Job Title: Head, Strategy and Operations (Financial Services)
Location: Ikeja, Lagos
Job type: Full-time
Role Overview
- They are searching for a Head of Strategy and Operations.
- The Head, Strategy & Operations is a senior leadership role responsible for driving organisational performance, operational excellence, cross-functional alignment, and strategic execution across all business units.
- The role ensures that the company’s growth ambitions are translated into clear plans, efficient processes, measurable outcomes, and high-performing teams.
- You will work directly with the Executive Leadership Team to shape the company’s strategic direction, optimise operations end-to-end, strengthen business performance, and ensure consistent delivery of value across consumer, agent, distribution, and enterprise channels.
Key Responsibilities
Strategy Development & Execution:
- Lead the development of annual and quarterly strategic plans across all business verticals.
- Translate business goals into actionable roadmaps, KPIs, scorecards, and operational dashboards.
- Drive alignment between business units to ensure cohesive execution of strategic priorities.
- Continuously analyse market trends, customer insights, regulatory developments, and competitive dynamics to inform strategy.
- Facilitate OKR cycles and performance reviews across all departments.
Business Operations & Performance Management:
- Oversee daily operations to ensure efficiency, discipline, and measurable outcomes.
- Identify operational gaps, bottlenecks, and inefficiencies; develop and implement high-impact solutions.
- Build and optimise processes across credit operations, product, engineering, customer support, collections, sales, marketing, and finance.
- Implement strong governance systems, quality standards, and disciplined execution frameworks.
Cross-Functional Leadership:
- Serve as a strategic partner to function leads (Product, Engineering, Credit, Risk, Marketing, Collections, Sales, Finance, HR).
- Ensure smooth coordination across teams to deliver on business goals.
- Lead and mentor a Strategy & Operations team, including business analysts, operations managers, and project managers.
- Drive organisational culture rooted in accountability, transparency, discipline, innovation, and customer-centricity.
Digital Transformation & Automation:
- Collaborate with technology teams to deploy automated workflows, operational dashboards, and digital tools.
- Lead initiatives to digitise end-to-end customer journeys (e.g., onboarding, KYC, loan processing, collections, customer support).
- Work closely with product teams to ensure operational readiness and successful rollouts.
Financial & Commercial Oversight:
- Collaborate with Finance and Business Unit Heads to track revenue, cost, and profitability metrics.
- Review and improve pricing models, unit economics, CAC/LTV, and cost optimisation strategies.
- Support the preparation of board reports, investor updates, and executive presentations.
Project Management & Change Leadership:
- Lead major cross-company projects and strategic initiatives.
- Manage change programmes that improve performance, culture, and operational efficiency.
- Ensure disciplined project execution using proven methodologies (Agile, Lean, PMBOK, etc.).
Requirements
Education & Experience:
- Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree or MBA preferred.
- 7–12 years experience in strategy, operations, management consulting, or leadership roles in fast-paced organisations.
- Experience in fintech, digital lending, financial services, consumer finance, telecoms, or B2C/B2B2C/agent networks is highly advantageous.
- Demonstrated success in building high-performing teams and delivering measurable business results.
Technical & Professional Skills:
- Strong analytical and problem-solving ability.
- Expert-level understanding of business operations, process design, and performance management.
- Excellent knowledge of operational KPIs, financial modelling, and data-driven decision making.
- Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills.
- Ability to lead complex projects and manage multiple cross-functional priorities.
- Familiarity with digital tools, automation, CRM/ERP systems, and process optimisation.
Leadership Competencies:
- Strategic thinker with strong execution discipline.
- Inspiring leader who builds trust, accountability, and high performance.
- Entrepreneurial mindset with the ability to thrive in dynamic, fast-paced environments.
- Detail-oriented yet able to maintain a holistic, organisation-wide view.
- Strong sense of ownership, resilience, and adaptability.