Lead Fintech Oversight & Governance

Safaricom PLC is a leading telecommunications company in Kenya, established in 1997. It offers a wide range of communication services and is a significant player in the digital financial services sector.

Reporting to the Group Chief Corporate & External Affairs Officer, the Lead Fintech Oversight & Governance is responsible for shaping and executing a forward-looking regulatory agenda for Safaricom's digital financial services, encompassing areas like digital payments, credit, savings, interoperability, open banking, data governance, and AI-enabled financial services. The role involves proactive and structured engagement with the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and other domestic, regional, and global financial regulators to secure timely approvals, influence policy direction, and manage systemic regulatory risks. This position requires close collaboration with M-Pesa, Financial Services, Technology, Risk, Compliance, Legal, Strategy, and Innovation teams to embed regulatory foresight into product design, commercial strategy, and platform expansion, thereby accelerating time-to-market while safeguarding prudential integrity and consumer protection standards. Through disciplined horizon scanning and fintech intelligence, the role anticipates shifts in prudential regulation and financial inclusion policy, translating these signals into engagement strategies that protect revenue, unlock growth opportunities, and strengthen Safaricom’s credibility as a trusted financial ecosystem player. The core accountability is to shape Safaricom’s external regulatory strategy, influence policy, and maintain strategic relationships with financial regulators to secure and sustain the Group’s license to operate, providing regulatory guidance to the Financial Services business and regulated subsidiaries without owning operational execution of regulatory requirements.

1. Develop and continuously refine Safaricom’s integrated fintech regulatory strategy, aligning it with commercial ambitions and digital financial services expansion.
2. Define the regulatory positioning across payments, credit, savings, interoperability, open banking, embedded finance, and emerging fintech models.
3. Translate regulatory obligations into structured operating frameworks that enable innovation while maintaining prudential integrity.
4. Lead regulatory scenario planning to assess the impact of policy shifts on revenue, product pipelines, and capital exposure.
5. Ensure alignment between regulatory strategy and commercial growth priorities across M-Pesa and broader DFS portfolios.
6. Lead structured, senior-level engagement with the Central Bank of Kenya and other financial regulators to secure licenses, approvals, and product clearances.
7. Build and maintain trusted institutional relationships that strengthen Safaricom’s credibility as a responsible fintech ecosystem player.
8. Oversee the preparation of high-quality regulatory submissions, impact assessments, and consultation responses.
9. Manage complex regulatory negotiations, inspections, and supervisory reviews, escalating and managing emerging regulatory risks at executive and Board level where required.
10. Safeguard Safaricom’s financial services license to operate through proactive regulatory compliance positioning and oversight.
11. Ensure alignment with prudential requirements including capital adequacy, consumer protection, data governance, AML/CFT, and operational resilience standards.
12. Partner with Risk, Compliance, and Legal teams to manage regulatory findings, remediation plans, and supervisory commitments.
13. Monitor evolving supervisory expectations and embed regulatory readiness into business processes.
14. Provide executive assurance on regulatory exposure and mitigation strategies.
15. Shape national and regional fintech policy outcomes through evidence-based advocacy and structured stakeholder engagement.
16. Represent Safaricom in industry coalitions, regulatory forums, and multi-stakeholder policy platforms.
17. Develop policy position papers that align commercial objectives with public interest and financial inclusion goals.
18. Influence emerging frameworks in digital identity, interoperability, open finance, cross-border payments, and AI-enabled financial services.
19. Strengthen Safaricom’s positioning as a strategic partner in Kenya’s digital transformation and economic development agenda.
20. Embed regulatory foresight into product ideation, development, and commercialization cycles.
21. Provide early regulatory advisory to accelerate time-to-market for new fintech propositions.
22. Evaluate regulatory implications of new business models, partnerships, and platform expansions.
23. Partner with Product, Technology, and Commercial teams to structure compliant yet competitive solutions.
24. Reduce regulatory-driven delays through structured engagement and pre-consultation mechanisms.
25. Establish fintech regulatory intelligence capability to monitor local, regional, and global policy developments.
26. Identify early signals in financial services reform, prudential regulation, digital currency, and AI governance.
27. Conduct impact analysis to quantify potential revenue, operational, and reputational exposure.
28. Develop forward-looking regulatory roadmaps aligned to enterprise growth ambitions.
29. Provide strategic briefings to Executive Leadership on anticipated regulatory shifts.
30. Serve as the central regulatory interface across M-Pesa, Financial Services, Technology, Risk, Compliance, Legal, and Strategy functions.
31. Align regulatory positioning across product, commercial, and operational workstreams.
32. Embed regulatory risk management within transformation programs and platform modernization initiatives.
33. Drive enterprise-wide awareness of regulatory implications in strategic decision-making.
34. Ensure regulatory considerations are integrated into investment and expansion decisions.
35. Provide strategic regulatory oversight and guidance to subsidiary markets, including Ethiopia and future fintech expansions.
36. Ensure alignment of regulatory strategy across markets while adapting to local supervisory frameworks.
37. Support cross-border regulatory engagements for regional fintech initiatives.
38. Monitor regulatory exposure across markets and escalate systemic risks.
39. Strengthen governance and capability building within subsidiary regulatory teams.
40. Define and drive a Group-wide framework for corporate and external affairs across subsidiaries, ensuring alignment to Safaricom’s strategy, policies, and governance standards.
41. Establish clear governance cadence including regular engagement forums, reporting structures, and escalation mechanisms across subsidiary markets.
42. Provide strategic advisory and on-the-ground support to subsidiaries on regulatory, public affairs, PR, and stakeholder engagement priorities.
43. Ensure consistency in policy positioning, stakeholder engagement approaches, and corporate reputation management across all markets.
44. Support subsidiaries in navigating complex regulatory and political environments, including proactive risk identification and mitigation.
45. Enable capability building within subsidiary teams through knowledge transfer, playbooks, and shared best practices.
46. Monitor and track subsidiary performance against defined corporate and external affairs KPIs, highlighting risks and intervention areas.
47. Strengthen coordination between Group and in-country teams to ensure seamless execution of cross-market initiatives and strategic priorities.
48. Uphold the company code of conduct, policies and procedures, ensuring integrity and accountability in every aspect of work.
49. Adhere to safety, health, and wellbeing policies, guidelines and procedures in all actions and decisions.

1. Bachelor’s degree in Law, Finance, Economics, Public Policy, Banking, Business Administration, or a related field from a recognized institution.
2. Master’s degree in Finance, Banking, Public Policy, Business Administration, Law, or a related discipline is strongly preferred.
3. 10–15 years of progressive experience in financial services regulation, digital financial services, fintech policy, banking supervision, or regulatory advisory roles.
4. Minimum of 5 years operating at a senior management level within a regulated financial institution, fintech company, central bank, regulatory authority, or advisory environment.
5. Strong understanding of Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) regulatory frameworks, including payment systems, prudential standards, consumer protection, AML/CFT, and digital finance supervision.
6. Demonstrated experience managing regulatory approvals for new financial products, partnerships, or operating model changes.
7. Deep understanding of digital financial services ecosystems, including mobile money, open banking, APIs, interoperability, lending, data governance, and AI-driven financial models.
8. Proven ability to analyze regulatory frameworks and translate supervisory expectations into commercially viable solutions.
9. Experience engaging senior regulatory officials and participating in structured supervisory discussions.
10. Strong commercial acumen, with the ability to balance regulatory compliance with growth enablement and product scalability.
11. Demonstrated ability to operate with high discretion, judgment, and political sensitivity in high-stakes regulatory environments.
12. Excellent analytical, drafting, and executive communication capabilities.