Manager – Enterprise Risk & Governance

INTRODUCTION

Our client, a real-time payment services company established under the National Payment System NPS Act, to address the challenge of inter-bank money transfers in the country and beyond, is seeking to onboard a Manager – Enterprise Risk & Governance. 

JOB SUMMARY

• The Manager - Enterprise Risk & Governance is responsible for leading enterprise risk management, third-party risk management, audit coordination, operational quality assurance, policy governance, and enterprise risk culture initiatives. S/he will serve as a key second line of oversight to the business, ensuring that enterprise risks are identified, assessed, monitored, mitigated, and reported effectively while supporting regulatory compliance and sound governance practices. The Manager - Enterprise Risk & Governance will need to have strong partnership management ability in order to engage both internal and external stakeholders.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Enterprise Risk Management & Operational Risk

• Operationalize the enterprise risk management framework and Risk Appetite Statement RAS.
• Conduct quarterly departmental risk register revalidations with business unit heads
• Maintain the enterprise risk heat map and monitor Key Risk Indicators KRIs
• Conduct operational procedure quality assurance reviews across key business functions
• Facilitate quarterly enterprise risk deep-dive sessions with business unit heads.
• Establish real-time risk tracking and reporting interfaces across operational units.
• Support identification, assessment, treatment, monitoring, and escalation of enterprise and operational risks.

Third-Party Risk Management & Vendor Governance

• Manage the end-to-end Third-Party Risk Management TPRM lifecycle
• Conduct initial and annual risk due diligence assessments for key vendors and third-party partners
• Monitor vendor compliance with contractual Service Level Agreements SLAs and applicable security standards
• Maintain an up-to-date TPRM inventory and continuous vendor risk scorecards
• Ensure material third-party risks are appropriately escalated and mitigated.

Audit Liaison & Second-Line Oversight

• Coordinate internal, external, and Central Bank of Kenya CBK supervisory audit engagements
• Coordinate audit planning, onsite activities, document requests, interviews, and management responses
• Maintain a centralized audit issue and remediation tracking register
• Monitor business-unit remediation timelines
• Conduct post-remediation validation testing to confirm closure of audit findings.

Policy Governance & Compliance Excellence

• Conduct enterprise-wide policy gap assessments
• Establish baseline compliance maturity assessments across operational units
• Review and remediate outdated, incomplete, or missing enterprise policies
• Coordinate company-wide policy attestation exercises
• Support policy harmonization and legal governance
• Support migration of contract administration to an automated Contract Lifecycle Management CLM platform integrated with TPRM processes

Enterprise Risk Culture & Awareness

• Design and deliver annual risk management training covering ERM, AML/CFT, data privacy, and related risk areas
• Establish and coordinate departmental risk champions
• Develop risk accountability and micro-training initiatives
• Conduct quarterly risk awareness and accountability sessions.

Cross-Border & Virtual Asset Risk

• Develop risk controls for regional remittance and cross-border payment channels
• Establish sanctions screening, FX liquidity, credit, and settlement risk controls
• Develop due diligence and vetting frameworks for Virtual Asset Service Providers VASPs
• Monitor regional regulatory developments affecting virtual assets and cross-border financial flows.

Risk Appetite & Management Reporting

• Facilitate Management Committee MCT calibration workshops on enterprise risks.
• Support identification and prioritization of the Top 5 Enterprise Risks.
• Develop quantitative risk metrics and Green/Amber/Red risk thresholds.
• Back test proposed risk thresholds against historical incident data.
• Establish automated escalation triggers for emerging risk exposures.
• Coordinate the governance process for formal RAS endorsement and Board Audit & Risk Committee BARC approval.

Operational Excellence

• Maintain knowledge of the function, stay abreast with the latest practices, trends, and technologies
• Model best practices in enterprise risk and governance operations and activities in order to ensure maintenance of quality performance
• Update job knowledge by participating in conferences and educational opportunities, reading professional publications, maintaining personal networks, and participating in relevant professional associations
• Maintain quality service and partnerships by establishing and enforcing company policies, procedures, standards, and values
• Put in place proper quality control checks and balances within each operational activity assigned to the function
• Regularly report on key performance indicators KPIs for all enterprise risk & governance-led projects and operations, demonstrating progress towards established goals and identifying areas for improvement.

Any other duties as required.

EDUCATION, SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

• Bachelor’s Degree in Risk Management, Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, Economics, Law, Information Systems, or any other related discipline
• Professional qualification in risk, audit, compliance, governance, or a related field.
• Relevant professional certifications such as CRMA, CERM, FRM, CIA, CISA, CPA/ACCA, or equivalent is desirable
• Enterprise risk management and risk framework implementation.
• Operational risk assessment and mitigation.
• Third-Party Risk Management TPRM and vendor due diligence.
• Audit coordination, engagement management, and remediation tracking.
• Policy governance, gap assessment, and compliance maturity frameworks.
• Risk appetite and KRI/KPI development and backtesting.
• Regulatory and compliance risk awareness across virtual assets, cross-border channels, and payment systems
• Contract and SLA governance including CLM platform integration
• Proficiency in risk management, reporting, GRC, and data-analysis tools
• Risk reporting and executive-level presentation
• Facilitation, workshop delivery, and training skills
• Project and change management skills
• Attention to detail, and sound professional judgment
• Ability to work across multiple business functions and influence stakeholders without direct authority.
• A collaborative working style and a strong business partnering orientation
• Knowledge of applicable laws and regulations within the field of enterprise risk and governance with a strong understanding of business issues and opportunities
• High level of integrity, confidentiality, trust, and dependability with a strong sense of urgency 
• Results-oriented, entrepreneurial, self-motivated, self-starter, who is flexible and adaptable to rapid change and has the ability to work in a fast-paced, high-demand environment
• Experience translating KPIs to teams to get buy-in and results
• Strong interpersonal, communication, and presentation skills with a good focus on organization and enhanced multitasking abilities
• Ability to leverage AI systems and tools with a good grasp of enterprise risk & governance management systems
• Ability to communicate information, whether technical or non-technical to stakeholders in a clear and concise manner
• Highly analytical with quantitative risk assessment and strong problem-solving skills.