Services Controls: Kenya Site Lead- Senior Vice President

Citibank N.A. Kenya is a branch of Citi, a global financial services company that has been operating in Kenya since 1974, providing banking and financial services.

This senior leadership position is based in Nairobi, Kenya, and is crucial for providing on-the-ground oversight within one of the MEA cluster's most important strategic locations. The Kenya site is a key in-country market and an expanding hub for MEA cluster operations, making robust, embedded Controls oversight a top priority. The MEA Services Controls organization already has a team of three professionals in Nairobi, demonstrating the site's increasing strategic relevance and providing a strong foundation for this new senior Site Lead. The role also includes a mandate for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) regulatory compliance and governance, with future plans to support the wider MEA cluster, indicating a significant and expanding strategic scope.

1. Provide dedicated, senior Risk & Control leadership and governance for the Kenya site and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), ensuring Controls delivery in a strategically important location within the MEA cluster.
2. Drive a proactive risk reduction agenda through thematic reviews, early identification of control gaps, and continuous process improvement across SSA and the broader MEA Cluster.
3. Rigorously and consistently implement the R&C Target Operating Model (TOM) principles at the Kenya site, connecting local execution with the wider MEA Controls leadership structure.
4. Act as the primary Controls partner for Services Country Operations, bridging Operations, Product, and Geography teams to ensure a unified approach to risk and control across all products.
5. Identify and implement enhancements to documentation, controls, and processes, including within the Managers Control Assessment (MCA) framework, to meet local and cross-border risk and regulatory requirements across SSA.
6. Monitor and ensure compliance with primary and secondary regulatory requirements across SSA for Services, considering the diverse regulatory environments in the sub-region.
7. Lead and develop the existing Nairobi-based Controls team of three professionals, building their capabilities and capacity in line with the site’s growing strategic importance as a scalable MEA hub.
8. Lead the identification, escalation, and comprehensive resolution of control issues and risk events across the SSA and MEA Cluster, adhering to firm-wide escalation guidelines.
9. Build and maintain strong relationships with senior stakeholders across multiple countries, the Citi franchise, products, and control functions within MEA and globally, to influence outcomes and drive accountability.

1. A Bachelor’s Degree is required.
2. Over 10 years of expertise in Operational Risk Management and other regulatory functions within the Financial Services sector is preferred.
3. A deep understanding of Operational Risk and related frameworks as they apply to the banking sector is essential, along with working knowledge of the regulatory environments/regimes for Transaction Banking in MEA countries.
4. Proven track record in monitoring regulatory compliance, including controls and process mapping within the Managers Control Assessment (MCA) framework.
5. Excellent business acumen and the ability to quickly grasp multiple areas within and across functions, understanding how they interact to achieve process objectives.
6. Strong working knowledge of the regulatory landscape affecting Transaction Banking across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), including payment system regulations, foreign exchange controls, anti-money laundering (AML) frameworks, central bank reporting requirements, and cross-border transaction regulations in key SSA markets like Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, and South Africa.
7. Ability to identify, assess, and respond to regulatory changes across SSA markets, translating evolving requirements into timely and effective control and process updates within the Services business.
8. Demonstrated ability to provide embedded, on-the-ground senior leadership at a strategic hub location, setting the tone for risk and control culture.
9. Proven experience in leading and developing small, high-impact teams, building capability, fostering ownership, and scaling teams in line with growing organizational mandates.
10. Ability to translate cluster-level strategy into ground-level execution, ensuring Target Operating Model principles are implemented consistently and rigorously.
11. Ability to develop and execute a controls strategy that supports business transformation and long-term sustainable growth.
12. Operates effectively at both strategic and executional levels, demonstrating big-picture thinking with high attention to critical detail.
13. Strong process improvement orientation with a track record of embedding continuous improvement into risk and control delivery.
14. Deep understanding of operational and processing risk frameworks as they apply to Transaction Banking and financial products across the SSA region.
15. Proven record in identifying, assessing, and remediating processing risk exposures, including controls and process mapping within the MCA construct.
16. Demonstrated ability to identify, assess, and manage the impact of regulatory change on the business, translating new and evolving regulatory requirements into actionable control and process updates across SSA markets.
17. Experience in managing end-to-end regulatory change programs, including horizon scanning, gap analysis, control remediation, and embedding changes into BAU governance and monitoring frameworks.
18. Exceptional ability to engage and influence senior leaders, Country, Cluster, and Product managers across a complex, matrixed organization.
19. Strong written, verbal, and analytical skills, capable of distilling complex risk topics into clear, actionable insights for senior audiences.
20. Proven ability to drive outcomes and effect change without direct authority, influencing senior stakeholders and cross-functional teams through credibility, expertise, and relationship capital.
21. Skilled at building consensus and holding teams accountable across a highly matrixed, multi-geography organization, navigating competing priorities and ambiguous accountabilities across markets.
22. Adept at translating complex risk and control issues into business terms to secure buy-in from non-controls audiences and drive timely decision-making at senior levels.
23. Committed to delivering results with exceptional execution skills and high personal accountability.
24. Strong track record of managing competing priorities across multiple markets to deliver high-quality, timely outputs.
25. Effective at managing compliance monitoring routines, audits, and governance cycles concurrently.
26. Acts as a principal partner to Operations, Product, Geography, and Technology teams across a geographically diverse cluster.
27. Comfortable navigating complex, highly matrixed organizations across 29 markets with varying regulatory and operational contexts.
28. Strong relationship-building skills across multiple countries, products, and control functions within MEA and globally.