drive revenue growth, solution penetration, and market share expansion. 
• Champion the organization's ICT value proposition by guiding customer-facing teams on industry trends, emerging technologies, and business outcomes that strengthen the company's position as a trusted technology partner. 
• Oversee ICT sales resource allocation, opportunity prioritization, deal shaping, and executive escalations to maximize conversion of strategic and high-value opportunities. 
• Establish governance and performance frameworks that enable effective collaboration between ICT Sales, Account Management, and cross-functional teams in pursuing complex enterprise opportunities.

Large Deal Governance & Complex Bid Leadership

• Lead governance and execution of large, complex, and strategic ICT deals (including public sector tenders).
• Own bid/no-bid decisions, competitive positioning, and commercial structuring of high-value opportunities.
• Oversee contract negotiations, risk management, and compliance with regulatory requirements.
• Ensure high win rates through strong cross-functional orchestration and executive sponsorship.

Industry Vertical Growth & Market Leadership

• Define and drive sector-specific strategies (e.g., BFSI, Government, Healthcare) to deepen market penetration.
• Align ICT solutions with industry needs and emerging trends to capture new revenue streams.
• Build differentiated positioning and thought leadership within priority sectors.
• Decide on vertical investment focus, specialization models, and partnership strategies.

Sales Governance, Pipeline Integrity & Operational Discipline

• Establish robust governance frameworks covering pipeline management, deal qualification, and performance tracking.
• Ensure transparency, accountability, and consistency across all sales operations.
• Drive CRM adoption, data integrity, and performance insights for decision-making.
• Own policies on deal approvals, commercial controls, and sales effectiveness improvements.

Cross-Functional & Ecosystem Leadership

• Lead orchestration across product, technology, delivery, and partner ecosystems to deliver integrated solutions.
• Build and leverage strategic partnerships to accelerate growth and innovation.
• Remove execution bottlenecks and ensure seamless alignment from sales through service delivery.
• Own decisions on partner strategy, ecosystem roles, and collaboration models.

Sales Capability, Culture & Organizational Leadership

• Build and lead a high-performing, future-ready ICT sales organization.
• Embed a performance-driven culture anchored on OKRs, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Champion capability development in solution selling, industry expertise, and emerging technologies.
• Lead organizational transformation, change management, and leadership development across teams.

Innovation, Technology Adoption & Strategic Differentiation

• Drive innovation in ICT offerings, business models, and customer solutions leveraging AI, cloud, IoT, and emerging technologies.
• Position the organization as a leader in digital transformation and enterprise ICT.
• Monitor market trends and competitor activity to inform strategic pivots.
• Own decisions on innovation investments, new solution development, and strategic differentiation.

Qualifications

• Must have technical / professional qualifications:
• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Commerce, Economics, Engineering, ICT, Telecommunications, or a related field from a recognized institution
• Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA), Strategic Management, Finance, Technology Management, or a related discipline
• Minimum of 12–15 years’ progressive experience in enterprise/B2B ICT sales, telecommunications, cloud services, cybersecurity, or digital solutions, with at least 5–7 years in a senior leadership role managing large enterprise and channel sales teams
• Demonstrated track record of consistently delivering large-scale revenue growth, market share expansion, and margin targets within complex and highly competitive ICT markets
• Proven experience in solution and consultative selling across connectivity, cloud computing, cybersecurity, IoT, managed services, data centres, and digital platforms
• Strong commercial acumen with hands-on experience in complex deal structuring, bid and tender management (including public sector), pricing strategy, contract negotiations, and full P&L accountability
• Experience operating in highly matrixed organizations with cross-functional collaboration across Technology, Product Development, Finance, Legal, Risk, Operations, and Regulatory functions
• Demonstrated experience engaging and influencing C-suite executives, Boards, and government stakeholders, with the ability to manage long sales cycles and strategic enterprise accounts
• Strong understanding of the ICT ecosystem, including digital transformation trends, cloud adoption, AI-driven solutions, platform-based business models, and enterprise technology architectures
• Professional certifications in sales leadership, key account management, project/program management, or cloud and ICT technologies (e.g., PMP, ITIL, AWS/Azure, Cisco, TOGAF, or equivalent) will be an added advantage
• Member in good standing of a recognized professional body relevant to sales, marketing, ICT, or commercial leadership
• Demonstrated ability to embed governance, compliance, and risk management frameworks in enterprise sales operations, including regulatory and data protection requirements
• Strong analytical and strategic capability with proficiency in CRM platforms, sales pipeline management, forecasting tools, and performance analytics dashboards
• Proven leadership experience managing large, diverse, and geographically dispersed sales teams, with strong focus on talent development, coaching, succession planning, and building high-performance cultures
• Demonstrated commitment to integrity, accountability, and ethical business practices in alignment with corporate governance standards and regulatory frameworks

go to method of application »

The role holder will:

• Define the strategy and long term vision for next generation fintech solutions in line with Financial Services objectives
• Own end to end portfolio performance across digital savings, investments, and emerging fintech propositions
• Drive continuous product innovation and digital enablement through platform led and agile delivery models
• Champion customer centric experiences through personalization, analytics, and seamless digital journeys
• Leverage data and insights to optimize adoption, engagement, pricing, and customer lifetime value
• Ensure robust risk management, regulatory compliance, and governance across all fintech solutions
• Enable effective cross functional and ecosystem collaboration to deliver integrated outcomes
• Lead people and capability development to build high performing, future ready teams
• Anchored in Safaricom’s purpose of Transforming Lives, the role ensures next generation fintech solutions deliver inclusive growth, superior customer experiences, and sustainable long term value for customers and the broader ecosystem.

Responsibilities

• Key accountabilities and decision ownership:

Strategy & Vision Leadership

• Define the end-to-end strategy and long-term vision for next-generation fintech solutions and insurance, aligned to Financial Services objectives.
• Translate enterprise strategy into clear, executable roadmaps — identifying new growth opportunities across digital savings, insurance, investments, and emerging fintech.
• Prioritise investments based on value, risk, and scalability, driving market leadership through differentiated propositions.
• Fintech Portfolio Management
• Own end-to-end performance of the fintech portfolio — wealth (digital savings, investments, and digital assets), insurance  — including P&L, pricing, and value proposition design.
• Drive sustainable profitability and portfolio growth while monitoring adoption, usage, and customer lifetime value (CLV).
• Optimise product mix and bundling, taking corrective action on underperforming products decisively.

Product Innovation & Digital Enablement

• Lead development of next-generation, wealth, insurance and digital solutions; incubate new fintech models and platform-led propositions.
• Leverage emerging technologies to enhance customer experiences and drive rapid innovation through agile product development.
• Transition successful pilots into scalable, production-grade offerings within defined time-to-market targets.

Digital Products & Platforms Leadership

• Own the digital product roadmap and platform architecture, ensuring scalable, API-led capabilities underpin the fintech portfolio.
• Partner with Fintech Platforms Product & Innovation Lead to deliver reusable infrastructure that accelerates speed-to-market
• Embed UX excellence and reliability standards across all digital touchpoints.

Risk, Compliance & Governance

• Own the governance framework for all fintech innovations — ensuring regulatory compliance, risk controls, and audit readiness are embedded by design, not afterthought.
• Partner with the Risk, Compliance & Governance Lead to define risk appetite thresholds and manage operational, financial, and conduct risks.
• Engage proactively with regulators, balancing innovation speed with control and resilience.

Customer-Centricity & Data

• Champion customer-first design across all products; embed personalisation, segmentation, and contextual engagement.
• Leverage advanced analytics to drive decision-making — using data to optimise product performance, refine targeting, and enable predictive insights for growth.
• Partner with Data teams to scale analytical capabilities and improve customer lifetime value.

Ecosystem Partnerships

• Lead and manage the Ecosystem Partnerships function, building and governing strategic relationships with fintechs, platforms, and third-party providers.
• Enable integrated delivery across tribes and squads; resolve cross-functional dependencies.

People Leadership & Capability Development

• Lead and inspire high performing, multidisciplinary teams
• Build deep expertise in fintech, wealth, insurance and digital finance
• Develop future leaders through coaching and succession planning
• Foster a culture of innovation, agility, and ownership
• Drive performance management and accountability
• Support continuous learning and capability uplift

Agile Leadership & Delivery Governance

• Lead empowered cross-functional squads aligned to shared OKRs, with clearly defined decision rights, accountability structures, and escalation protocols.
• Champion iterative delivery and hypothesis-driven experimentation, balancing execution speed with regulatory, risk, and operational guardrails.
• Enable transparent progress tracking through sprint reviews and performance rituals, fostering a culture of ownership and outcome-based performance.

Key performance indicators:

Financial & Commercial

• Next Gen Fintech revenue growth: achieve >20% YoY growth
• Assets Under Management (AUM): grow by 15% YOY

Customer & Product

• Customer adoption and activation rate: achieve 30% monthly activation rate for digital savings and investment products, tracked by segment.
• Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): deliver 10% uplift in CLV for active next-gen fintech customers year-on-year.
• Product penetration rate: achieve 30% penetration of key next-gen fintech products within target segments.

Delivery & Operations

• Time-to-market: deliver new propositions from approved concept to MVP within 90 days; full production within 180 days.
• Digital engagement: achieve 20% monthly active usage across next-gen fintech products.

Governance & Compliance

• Zero critical regulatory or audit findings across the fintech portfolio in any review period
• Portfolio performance and risk governance: all material risks escalated and resolved within defined SLA.

Qualifications

• Must have technical / professional qualifications:
• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Economics, Business Administration, Technology, or a closely related discipline from a recognized institution.
• Postgraduate qualification such as an MBA or Master’s degree in Finance, Strategy, Innovation, or Digital Transformation is strongly preferred.
• 12+ years of progressive experience in financial services, fintech, digital banking or investment products, with exposure to large scale portfolios.
• Demonstrated senior leadership experience managing multidisciplinary teams and leading managers within complex, fast paced environments.
• Proven track record of designing, launching, and scaling digital and platform led financial solutions, ideally within ecosystem or partnership driven models.
• Solid understanding of fintech innovation, emerging technologies, and digital platforms, with the ability to translate innovation into commercial value.
• Sound knowledge of regulatory, compliance, risk, and governance frameworks applicable to fintech solutions within regulated environments
• Strong commercial and financial acumen, with experience driving growth, profitability, pricing optimization, and customer lifetime value.
• Advanced analytical and strategic thinking capabilities, with the ability to leverage data, insights, and customer analytics to inform decision making and execution