Head of Innovative Financing - Africa

Job Title: Head of Innovative Financing - Africa
Reports To: President & Chief Operating Officer
Industry: Nonprofit
Location: Nairobi, Kenya
Travel: Up to 30% Travel Across the company Priority Countries in Africa
Employment Type: 12-Month Fixed-Term Contract with Potential Conversion Pathway
About the Company: Our client is a nonprofit social enterprise helping millions of smallholder farmers across Sub-Saharan Africa lift themselves out of poverty.
They seek a Financing Innovations Lead to spearhead the development, testing, and scaling of financing models that make irrigation technologies accessible to smallholder farmers. This role owns the end-to-end design of financing mechanisms—from early concept through field testing to strategic scale-up.
You'll work directly with MFIs, SACCOs, banks, cooperatives, agribusinesses, and last-mile extension agents to build a robust pipeline of financing pilots and translate evidence into an organization-wide financing strategy.
This role requires strong financial product-design and testing skills, deep understanding of smallholder economics, and ability to work across diverse markets. As irrigation financing is an emerging field, we need someone with a creative, experimental mindset who can design solutions beyond conventional microfinance.
Key Responsibilities
Financing Strategy s Model Development

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• Build the company's financing innovation roadmap for different farmer segments and value chains
  
• Design and structure diverse financial products: revolving funds, microfinance loans, value-chain financing, lease-to-own solutions, and blended-finance mechanisms
  
• Model customer economics, repayment scenarios, and partner incentives to ensure commercial viability and farmer affordability
  
• Apply creative problem-solving to build financing models that respond to farmer realities
  
• Guide leadership on strategic trade-offs, investments, and scale potential of different solutions
  
• Collaborate with Country Directors, Sales, Product, and Impact teams to integrate financing into strategies
  

Pilot Design, Testing s Iteration

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• Lead full lifecycle of financing pilots across priority countries
  
• Develop pilot concepts, budgets, implementation plans, risk frameworks, and learning agendas
  
• Support country teams through launch, implementation, and troubleshooting
  
• Synthesize evidence to refine models and inform scale-up decisions
  
• Partnership Development s Ecosystem Engagement
  
• Build relationships with financial service providers, cooperatives, and market actors
  
• Co-create financing programs with partners and negotiate operational terms
  
• Embed financing into value chains and last-mile distribution systems
  
• Represent the company in agricultural finance and financial inclusion forums
  

Data, Evidence s Portfolio Economics

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• Develop monitoring frameworks for financing pilots and partner portfolios
  
• Analyze repayment performance, default rates, customer behavior, and adoption dynamics
  
• Produce actionable insights that shape the company's financing strategy
  
• Document models with strong evidence bases and build replication toolkits
  

Qualifications

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• Minimum of a Bachelor's degree in finance, economics, business, agricultural economics, or related field
  
• Master's degree in relevant field will be an added advantage
  
• Minimum 7-10 years' experience designing/managing financial products in emerging markets
  
• Experience in smallholder agriculture, value-chain finance, embedded finance, or climate-smart financing
  
• Experience working across multiple African markets
  
• Direct experience with MFIs, SACCOs, banks, or agribusiness financial programs
  
• Demonstrated ability to design, test, and iterate inclusive-finance models
  
• Strong skills in financial modeling, unit economics, risk assessment, and portfolio analysis
  
• Rural market experience and comfort with field work
  
• Track record of launching pilots that generated actionable learning
  
• Entrepreneurial thinker who enjoys testing, learning, and iterating
  
• Strong analytical and financial-design capabilities
  
• Ability to understand farmer cashflow cycles and design appropriate products
  
• Clear communicator across diverse stakeholder groups
  
• Skilled partnership-builder navigating complex institutions
  
• Strong project management and coordination abilities
  
• High integrity with commitment to farmer-centered financing
  

How to Apply
If you are up to the challenge and possess the necessary qualifications and experience, please send your CV, quoting only the job title in the email subject (Head of Innovative Financing– Africa), to jobs@corporatestaffing.co.ke before 11th September 2026
NB: Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. If you do not receive any communication from us within two weeks of your application, kindly consider your application unsuccessful. We appreciate your interest and thank you for applying
Corporate Staffing Service never asks candidates to pay any money or pay for tests at any stage of the recruitment process