Head of Technology and Operations (PAPSS) at the African Export Import Bank (Afreximbank)

Afreximbank was established in Abuja, Nigeria in October, 1993 by African Governments, African private and institutional investors as well as non-African financial institutions and private investors for the purpose of financing, promoting and expanding intra-African and extra-African trade.

The Bank, headquartered in Cairo, the capital of the Arab Republic of Egypt, commenced operations on 30 September, 1994, following the signature of a Headquarters Agreement with the host Government in August, 1994. It has branch offices in Harare, Abuja and Abidjan and will open an East Africa branch office shortly.

CA Global Headhunters has been retained by the Afreximbank based in Cairo, Egypt to recruit for the position below:

Job Title: Head of Technology and Operations (PAPSS)

Reference Number: LEEBLR12
Location: Cairo, Egypt
Working time: Full-time

Pan African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS)

• The Pan African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) is the first centralized payment market infrastructure for processing, clearing and settling of intra-African trade and commerce payments. PAPSS is an arm of the African Export- Import Bank (Afreximbank), which is a pan-African multilateral financial institution, established in 1993 for the purpose of financing and promoting intra and extra African trade. Afreximbank operates and manages PAPSS.
• PAPSS is now ready to start operations and is looking for experienced individuals, who are innovative, entrepreneurial and imbued with the passion and commitment to transform Africa through trade.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for every aspect of PAPSS operations and technology management.
• Oversee the development and implementation of information technology strategy, standards, process, frameworks, methodologies and KPI’s in support of the PAPSS Initiative’s objectives including automation and continuous process improvements.
• Oversee payment system operations including clearing and settlement operations.
• Develop, maintain and deliver reports on technology and operations team delivery, including KPIs on delivery and on-going efficiency.
• Provide global strategic and technical direction for a highly services oriented PAPSS IT and operations.
• Establish and maintain technology team delivery tracking, communicating information, and challenging team delivery
• Ensure consistent best practices, processes, and procedures for technology operations
• Engage with technical partners and stakeholders to navigate challenges and identify risks and opportunities for technology Operations.
• Develop, maintain and implement the IT Security strategy for the organisation.
• Manage the technology and vendor selection processes supporting build-buy-partner decisions
• Define and manage the technology landscape and blueprint for entire solution stack

Requirements
Qualification and Skill:

• Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related technical field from a well-recognized university and post graduate degree is a must. Professional certifications will be an added advantage.
• Minimum 12 years of experience in Telecommunications, Banking, Fintech, Consulting and related field.
• 8+ years of demonstrable experience in managing large-scale technology operations for large scale digital products within a high growth, global, matrixed environment.
• 3+ years in developing solution architecture and leading Technology operations teams for digital payment product development and complex system integration projects.
• Experience managing digital payment switching (clearing) operations or demonstrate evidence of exceptional understanding of clearing operations and payment system clearing and settlement.
• Previous experience managing large scale Card processing technology and switching operations for any of the global brands is a great advantage.
• Proven ability to set technical vision and build the technical product roadmap from launch to scale; Drive continuous product improvement; Effectively align resources to achieve key business priorities, including appropriate scope, high quality and timely product releases.
• Experience in establishing product sustainability (e.g. disaster recovery, business continuity plan etc.)
• Experience with building and managing scalable and reusable service-based architectures including APIs, serverless, and microservices frameworks.
• Experience with managing data streaming, ETL and messaging/integration platforms & frameworks like Apache Spark, Hadoop, Kafka, Redshift etc.
• Experience with backend/platform engineering, scaling performance engineering, security, Disaster Recovery, etc.
• Experience building complex API integrations with multiple SaaS, BaaS and Legacy Enterprise service bus integrations.
• Experience with payment standards and SWIFT infrastructure.
• Strong understanding of information security and regulatory compliance.
• Strong knowledge of DevOps and cloud infrastructure services (AWS, Google and Azure preferred).
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English. Knowledge of any of French, Portuguese and Arabic is an advantage.
• Analytical skills.
• A proven background in IT delivery or planning roles, with an interest in technology and Fintech.
• Excellent relationship management skills that enable you to work with multiple internal and external stakeholders.
• The ability to effectively drive change in a dynamic environment across multi-functional teams.
• A creative thinker with a broad understanding of the needs of technologists and senior leadership.

Benefits and Contractual information

• Permanent
• USD tax exempt salary
• Willing and able to relocate to Cairo, Egypt
• Suitably qualified candidates from all African nationalities are encouraged to apply

Application Closing Date
31st December, 2020.