M-KOPA has announced new career opportunities for professionals interested in customer research, digital finance, artificial intelligence, financial inclusion, technology, and product innovation. The available opportunities include Customer Insights Associate based in Nairobi, Kenya, and Lead AI Engineer – Financial Inclusion, which is open across several African locations including Nairobi, Kampala, Accra, Lagos, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, and other listed markets.
M-KOPA is a fintech and connected asset financing company serving underbanked customers across Africa through products and services linked to digital finance, smartphones, solar, mobility, payments, and financial inclusion. The company states that its mission is to finance progress, while its careers page highlights its work across multiple countries and a team of about 3,000 people.
The following positions are currently open:
- Customer Insights Associate
Location: Nairobi, Kenya
Job Type: Full Time, Hybrid
Job Field: Customer Care, Success and Service; Research and Development; UX, Design and Architecture
Qualification Listed: BA/BSc/HND
Deadline: Not specified
Job Description
The Customer Insights Associate role is an entry-to-mid-level research position within M-KOPA’s Customer Intelligence team. The successful candidate will support end-to-end UX and product research, from study design to insight delivery. The role involves working closely with senior researchers and cross-functional teams to understand customer experiences and support the development of products used by customers whose financial lives depend on practical and accessible digital services.
The role is hybrid and based in Kenya, with the successful candidate working from M-KOPA’s offices while partnering with teams across different markets and locations in the UK, Europe, and Africa. The position reports to the Research Operations Lead.
Duties and Responsibilities
The Customer Insights Associate will be expected to:
- Conduct moderated usability tests, semi-structured interviews, and surveys.
- Manage fieldwork logistics from start to finish for both remote and in-person research sessions.
- Ensure research sessions are properly prepared for quality data collection.
- Code and synthesise qualitative data using defined research frameworks.
- Produce affinity maps, insight lists, and structured reports.
- Translate research findings into clear and actionable outputs for internal teams and stakeholders.
- Contribute to team research rituals.
- Raise questions where research briefs are unclear.
- Apply AI-assisted tools such as Claude and Notion AI with critical judgement.
- Support research work focused on first-time smartphone users, first-time borrowers, and first-time digital finance customers.
What the Candidate Will Bring
The advert lists the following:
- Demonstrable experience conducting UX research, including moderated usability testing, semi-structured interviewing, and survey design.
- Understanding of when and why different research methods apply.
- Proven ability to work with qualitative data.
- Ability to code responses, identify patterns, and produce synthesis artefacts such as affinity maps and insight lists.
- Familiarity with M-KOPA’s markets or the broader context of first-time digital financial services users.
- Genuine curiosity about usability challenges linked to first-time digital financial services users.
- Lead AI Engineer – Financial Inclusion
Locations: Nairobi, Kenya; Kampala, Uganda; Accra, Ghana; Lagos, Nigeria; Cape Town, South Africa; Johannesburg, South Africa; Durban, South Africa
Job Type: Full Time
Job Field: ICT / Computer, Engineering, Information Technology
Qualification Listed: BA/BSc/HND
Deadline: Not specified
Job Description
The Lead AI Engineer – Financial Inclusion will lead M-KOPA’s AI Operations team from the beginning, taking ownership of delivery, team growth, and the practical value of AI solutions across the business. The AI Operations team builds automations and agents for internal use and also supports Engineering teams in integrating AI into customer-facing products.
The position is focused on building useful AI systems rather than only advising. The successful candidate will lead a small team, build working automations, support internal teams, and help scale AI tools across a large organisation. M-KOPA’s listing describes the role as involving automations and agents that improve how internal teams and customer-facing staff work.
Duties and Responsibilities
The Lead AI Engineer – Financial Inclusion will be expected to:
- Lead two AI Ops Engineers and take responsibility for their delivery, development, and daily work.
- Manage competing requests from multiple teams using a clear prioritisation framework.
- Help develop and improve the prioritisation framework used by the team.
- Build and ship automations and agents that measurably improve internal team operations.
- Build solutions that support customer-facing staff in their work.
- Keep the AI tooling stack healthy as usage grows across more than 2,500 employees.
- Stay updated on emerging AI tools and technologies.
- Distinguish practical AI tools from hype.
- Help refine AI training for the wider organisation.
- Support Engineering teams in understanding and applying AI tools.
- Treat internal teams as customers and build tools that are practical, reliable, and useful.
- Demonstrate the value of AI solutions before expanding adoption.
Technical Environment
The role involves work across the following technical areas:
- AI and agentic frameworks such as Claude, Claude Code, Anthropic tooling, LangChain, MCP, Google ADK, or similar agentic tooling.
- Automation and prototyping through scripting, workflow tools, AI-assisted development, and rapid prototyping platforms such as Vercel or Railway.
- Enterprise tooling including identity automation, Entra, internal platforms, Notion, and HiBob integrations.
- Existing production foundations involving Claude, Notion, HiBob, and Entra automations.
Required Experience
The advert lists the following required experience:
- Hands-on experience building automations through scripting, workflow tools, or AI-assisted development.
- Hands-on experience building agents using agentic frameworks such as LangChain, MCP, Google ADK, or similar tools.
- Background in enterprise tooling, including rapid prototyping tools, identity automation, or internal platforms.
- People leadership experience, including leading or mentoring engineers and owning a team’s delivery and development.
Application Method
Interested and qualified candidates should submit their applications through the official M-KOPA careers application platform. The listings direct candidates to apply through M-KOPA on Ashby.
