Financial Products Manager

Market Solutions Practice (MSP)

MSP corrects market failures by deploying Kifiya’s four core infrastructures—intelligent data & decisioning, intelligent financial services, digital agriculture, and smart mobility—to enable MSMEs, smallholder farmers, and low-to-middle-income individuals to access finance and markets. Our work drives job creation, social inclusion, and economic empowerment, making us a partner of choice for impact funders.

Program Overview: SAFEE Shared Facility

Under the Sustainable Access to Finance to Enable Entrepreneurship (SAFEE) program (a Kifiya–Mastercard Foundation partnership), the Shared Facility provides digital infrastructure and data-management tools to our Foundation partners. By unlocking $1.2 billion in liquidity through a 1:3 leverage model and declining guarantees, SAFEE empowers 477,861 youth‑ and women‑led MSMEs across Agriculture, Manufacturing, and Digital Entrepreneurship.

Position Summary

The Financial Products Manager leads the strategy, design, and execution of inclusive and digital financial products at Kifiya Financial Technologies. The role focuses on developing uncollateralized lending, savings, insurance, and sector-specific products—tailored to the needs of youth, women, smallholder farmers, and MSMEs. Working closely with customers, foundation partners, and financial institutions, the role includes conducting product need assessments, co-creating custom financial solutions (e.g., agri-finance, manufacturing, group lending), managing product lifecycles, and ensuring strong market performance. This position plays a critical role in advancing Kifiya’s mission to deliver intelligent, accessible, and impactful financial services across Ethiopia and beyond.

Key Responsibilities

1. Strategic Product Leadership

• Develop and implement a comprehensive financial product strategy in line with Kifiya’s mission and Intelligent Financial Services roadmap.
• Prioritize and sequence product rollouts across digital credit, insurance, savings, Islamic finance, and blended finance tools.
• Ensure strong alignment with commercial and social impact goals, including financial inclusion, youth/women outreach, and rural penetration.

2. Needs Assessment & Customization

• Conduct structured product needs assessments with:
• End customers (youth, women, rural entrepreneurs, MSMEs),
• Implementing partners of foundations (e.g. Mastercard Foundation, IFC, AGRA),
• Sector actors (agribusiness, manufacturing, digital enterprises).
• Co-design and prototype tailored financial products based on business models, cash flows, risk appetite, and repayment behavior:
• Agri-finance products linked to production cycles or aggregation windows,
• Loans tailored to manufacturing working capital or machinery acquisition,
• Group lending and saving-led products for informal or rural women’s groups,
• Individual loans for digitally active entrepreneurs and youth-led businesses.

3. Product Development & Lifecycle Management

• Lead the full product development cycle, from ideation, feasibility, and risk analysis to go-to-market strategy and pilot launch.
• Define operational workflows, pricing, risk management structures, and system integration paths.
• Lead collaboration with tech and credit teams to digitize and embed products into Kifiya’s lending infrastructure.

4. Partner & Market Coordination

• Serve as technical product focal point in discussions with partner banks, MFIs, SACCOs, fintechs, and implementing organizations.
• Translate partner program goals into viable financial products that reflect end-user readiness and digital delivery channels.
• Facilitate product testing, field validation, and feedback loops for refinement.

5. Portfolio Management & Analytics

• Oversee portfolio-level tracking of product uptake, customer repayment, partner performance, and NPL.
• Work with data and analytics teams to monitor product performance, generate customer insights, and inform continuous improvement.
• Ensure performance reporting aligns with internal dashboards and partner (including donor) MEL frameworks.

6. Leadership & Execution Oversight

• Lead, mentor, and manage the financial product team including product owners, analysts, and credit specialists.
• Build a culture of innovation, rapid iteration, and measurable impact.
• Ensure product governance: documentation, compliance, partner sign-off, regulatory approvals where needed.

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Economics, Business, or related field.
• 8+ years of experience in financial product design, inclusive finance, microfinance, or financial sector innovation—ideally in emerging markets.
• Deep understanding of MSME finance, Agri finance, trade and invoice finance, and digital lending.
• Ability to design sustainable financial pricing, repayment terms, and risksharing models.
• Knowledge of credit scoring, eligibility rules and portfolio risk management.
• Proficiency in financial modeling and understanding of unstructured financial statements.
• Skilled in translating product concepts into clear documentation for partners.
• Ability to coordinate multistakeholder projects and deliver within timelines.

Technical & AI Skills

• Preferably experienced in advanced data analysis (SQL, Excel, BI tools) to interpret AI‑driven insights and support decision‑making.
• Proficient in leveraging AI/ML‑powered platforms for reporting, monitoring, and partner performance forecasting.
• Familiarity with digital partnership tools (CRM/PRM) and automated data‑integration workflows.
• Solid understanding of blended finance mechanisms and digital lending ecosystems.

Analytical & Data Skills

• Advanced capability to translate quantitative findings into strategic recommendations for diverse stakeholders.
• Comfortable using BI tools and data visualization to communicate AI‑driven insights.

Behavioral Competencies

• Team player, Strategic thinker with strong execution focus.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Collaborative leadership style, with a passion for innovation and financial inclusion.