Job Description
About M-Pesa Africa
At M-Pesa Africa, we’re the heroes that make things happen.
We are a united, energetic and passionate team. A place where leaders coach, teams connect, and everyone is empowered to go further, faster. A place where heroes become superheroes; through growth, opportunity, and the chance to work with the best minds in FinTech.
We are Africa’s largest FinTech providing services to more than 60 million customers and 5 million businesses solutions across Financial Services, Enterprise, Merchant and Retail. We are now well on our way to becoming the preferred digital payment method across the markets that we serve, for both in-store, remote and online payments. With headquarters in both Kenya and South Africa, we serve markets that include Kenya, Tanzania, DRC, Lesotho, Ghana, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Mozambique.
About the Role
MPA is a technology partner, enabler, and supporter of M-Pesa markets, driving innovation and the introduction of new services, solutions, and platforms to deliver on our Financial Services Strategy and Plans.
One of the critical aspects of our service to the markets, and key to driving the expansion and improvement of the M-Pesa ecosystem, is the management of key projects and initiatives across multiple markets. Joining us as a Programme Manager, focusing on key projects and initiatives, will give you the opportunity to be part of the M-Pesa journey, utilizing your experience, expertise, and energy to make a positive contribution to our success.
In this role, you will be part of the Technology leadership team, leading the programme management of key strategic projects, and will report to the Technology Strategy, Planning, and Delivery function.
The core responsibility of the Programme Manager role is:
- Manage and oversee key projects and initiatives, ensuring effective planning, coordination, and resource utilization to meet objectives and milestones.
- Supervise the Programme Management Function, ensuring projects are delivered end-to-end, managing inter-dependencies, and holding stakeholders accountable.
- Identify and mitigate risks and issues to ensure on-time and on-budget delivery aligned with business objectives.
- Monitor and report progress, ensuring stakeholders are informed and engaged.
Responsibilities
Programme Planning and Management:
- Manage program and project teams for optimal return-on-investment, and coordinate and delegate cross-project initiatives.
- Ensure Project objectives align with strategic objectives and anticipated value creation are reflected in the scope.
- Align Key Projects with overall Portfolio.
- Ensure Project Governance and Project Management standards are compiled to by all projects.
- Manage Programme level Risks, Issues and Escalations and ensure mitigations are in place and actioned.
- Ensure effective Stakeholder engagement and the establishment of an effective communication and reporting plan, for each project is in place.
- Ensure Key Project roadmaps, project plans and milestones are updated, agreed and measured
- Ensure the delivery of the Key Projects are within agreed quality, time and when needed according to cost.
- To ensure strategic objectives of each Key project are measurable and met by tracking major milestones and status metrics of all projects within the portfolio.
- Measure Key Project delivery performance and initiate pro-active corrective actions as required to ensure delivery is within agreed targets.
- Programme scheduling of projects and initiatives – Manage delivery schedules for projects to ensure timeous implementation and compliance with requirements.
- Alignment with Agile Portfolio and ARTs to ensure contributions and delivery to Key Projects are aligned and committed.
Strategy:
- Create and maintain a framework for managing the delivery of the Key projects and initiatives.
- Interface with the Key Market stakeholders, MPA Executive and Managers as well as relevant Subject Matter Experts to align the objectives/outcomes of Key Projects to align with the overall strategy and business goals.
- To contribute to the overall business and technology strategy.
- To communicate the strategy to the project managers to execute and ensure that individual project goals align with the strategy.
Resource Management:
- To establish priorities within the overall program and ensure project teams are adequately resourced by aptly allocating people and technical resources to individual teams in line with those priorities.
- To minimize waste and reduce costs by identifying tasks that are common to several projects and ensures that teams do not duplicate work.
- To identify necessary skills available within the project teams and arrange any necessary training to improve performance.
- Effective management of project and business teams from diverse areas of specialization.
Planning:
To work with individual project managers to establish plans and goals for each project:
- Set objectives, assign tasks, and agree to timetables for achieving intermediate and overall goals.
- Set review dates to ensure that projects remain on target.
Communication:
- Stakeholder management ranging from market executives, MPA management and Project teams.
- Communication is a key responsibility for the role as it will need to work closely with project managers to track progress and provide updates on any changes in strategy or priorities.
Risk Management:
- Work with other project managers to identify risks, dependencies and opportunities across multiple projects.
- Analyse, evaluate, and overcome program risks, and produce program reports for management and stakeholders.
- To help project teams with difficult problems by contacting specialists within the organization to obtain information or request support.
- Compile and communicate reports as agreed with stakeholders.
Project Execution:
- Manage and drive the approval of memo’s, business cases, checklists etc.
- Lead the project management processes and systems.
- Manage the portfolio roadmaps and portfolio plans are updated, agreed, measured and communicated as agreed with stakeholders.
- Manage major milestones and status metrics of all projects within the portfolio.
- Identify key requirements needed from cross-functional teams.
- Manage unforeseen development requirements, changes and available resources.
- Manage and drive continuous Improvement Initiatives.
- Create, Maintain, re-evaluate, optimise or automate existing project management reporting.
- Review and analyse the efficiency of processes and systems and the impact on product & services launched.
Qualifications
Job Knowledge:
- Project management and Project management processes such as Scrum, Agile, etc. or similar
- Financial knowledge
- General Telecommunication knowledge
- Understanding and application of project management tools and techniques in a complex systems environment
- Program Management
- Technical or commercial project management knowledge
Skills:
- Project and Programme Management
- Uses the right frameworks and approaches to manage projects and relationships to drive excellence through effective action management/tracking, planning and cost/quality control in respect of the Trust initiatives.
- Expert Communication
- Demonstrates clear and effective communication through all channels including digital channels and has an ability to switch seamlessly between them.
Business Partnering
- Demonstrates robust understanding of the purpose of the Trust, identifies and prioritises stakeholders, builds sustainable relationships to drive performance and best value outcomes for the Trust initiatives.
Partner and Vendor Management
- Drives performance and relationship management with internal and external stakeholders to support improvement of delivery standards for the beneficiaries of the Trust initiatives.
Complexity Management
- Able to quickly and efficiently identify opportunities, tackle big challenges, understand root causes, and make informed decisions to deliver the Trust initiatives.
Risk Assessment
- Ability to identify and understand emerging risk and apply the risk management approach. Understands the process of Risk identification and assessment, response and reporting.
Business Acumen
- Has clear understanding of socio-economic circumstances and demonstrates foresight and entrepreneurship to contribute to the delivery of the Trust initiatives. Can understand and interpret the impact of external factors on the business.
Agile
- Understands agile methodologies (e.g., Kanban, Lean, Scrum, Scaled Agile) and apply agile ways of working. Is a role model of the agile mind-set and principles.
Professional Qualifications
- Relevant Degree or Diploma or related/Equivalent
- Postgraduate degree or Master’s degree in business administration or related field (advantageous)
- Recognized project / program management qualification (Agile, Scrum Master etc.)
- A minimum of 8 years of experience within the Telecoms/Banking / Fintech industry (preferred) in:
o Project Management
o Programme/Portfolio Management
