The Ugandan Jobline

Job Title: Operations System Manager

Organisation: Tugende

Duty Station:   Uganda

Reports to: Chief Operations Officer

About Tugende:

Tugende uses asset finance, technology, and a customer-centric model to help informal sector entrepreneurs dramatically increase their economic trajectory. Tugende’s core asset finance packages include medical and life insurance, training, safety equipment and digital credit profiles in addition to affordable asset financing for SMEs. By helping clients grow economically and build digital track records of responsibility, we are creating a long-term ecosystem for MSMEs to grow and thrive.

With a market for motorcycle taxis of over 800,000 drivers in East Africa alone, Tugende is expanding rapidly in our core product. The company has 700+ employees serving clients across 23 branches in Uganda and 5 in Kenya.

About this job

Reporting to the COO, we are searching for experienced, inspirational and versatile leaders to dramatically enhance Tugende’s growth across existing and new markets.

As this is a leadership position, the ideal candidate will need to quickly connect with and earn the trust of the COO, other employees and external stakeholders, and be able to manage both teams and challenging individually driven projects. Working closely with the COO and senior management, this individual will spearhead and own end-to-end new initiatives & projects, coach teams, develop internal talent and drive increased efficiencies. This is an excellent opportunity to harness talents and skills towards the acceleration of growth for one of the leading social impact- focused scale-ups in East Africa

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

Growth Management

Generate new and innovative ideas for driving revenue growth with well-reasoned

hypotheses and analytical insights. Work on a variety of projects that steer results and implement intelligence in the following areas:

• Help Operations devise and implement strategies to achieve company goals and always improve the company’s offering.
• Develop talent and foster knowledge exchange.
• Work on a number of initiatives to help the company grow, expand, and perfect. These projects will touch different functional areas within operations from daily financial reporting to guiding employee engagement committees, from portfolio analysis to designing the training video for clients, from creating standard work to setting up a virtual seminar for financial leadership for employees.
• Review and improve operational structures, systems and processes for effectiveness.
• Ensure the Operating Manual is updated to reflect Ugandan nuances.
• Support the roll-out of projects across all typical operational functions.

Project Management

• Deliver optimal efficiencies through continuous dedication to operational improvement and effective supply chain management.
• Offer critical supervision and management in field operations including credit team (screening) and collections team as well as in back office operations e.g. administrative support team and client service.
• Foster an environment across operations that yields the sharing and implementation of best practices among all team members.
• Ensure quality control in client selection, portfolio quality management, product and processes, client protection, area selection and other aspects of operations.
• Vigilantly ensure full compliance with the existing policies of the company, especially the Operations Policies.

Other areas include:

• Regional Expansion
• Product Diversification
• Supply Chain Management
• Process Improvement
• Client Care
• Digital Platforms
• Client Training and Development
• Aftersales
• Organisational Communication and Alignment
• Talent Development for Operations Staff; form and nurture strong, relevant cross-functional relationships
• In particular, act as the bridge between operations and product development
• Travel to new / growing markets and remote locations for extended periods of time at short notice.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

Qualification and Experience:

• MBA or equivalent degree – ideally from a well-respected institution.
• At least five years’ experience in a similar industry.
• Proven project management experience with large cross-functional and virtual teams with high visibility deliverables.
• Substantial experience in both developed markets (e.g. North America, Europe) and frontier markets (ideally Sub-Saharan Africa) is critical.
• Experience in leading diverse teams and achieving stellar targets.

Prefered skills, knowledge & abilities

• Exceptional interpersonal, collaboration, and communication skills.
• Strategic mindset: A natural problem solver both analytical and structured in their thinking. Deeply understand business operations and can synthesise information to recommend a plan of action, process change and systems improvement.
• Ability to get things done: Results-driven and the ability to meet adversity with tenacity. A master organiser and with the ability to anticipate needs before they arise..
• Excellent Microsoft 365 and G Suite skills are essential
• Exceptional time management skills and good judgement in applying the Eisenhower matrix.
• Action-oriented with the ability to drive decisions and develop results of high impact.
• Leadership Traits: Self-aware and perceptive, positive, empathetic, flexible, and curious with the ability to keep track of every key project and connecting the dots. Confident and humble enough to work behind the scenes

Key Competencies

• Hold values similar to our own: Adopt and champion the values that Tugende stands for: Integrity, Empathy, Teamwork, Solutions-Oriented and Always growing.
• Confidentiality: Able to handle sensitive information professionally and confidentially.
• Positive Attitude: The main mindset of “getting things done” and finding satisfaction in developing sustainable long-term solutions at all times.
• Flexible and resilient: Willingness to travel, flexible in schedule and work hours, seek direct feedback and see every challenge as an opportunity to grow.

What will you gain?

• Career Trajectory: This is a role that gives you the opportunity to work with different professionals across the company’s different departments and countries of operation. This role provides you on-going learning in a fast-paced business environment and technology.
• Meaningful Work: Tugende’s work gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to earn a better living for themselves and their families. We are changing East Africa’s asset-finance industry by building a sustainable business that ignites financial inclusion and development. Join this movement!
• Great Team: Tugende has a smart, fun, and growing team of ~700 employees. We take our work seriously, but love to joke and have fun. We regularly have fully-paid, voluntary team outings, as well as fun parties for our customers. Our headquarters are in Kampala, Uganda and we are rapidly expanding in East Africa. Hours and compensation: This position is for an ambitious, full-time employee who will take on additional responsibilities and projects as they arise. Tugende offers competitive salaries and benefits that reflect a person’s contributions to the company’s mission and growth.

More About Tugende

Tugende means “let’s go” in Luganda and signifies the company’s mission and what you say on the back of a motorcycle taxi. Tugende has been recognized as a 2012 Unreasonable Fellow, 2014 Echoing Green Global Fellow, 2016 GSBI Fellow, and received the MIT Zambezi prize in 2015 as one of the top 3 financial inclusion start-ups in Africa. We have appeared in The Guardian, BBC, Economist, and elsewhere. 2021 Inclusive Fintech50! Award WInner

(https://www.inclusivefintech50.com/2021-cohort), the lendahand blog

(https://www.lendahand.com/en-EU/blog/804-lease-to-own-with-tugende-in-uganda) and Reuters video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htGGCJGywgg&t=10s)?

How to Apply:

Interested candidates who meet the above requirements should submit their applications electronically through our online application system.

Click Here

For more of the latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com or find us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline

Related Jobs