About the Job

Our client is hiring an experienced credit products professional to design and launch a new consumer credit product to their existing customer base.
This is a build role, not a run role. There is no existing team or portfolio - the first months are almost entirely focused on licensing strategy and product design, with the goal of a live, licensed, trading operation in multiple markets within 18 months.

Job Responsibilities

Own the consumer credit programme end-to-end: licensing strategy, product design, credit policy, regulatory engagement, and commercial performance
Lead licence applications across multiple African markets, working with regulators and external counsel
Design products for underserved consumers, including pricing architecture that complies with local regulation
Build an approach that draws on alternative repayment data rather than traditional credit bureau history alone
Define collections operations, portfolio targets, and risk management (NPL, provisioning, recovery) across markets
Engage development finance institutions and other capital partners to fund the credit book as it scales
Build and manage a small team as the programme grows

Candidate Requirements

3-7 years building or scaling a product from scratch in Sub-Saharan Africa, West Africa, or emerging Asian markets - asset financing, device financing, PAYGO, or digital lending
Direct, hands-on experience inside a licence application in at least one African or Asian market - not an observer role
First-hand experience designing credit policy and managing an own-book consumer loan portfolio, including NPL rates, provisioning, and recovery
Track record running multi-country workstreams simultaneously, not sequentially
Experience building a consumer pricing model
West Africa regulatory experience - Francophone/WAEMU regional licensing frameworks and/or Nigeria financial services licensing - is particularly valued given the complexity of these markets
East Africa regulatory experience - Kenya and/or Uganda - is also a strong asset
Familiarity with device-based enforcement mechanisms in an asset-financing or PAYGO context
Existing relationships with development finance institutions in the digital credit or asset-financing space
Background at a leading PAYGO, asset-financing, or digital lending company operating in emerging markets

Head Of Consumer Credit Products At Robert Walters

Key skills