Job Opportunities at Higher Education Loans Board (HELB)

 HELB GRADE 2

Job Purpose:

Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Finance Officer (CFO) is responsible for providing leadership in prudent financial management, planning and development of financial and operational strategy, regulatory and financial reporting of a balance sheet of over Kshs.93 Billion, formulation of an annual budget of over Kshs.19 Billion and efficiently managing Treasury Operations to generate annual income of over Kshs.90 Million from short-term placement by developing risk, internal control policies & procedures to preserve the institution’s assets, while ensuring alignment to the core mandate.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Overseeing the development and implementation of sound financial and accounting policies in compliance to the Constitution, Public Finance Management (PFM) Act 2012 and other relevant legal frameworks to enhance accountability and transparency, preparation of estimates of expenditure and revenues of the institution in conformity with the Strategic Plan and The National Treasury guidelines, formulation of the institutional annual budget of over Kshs.19 Billion to enhance planning and control of the institution’s finances appropriate financing of the institution’s operations;
• Overseeing the reporting of financial operations of the institution, devolved units and diaspora operations in accordance with the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act 2012, International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) to ensure compliance, facilitating collaborations and partnerships with financial institutions for management of Institution’s funds and sponsorship of events that lead to cost management;
• Overseeing the valuation of the Institution’s assets worth over Kshs.1billion to ensure that they are fairly valued, development of appropriate key performance indicators to monitor and drive the financial performance of the Institution, providing leadership and professional advice on all Financial Strategic Planning issues and supporting strategic initiatives to ensure that adequate resources are assigned for execution of the institution’s strategy;
• Overseeing the formulation and implementation of financial performance measures that support the Institution's strategic direction to enhance performance, formulation of policy guidelines including risk analysis for short-term placements that generate returns of over Kshs.90 Million to achieve optimal returns, driving cashflow forecasting to ensure tracking of the expected cash movements over a period of time in the future and to ensure adequacy of financial resources;
• Overseeing the maintenance and strengthening of internal controls to prevent and detect fraud and corruption, development of the directorate’s Quality Management Systems (QMS) to streamline internal processes and ensure consistency in the day-to-day operational activities and providing leadership in the management of the institution’s assets worth over Kshs.93 Billion to ensure achievement of value for money in acquiring, utilization and disposal of the assets, improve
• cost efficiency and formulation of interdepartmental Service Level Agreements (SLA’s) to enhance service delivery;
• Overseeing the formulation and implementation of Directorate work plan to ensure efficient and effective execution of Institutional strategy, spearheading the implementation of the Enterprise Risk Management framework for governance and risk compliance within the Directorate and participating in Association of African Higher Education Financing Agency (AAHEFA) finance committee for bench marking on best practices;
• Driving key roles in various committees in the Institution to realize corporate objectives, overseeing the development of financial statements with a balance sheet of over Kshs.93 Billion that comply with requirements of The National Treasury and International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS), ensure the information communicated to the public fairly portrays the position of the institution and translating strategy into actionable goals for performance and growth ensure implementation of Institution-wide goal setting, performance management and directorates’ action plan;
• Overseeing implementation of accounting and operational standards to ensure adherence to best practices and relevant laws and regulations, driving development of accounting systems which ensure that all financial and accounting records are adequately protected, backed up thus enhancing the integrity of the institutions financial information and directing the implementation of annual business plans to ensure that they are in line with the Institution’s strategic plan;
• Spearheading the generation of short-term placement proposals to optimize returns and balance sheet growth, coaching and mentoring strategies to unlock staff potential to boost productivity, overseeing all expenditure incurred by the entity to ensure compliance with the Public Finance Management PFM Act 2012 and overseeing the development and implementation of financial and tax management strategies to ensure tax efficiency and
• Overseeing the directorate people management to ensure succession planning, monitor performance and build working teams and participating in key decisions as a member of the senior management team on financial matters.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Business related field such as Commerce, Accounting and Finance or its equivalent from a recognized institution;
• Master’s Degree in a business-related field such as Commerce, Accounting, Finance and equivalent qualification from a recognized institution;
• Certified Public Accountant of Kenya (CPAK)or Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) or Certified Financial Analyst (CFA);
• Member of Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) or any other relevant professional body and in good standing;
• Management Development Program lasting not less than (4) weeks from a recognized institution.
• At least fifteen (15) years’ relevant work experience five (5) of which should be in a senior management level in a comparable institution.

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HELB GRADE 2

Job Purpose:

Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operations Officer (COO) is responsible for spearheading the formulation of sound policies, strategies and systems that will drive the vision of the institution, ensure effective and efficient execution of Credit Management function with a loan book in excess of Kshs.93 Billion and customer base in excess of 1,000,000, timely and equitable annual processing and disbursement of loans, bursaries and scholarships to over 394,000 students in 342 local and foreign higher learning institutions with an annual budget of over Kshs.17 Billion and 31 partner funds worth over Kshs.1.4 Billion. Overseeing timely repayment of all matured loans worth Kshs. 69 Billion from over 560,000 past beneficiaries to create a sustainable revolving fund, provision of accurate data for processing of all products applications and management of all institutional documents for ease of storage, retrieval and utilization to support the HELB’s operations and overseeing optimization of digital service delivery to improve customer satisfaction index and aligning the Directorate to the institution’s
enterprise risk management framework.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Overseeing the setting and driving institution’s vision and operational strategy, spearheading the monitoring of all credit management, Enterprise Electronic Data & Documents Management, business development and institutional relationship management functions to ensure conformity to institutions objectives and the formulation of Institution’s strategic direction to support the strategic initiatives on the core mandate of the institution;
• Overseeing preparation, co-ordination and monitoring of Operations directorate’s annual work plans to achieve set divisional targets and overall institutions objectives, overseeing formulation, implementation and monitoring of directorate action plan, policies and systems for efficient and effective execution of the divisional functions by ensuring it is aligned to the Institution’s overall Strategic Plan;
• Spearheading the formulation, implementation and evaluation of market penetration strategies for existing and new markets through recruitment of new customers and product development to drive business growth in line with the set institution’s targets, strategic and operational management of both electronic and manual records to support the institution’s operations in achieving its objective and the coordination and efficient management of the digitization process including
• managing the process of change and review, and implementation of the strategic and operational plans;
• Spearheading the management of institutional digitization framework for efficient service delivery, formulation and promotional programs and other special event activities to grow student numbers as per the institution’s Strategic Plan and quality assurance for product development, creating awareness and uptake in the targeted markets;
• Overseeing the motivation and retention of staff with the aim of enhancing service delivery within the directorate, execution and review of the approved divisional budgets, ensuring alignment to the institutions budget, setting of comprehensive annual performance goals in the division to meet the overall objectives of the institution;
• Spearheading continuous re-engineering of business processes within the division for process
• improvement, evaluating all periodic performance reports from all business units within the directorate for informed decision making, creating and fostering a sustainable success-oriented, accountable environment within the directorate for attainment of divisional and institutional objectives;
• Spearheading the formulation and review of Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and Memorandum of Understanding with strategic partners to ensure compliance, development and implementation of the division Business Continuity Plan in alignment to the institution’s Business Continuity Management Framework, implementation of the Enterprise Risk Management framework for governance and risk compliance within the directorate;
• Overseeing strategic planning, student’s loan budget and forecasting of business requirements, decision-making process, negotiations with the various stakeholders for additional student funding and translating strategy into actionable goals for performance and growth to ensure implementation of institution-wide goal setting, performance management and divisional action plan;
• Overseeing credit management of over 1,000,000 current and former students with loans totaling over Kes. 113 Billion since inception, disbursement of funds to over 342 in local and ing institutions of over 31 external partner funds, management of Self Protection Scheme with annual premium contributions of over 110 Million to mitigate against credit risk exposure; and
• Approving simulation, allocation and disbursement of loans, Scholarships and Bursaries, oversee the determination of number of eligible persons to be granted loans, scholarships, and bursaries annually and advising the Chief Executive Officer accordingly to ensure prudent management of the annual student loans budget, bursary, scholarship, and other partner funded programs of over 17 Billion, overseeing the development of the criteria and conditions governing the granting of loans, scholarships and bursaries, loan repayment and recovery function of over 69 Billion mature loans from past beneficiaries, facilitating partnership with financial institutions, development partners and other relevant stakeholders for the purpose of disbursement and recovery of mature loans to ensure business continuity;
• Spearheading development & implementation of succession planning policies for business continuity, inculcating the culture of mentoring and coaching across the directorate as a cornerstone to talent management, succession planning and business continuity, oversee the implementation of enterprise risk management framework within the Directorate and the preparation of Performance reports and emerging issue to ensure institutional and divisional targets
• are met; and
• Recommending loan waiver requests to the Board where applicable, participating in international duty through Association of African Higher Education Financing Agencies (AAHEFA) operations committee for benchmarking on best practices, coordinating preparation of Loan Disbursement and Recovery Committee Board papers in line with corporate governance practices, spearheading the implementation of the Credit Policy, HELB Act and any legislative and regulatory framework in managing the institution’s products.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Social Sciences or related field from a recognized institution
• Master’s Degree in Social Sciences or related field
• Leadership course lasting not less than four (4) weeks
• At least fifteen (15) years’ relevant work experience five (5) of which should be in a senior management level in a comparable institution.

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HELB GRADE 3

Job Purpose:

Reporting to the Chief Operations Officer, Head of Debt Management is responsible for the overall formulation, review and implementation of loan repayment and recovery policies, procedures, systems and strategies to manage the credit risk and foster timely recovery and repayment of all matured Undergraduate, Partner Managed funds, Technical and Vocational Educational Training (TVET) and continuing education loans worth over Kshs. 69 Billion from over 560,000 loanees in both formal and informal sectors to create a sustainable revolving fund.

Relationship Management of a suite of strategic partners to improve the Portfolio At Risk (PAR) to acceptable levels and overseeing optimization of digital service delivery to improve customer satisfaction index and managing the Strategic Business Unit’s Risk Management in line with the
institution’s enterprise risk management framework.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Overseeing management of the mature Undergraduate, Partner Managed funds, Technical and Vocational Educational Training (TVET) and continuing education loan portfolio of over 560,000 loanees worth over Kshs.69 Billion in accordance with the relevant contracts and MOUs to achieve a sustainable revolving fund;
• Overseeing employer compliance of over 250,000 employers to the existing legal framework through inspections and issuance of compliance certificate to compliant employers and ensuring continuous engagement of the over 400, 000 current students in preparation for the loan repayment through regular provision of account status and financial literacy;
• Providing leadership and strategic direction to the department in furtherance of the institution’s strategic objectives of debt management to enhance loan repayment and recovery and spearheading liaison with relevant agencies and organizations on matters related to inspection, investigation, prosecution, and enforcement of HELB Act to maximize loan recovery, overseeing preparation and submission of periodic repayment and recovery reports to management and the Board of directors for decision making and overseeing the identification of training needs for the departmental staff to enhance their skills and improve performance;
• Providing required information and responses to the Chief Operations Officer (COO) on any queries/issues that may be raised by parliament or any other arm of government regarding loan repayment and recovery, overseeing the formulation and implementation of policies, strategies and systems that will ensure effective and efficient execution of the repayment, and recovery functions of the institution to drive the department’s Business Continuity Management (BCM) activities to
• ensure human and other departmental assets are protected and continuity of operations in the event of disruptions or a disaster;
• Driving the formulation of the departmental Contingency Funding Plan (CFP) strategies for business continuity and overseeing the management of relationships with relevant stakeholders (Governments-National & County, loanees and Employers in tracing defaulters and initiating recovery, oversee credit information sharing with Credit Reference Bureaus (CRB) and other relevant stakeholders in line with existing legal framework to maximize loan recovery, ensuring periodic communication
• and reminders to all loanees to maximize loan recovery of external funds while ensuring adherence to partner memorandum of understanding (MOUs) in relation to repayment for enhanced collaborations and improved portfolio performance;
• Overseeing the relationship with external debt collection agencies contracted to recover problem loans in order to build and uphold partnerships with loanees and stakeholders in the diaspora to aid in loan recoveries and appraisal and evaluation of performance for the staff in the department in line with the institution’s set targets, chairing regular departmental meetings with the staff to monitor performance, build teamwork and enhance cohesion and also ensure development and management of a knowledge sharing platform in the department for capacity building;
• Spearheading the implementation of the Enterprise Risk Management framework within the department to mitigate against any existing and emerging risk, ensuring adherence to the quality manual procedures and standards for satisfactory service delivery to customers and oversee the development of Debt Management department operational budget;
• Maintaining, updating, and recommending changes to the Institution’s loan repayment and recovery policy to align it to the changing environment, overseeing recovery of all matured loans to maximize loan recovery, the coordination of field inspections to enforce compliance to the HELB Act and spearheading collaboration with relevant stakeholders (Employers, Kenya Revenue Authority, Diaspora communities) in tracing defaulters and initiating recovery measures;
• Overseeing the implementation of the departmental action plan for attainment of departmental objectives, allocations of all payments to individual loanee accounts to ensure accurate balances, the process of issuance of compliance certificates to both loanees and employers to ensure compliance
• to Chapter Six of the Constitution of Kenya 2010; and
• Providing oversight in guiding the recovery agents (debt collectors) on the recovery processes to ensure adherence to the existing policies, leading, inspiring, motivating and mentoring the team to enhance productivity, succession planning and advising the Board of Directors and management on all matters relating to debt management for decision making.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a business-related field from a recognized university
• Master’s Degree in Social sciences
• Management course lasting not less than four (4) weeks
• Membership to a relevant professional body in good standing
• At least twelve (12) years’ work experience four (4) of which should be in management in a comparable institution.

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HELB GRADE 5

Job Purpose:

Reporting to the Manager - ICT Business Applications, Assistant Manager - ICT Business Applications is responsible for business applications strategic planning, innovations, improvement of operational processes, support for critical business strategies by directing and coordinating the development, implementation, and maintenance of innovative solutions for business applications.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Leading project teams during development and implementation of ICT Software Projects to ensure implementation of applications that meet user requirements, ensuring timely development and implementation of innovative and effective systems within the Institution to enhance customer service delivery and alignment to Enterprise Risk Management Framework to mitigate directorate risks, hence institutional risks;
• Assisting the formulation, interpretation and application of ICT business applications’ policies, procedures, rules and regulations within the department, ensuring safe custody, access control and uptime of the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) which holds over one million (1,000,000) customers with total assets of over Kshs. 93 Billion to ensure sustainability of confidentiality, integrity and availability of customer information and uptime and high availability of all business applications
• as per the Institution Charter to ensure continuous customer service delivery;
• Ensuring the security of all organizational data to ensure availability and reliability of information, maximum productivity of the organization through the right use of business applications to enhance customer service delivery and coordinating systems analysis, design and program specifications for ensuring implementation of applications that satisfy user requirements;
• Ensuring ICT software development standards are followed for maintenance and knowledge transfer to other developers, supervising overall systems documentation for maintenance and knowledge transfer to other developers, development and implementation of security controls in the Institution’s ICT Business Applications, maintenance of implemented business applications; and effective Change Management in business applications to mitigate disruption of systems;
• Driving the department’s Business Continuity Management activities to ensure human and other departmental assets are protected and continuity of operations in the event of disruptions or a disaster, implementation of Quality Management System (ISO) procedures, ensuring continuous end user training on business applications to enhance utilization of implemented business applications and the development and maintenance of the departmental Risk Register; and
• Participating in development of the Department’s Work plan and budget, preparing monthly, quarterly and annual Departmental reports, mentoring and coaching staff to enhance performance and hence realize institution’s objectives;
• Participating in the implementation of the performance management system in the Department and evaluating the business applications vis, a vis business requirement;
• Carrying out research on new technologies in the market which can be utilized by the Institution, coordinating data management, data control and data protection and developing reports for management on business applications utility (performance/data/uptake);
• Providing technical assistance to Systems Analysts and Programmers, business cases for disposal, acquisition, development of business applications and coordinating Proof of Concepts and ensuring uptime and high availability of all business applications as per the Institution Charter.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Business Information Technology, Software Engineering, ICT Project Management, Computer Engineering or any other equivalent qualification from a recognized Institution;
• Master’s degree in Information Technology or relevant social sciences from a recognized Institution;
• At least one (1) Project Management Certificate such as Prince2, Project Management Professional (PMP), Sure Step or equivalent qualification;
• Membership to any relevant professional body such as Computer Society of Kenya (CSK), Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA), Information and Communication Technology Authority (ICTA);
• Management course lasting not less than four (4) weeks from a recognized institution; and
• At least eight (8) years’ work experience in ICT role, three (3) of which should be in a supervisory role.

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Job Purpose: Reporting to Lending Manager, Assistant Manager, Credit Administration is responsible for providing strategic leadership in disbursements, budgeting, financial planning, controlling, analysis and reporting cash flow management and developing a solid and trusting relationship with key strategic institutions of higher learning to ensure seamless operations in disbursement of loans, bursaries and scholarships of over Kshs.17 Billion, ensuring timely annual disbursement of loans, bursaries and scholarships to over 394,000 students in over 342 local and foreign higher learning institutions ensuring implementation of sectional strategies by aligning them with the departmental and institutional strategic and performance plan, promoting customers’ and stakeholders’ engagement through institutional relationship management and aligning the section with enterprise risk management framework.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Ensuring the institution effectively delivers on its role to all institutions of higher learning and students by providing effective funds disbursement services, supporting operations, standards of internal control are maintained in the disbursement management process and developing a complete understanding of the needs of strategic institutions of higher learning to anticipate changing needs and improvement of services and managing communications with strategic in-stitutions of higher learning for seamless flow of information;
• Negotiating and overseeing implementation of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and es-tablishing a timeline of performance with strategic institutions of higher learning for quality service offerings, and expanding relationships and recruitment of new institutions of higher learning to meet the strategic objectives on the institution;
• Managing team assigned to each institution of higher learning to maintain agreed service levels, overseeing the preparation and implementation of the section’s budget in alignment to the de-partmental and institution’s annual budget provisions and promoting institutional relationship management to enhance customer experience;•Identifying gaps in the Credit Administration business processes within the section for Business Process Re-engineering, ensuring development and implementation of the section Business Continuity Plan in alignment to the departmental Business Continuity Management Framework and implementation of the Enterprise Risk Management framework for governance and risk compliance within the Credit Administration section;
• Managing the integrity of data to mitigate risks associated with funds disbursement, ensuring implementation of the Knowledge Management Framework in Credit Administration section to enhance efficiency and business continuity through mentoring and coaching for succession planning and enhancing staff performance in the Credit Administration section, ensuring ad-herence to Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to enhance service delivery;
• Coordination of technical and strategic initiatives through business intelligence reporting, qual-ity assurance and big data analytics for informed decision making and ensuring implementation of Credit Policy, HELB Act and any legislative and regulatory framework in managing institu-tion’s products;
• Identifying skills gaps among staff in the section for capacity enhancement, coordinating all communication to students, institutions of higher learning and financial service providers to ensure optimal customer services in matters relating to Credit Administration and ensuring the development of disbursement procedures, controls and systems for efficient and effective funds disbursement, ensuring development and review of funds utilization guidelines for adoption by institutions of higher learning for prudent management of resources and overseeing implemen-tation of sections annual workplans for performance management inCredit Administration;
• Reviewing and evaluating the adequacy and effectiveness of credit administrations strategies, systems, and procedures to align to the dynamic market trends, advising the Head of Lending on the funds disbursement portfolio, providingtechnical advice to Head of Lending on disburse-ment and institutional relations issues for informed decision making and determining and maintaining all internal controls on funds disbursement processes to mitigate funds transfer risks, coordinating all audit processes in Credit Administration for compliance and conformity to defined standards and procedures, ensuring adherence to Quality Management System pro-cedures and standards for improvement and sustainable customer experience;
• Champion enterprise riskmanagement for credit administration and to ensure a controlled risk intelligent environment is maintained, ensuring quality assurance of data to promote data in-tegrity, quality and reliability for informed and timely decision making, implementation of Credit Policy guidelines for efficient and effective funds disbursement and participating in the review of Credit Policy procedures to align it to the dynamic credit administration and manage-ment trends;
• Ensuring preparation and operationalization of credit administration communication plan for effective stakeholder engagement, developing and reviewing individual staff performance and targets to meet the overall objectives of the department, ensuring proper leave management and job rotation within the sectionto enhance business continuity, developing a wider range of work experience, and avoiding key-man risk, adherence to inter-departmental SLAs within the section for effective service delivery;
• Organizing and participating in departmental, sectional, and other ad hoc meetings to drive the agenda of the institution;
• Coordinating the implementation of stakeholders’ engagement and feedback for service im-provement;
• Directing and coordinating activities of staff in the Section to achieve the set targets and objec-tives of the department;
• Motivating the sectional staff to achieve optimal service delivery;
• Overseeing formulation, implementation, and monitoring of Section workplan by ensuring it is aligned to the departmental action plan and overall institution’s Strategic Plan; and
• Evaluating and reviewing the section’s annual performance against set targets;

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business related field from a recognized institution
• Master’s Degree in business related field
• Management Development Program lasting not less four (4) weeks
• At least eight (8) years’ work experience in credit management, three (3) of which should be a managerial role