Head of Credit job at Zembo

JOB DETAILS:
About Us
We are Zembo, the start-up paving the way to the e-mobility revolution in Africa. Zembo sells electric motorcycle taxis and offers a battery swap service via a network of stations. After six years of operation, Zembo is the most experienced African provider of electric motorcycles and battery swaps on the continent. We are scaling up in Uganda, providing an affordable and environmentally responsible mobility solution.

About the Role
The Head of Credit is a strategic leader within Zembo, overseeing the credit function to ensure sustainable growth and strong portfolio management. Responsible for defining and executing best practices in credit operations, this role includes crafting credit policies, streamlining workflows, and building team capacity across credit and collections. You will manage credit processes end-to-end, ensuring creditworthiness, risk mitigation, and alignment with company objectives. In collaboration with the operations, sales and finance teams, you will drive efficient, compliant, and scalable credit operations to support Zembo’s growth goals.

Responsibilities
Debt Recovery and Management of Non-Performing Assets
• NPL Reduction and Portfolio Management: Ensure Zembo’s portfolio quality by maintaining Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) at or below the target Portfolio at Risk (PAR) percentage.

• Customer Follow-up and Recovery Enforcement: Lead the collection, verification and recovery teams to implement Zembo’s debt qualification, collection & recovery policies and strategies rigorously. You’ll design and lead them through any and all initiatives to contact defaulting customers, negotiate repayment plans, and minimize write-offs, ensuring each case is handled promptly and effectively.

• Credit Policy Compliance: Ensure all recovery activities align with Zembo’s Credit Policy and related board directives. Regularly review and enforce adherence to the debt management framework, identifying areas for process enhancement and recommending policy adjustments to support sustainable credit operations.
Credit Operations Management
• Process Standardization and Excellence: Establish and maintain Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for credit workflows, ensuring compliance, efficiency, and quality control across Zembo’s credit cycle.
• Digital Tools and Systems: Lead the development and enhancement of digital tools, including CRM and loan management systems, to support streamlined credit processing and accurate data management.

• Change Management: Drive the adoption of new processes, systems, and tools across teams through direct support, training, and change management strategies.
• Policy Localization: Tailor credit policies to local contexts, providing guidance to ensure regulatory and operational alignment across diverse markets.
Portfolio Performance and Risk Monitoring
• KPI Tracking and Reporting: Create dashboards and reports to monitor credit portfolio health, enabling real-time insights into key performance metrics.
• Performance Analysis: Conduct regular analysis of credit performance data, identifying root causes of underperformance and opportunities for improvement.

• Risk Mitigation and Compliance: Develop and implement compliance routines, quality assurance, and risk monitoring to protect Zembo’s assets and maintain portfolio integrity**.**
Credit Culture and Capacity Development
• Fostering Credit Awareness: Instill a credit-focused mindset throughout Zembo, emphasizing the importance of credit principles and sound lending practices.
• Training and Development: Build credit team capabilities through onboarding, training, and ongoing support for credit staff at all levels.

• Mentorship: Act as a mentor to credit team members, particularly in supporting credit managers to develop leadership skills and enhance their operational impact.
Cross-functional Collaboration
• Stakeholder Management: Foster positive relationships with internal and external stakeholders, facilitating cross-functional communication to support end-to-end credit operations.
• Customer Support and Escalations: Work closely with sales, customer support, and collections teams to resolve customer issues, align on operational processes, and ensure smooth transitions throughout the credit journey.

• Service Level Agreement (SLA) Monitoring: Define and monitor SLAs for credit-related processes, ensuring accountability and timely resolution of any service issues.

Requirements
• Experience in Credit Risk and Debt Recovery Management: Minimum of 5+ years in credit risk management, collections, or recovery operations, preferably in financial services, asset financing, or a related field within East Africa.
• Proven Portfolio Management Skills: Demonstrated ability to manage high-volume loan portfolios and reduce NPLs through structured recovery strategies. Familiarity with debt recovery best practices, including monitoring Portfolio at Risk (PAR) and minimizing write-offs.
• Strategic and Analytical Mindset: Strong analytical skills to assess portfolio performance, conduct root cause analysis, and develop action plans. Experience with KPI tracking and performance metrics related to credit and collections.
• Exceptional Communication and Negotiation Skills: Skilled at negotiating repayment terms with clients and coordinating with cross-functional teams to implement recovery strategies. Confidence in leading difficult conversations with customers on repayment and debt management.
• Regulatory and Policy Compliance Knowledge: Knowledgeable of relevant financial and lending regulations, especially in Uganda, and ability to ensure recovery practices are compliant with Zembo’s Credit Policy and other regulatory requirements.

• Experience with CRM systems and data visualization tools (e.g., Tableau) is preferred.
• Familiarity with SQL and statistics packages is advantageous.

Education Requirement: No Requirements

Job Experience: No Requirements

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months:

Level of Education:

Job application procedure
• Zembo Electric Motorcycles SMC Ltd offers a fun, supportive work environment and opportunities for continued professional growth within a fast-growing global enterprise. It is an Equal Opportunity and considers all applicants regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, national origin, HIV/Aids, disability, or any other protected characteristic as established by law.

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