Head of Lending, Kenya (Fintech)

Location: Remote, Kenya

Company

hirify.global is a business payments and banking platform providing payments, banking, credit, and business management tools across Africa.

What you will do

• Own the lending P&L, including revenue, cost of funds, credit losses, operating costs, budgeting, forecasting, and reporting.
• Set commercial and credit strategy for SME lending, including target segments, loan products, terms, pricing, and risk tolerance.
• Build and scale a profitable lending portfolio from zero while maintaining agreed default rates and portfolio-quality standards.
• Define lending distribution through direct sales and partner channels in collaboration with Growth.
• Partner with Product, Data Science, Finance, Risk, and Compliance on underwriting, product development, capital availability, and Kenyan regulatory requirements.
• Hire and lead the commercial lending team and develop strategic partnerships that expand reach into the SME segment.

Requirements

• At least 8 years of specific lending experience, including originating, underwriting, pricing, and managing loan portfolios.
• Direct ownership of a lending P&L and strong understanding of portfolio revenue, cost of funds, credit losses, and profitability trade-offs.
• Experience building or significantly scaling an SME or comparable lending portfolio, preferably in a market with meaningful credit-risk and limited-credit-history challenges.
• Strong quantitative and analytical skills, including lending unit economics, portfolio performance metrics, and credit-risk concepts.
• Ability to influence Product, Data Science, Risk, Compliance, and Finance teams without direct authority.
• Exposure to the Kenyan or East African lending market is advantageous but not required.

Culture & Benefits

• Opportunity to build an SME lending business from the ground up in an underserved segment.
• Ownership of a new business line with support from a company that has scaled a similar model in Nigeria.
• Leadership expectations emphasize customer obsession, craft, systemisation, urgency, ownership, candour, integrity, and low ego.

Hiring process

• Recruiter phone call followed by an analytical assessment focused on lending economics, portfolio performance, and growth versus credit quality.
• Cultural assessment, lending-career and functional deep dive, and a cross-functional workshop on Kenyan SME lending strategy.
• Executive interview with the Chief Business Officer followed by a final conversation with the CEO.