BRAC Tanzania Finance Limited (BTFL) is the largest Microfinance organization in Tanzania with a mission to responsibly provide a range of financial services to people at the bottom of the pyramid. We particularly focus on women living in poverty in rural and hard-to-reach areas to create self-employment opportunities, build financial resilience, and harness women’s entrepreneurial spirit by empowering them economically.

Head of Innovation and Customer Experience

The Head of Innovation and Client Experience (HoICex) leads the strategic design, development, and delivery of inclusive, client‑centered credit solutions that advance BTFL’s mission to provide responsible, scalable, and high‑impact financial services, with special focus on women and youth. The HoICex provides cross‑functional leadership across product development, social performance and impact management, digital financial services, communications, strategic partnerships, and knowledge management to ensure cohesive product ecosystems and measurable client outcomes.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Strategic Leadership and Planning

• Lead development and execution of BTFL’s business development strategy, ensuring alignment with the social mission, strategic priorities, and regulatory requirements.
• Drive market, customer, and competitive analysis to identify new product, channel, and partnership opportunities and translate insights into business cases, roadmaps, and measurable KPIs.
• Champion human-centered, data-driven innovation by institutionalizing design frameworks, standards, and learning cycles, while advising leadership on emerging trends in digital finance, fintech, and credit risk.

2. Product Design and Innovation

• Oversee the full lifecycle of credit products from ideation, pilot and testing through to review and scale; ensure products remain affordable, responsible, and responsive to diverse client needs with emphasis on women and youth.
• Lead quantitative and qualitative research, client surveys, and poverty outreach assessments; translate evidence into product features, pricing, delivery channels, and client protection measures.
• Coordinate product development with field operations, risk, IT, and digital teams to ensure operational feasibility, system integration, and frontline readiness.
• Establish and manage ongoing product performance reviews to evaluate relevance, client outcomes, operational cost, and profitability; recommend adaptation, scale‑up, or phase‑out decisions based on data and lessons learned.

3. Digital Financial Services and Transformation

• Develop and execute BTFL’s DFS roadmap and annual work plans in collaboration with cross-functional teams to expand outreach, enhance client experience, reduce transaction costs, and scale digital onboarding, payments, monitoring, and collections.
• Ensure DFS initiatives embed digital and financial literacy, data privacy, informed consent, consumer protection, regulatory compliance (including KYC and data protection), and accessibility for low-connectivity and digitally-underserved clients.
• Build and manage strategic partnerships with vendors, MNOs, and fintech platforms, oversee integrations and SLAs, and drive adoption of digital tools by monitoring usage, satisfaction, and operational KPIs for continuous improvement.

4. Client Impact and Social Performance

• Implement the Universal Standards for Social and Environmental Performance Management and Client Protection Standards across BTFL’s portfolio to safeguard client wellbeing and institutional integrity.
• Define and embed outreach and outcome targets for poverty outreach, women and youth inclusion, and resilience in product lifecycles, performance monitoring, and strategic planning.
• Oversee systematic collection, analysis, and reporting of client impact data and ensure insights are integrated into product design, digital strategy, and external communications.
• Coordinate with Risk & Compliance, Legal to ensure products, channels, and marketing materials meet ethical standards and regulatory requirements.
• Promote environmental and social sustainability across operations and align BTFL activities with broader development objectives such as climate resilience and inclusive growth.

5. Strategic Partnerships and Resource Mobilization

• Identify, secure, and manage partnerships with fintech’s, mobile money operators, technical service providers, donor agencies, and industry associations to expand products, reach, and client engagement.
• Coordinate with BRAC affiliates and external partners to share expertise, digital platforms, and funding for initiatives aligned with BTFL’s strategy.
• Lead grant and technical assistance fundraising, producing high‑quality proposals, budgets, and donor reports with cross‑functional input.
• Negotiate partnership agreements and ensure adherence to contractual terms, donor requirements, and BTFL governance standards.

6. Knowledge Management and Communications

• Design and maintain a KM system to capture, catalogue, and share lessons learned, case studies, research, and best practices across BTFL.
• Produce high‑quality outputs such as policy briefs, impact reports, blogs, and presentations to showcase innovations and social impact.
• Promote organizational learning through webinars, peer exchanges, and cross‑team collaboration.
• Lead communications planning and execution to clearly convey BTFL’s mission, activities, and impact to internal and external audiences while upholding brand and client protection standards.

7. Cross-Functional Coordination and Stakeholder Engagement

• Collaborate with Operations, IT, and branch teams to ensure new products and digital initiatives are operationally feasible, system-ready, and supported through effective training and change management.
• Work closely with Finance and Risk to align pricing, profitability, liquidity, compliance, and capital allocation with product and digital finance strategies.
• Coordinate with HR and external stakeholders—including donors, lenders, regulators, and industry groups—to deliver capacity-building, ensure responsible DFS practices, and advocate for enabling policies while sharing BTFL’s learnings.

8. Team Leadership and Talent Management

• Provide visionary leadership to direct reports; set clear objectives, deliver regular coaching, and conduct performance reviews that support career progression.
• Hire and onboard high‑performing staff; build team capability through targeted training and mentoring.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, and mutual respect.
• Champion DEI by designing team structures, processes, and development opportunities that ensure meaningful participation of women and underrepresented groups.

9. Reporting and Accountability

• Prepare periodic reports and presentations for the CEO, board committees, and investors/donors on the progress, challenges, and impact of business development initiatives.
• Monitor performance against approved budgets, work plans, and KPIs; implement corrective actions where necessary.
• Ensure timely submission of investors/donor reports, regulatory filings, and other compliance documents.

Safeguarding Responsibilities:

• Ensure the safety of team members from any harm, abuse, neglect, harassment and exploitation to achieve the programme’s goals for safeguarding implementation. Act as a key source of support, guidance and expertise on safeguarding for establishing a safe working environment.
• Practice, promote and endorse the issues of safeguarding policy among team members and ensure the implementation of safeguarding standards in every course of action.

Educational & Experience Requirements:

• Master’s or bachelor’s in business administration or any related field
• At least 7–10 years of progressive experience in inclusive finance, microfinance, product development, digital financial services or related fields, with at least 3 years in a senior leadership role.
• Proven experience in business development, digital financial services, product innovation, or social performance and impact management.
• Demonstrated success in designing and scaling financial products for low‑income clients; experience with human‑centered design and digital innovation.

Required Competencies:

• Strong strategic planning, financial analysis and project management skills; ability to translate market insights into actionable plans.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills; ability to represent BTFL to diverse audiences and articulate complex ideas clearly.
• Experience in social performance management and impact measurement; familiarity with the Universal Standards for Social Performance Management.
• High digital literacy and understanding of how technology can advance financial inclusion.
• Commitment to client protection, ethical behavior and gender equity; ability to mentor and motivate diverse teams.

• Lead development and execution of BTFL's business development strategy, ensuring alignment with the social mission, strategic priorities, and regulatory requirements.
• Drive market, customer, and competitive analysis to identify new product, channel, and partnership opportunities and translate insights into business cases, roadmaps, and measurable KPIs.
• Champion human-centered, data-driven innovation by institutionalizing design frameworks, standards, and learning cycles, while advising leadership on emerging trends in digital finance, fintech, and credit risk.
• Oversee the full lifecycle of credit products from ideation, pilot and testing through to review and scale; ensure products remain affordable, responsible, and responsive to diverse client needs with emphasis on women and youth.
• Lead quantitative and qualitative research, client surveys, and poverty outreach assessments; translate evidence into product features, pricing, delivery channels, and client protection measures.
• Coordinate product development with field operations, risk, IT, and digital teams to ensure operational feasibility, system integration, and frontline readiness.
• Establish and manage ongoing product performance reviews to evaluate relevance, client outcomes, operational cost, and profitability; recommend adaptation, scale‑up, or phase‑out decisions based on data and lessons learned.
• Develop and execute BTFL's DFS roadmap and annual work plans in collaboration with cross-functional teams to expand outreach, enhance client experience, reduce transaction costs, and scale digital onboarding, payments, monitoring, and collections.
• Ensure DFS initiatives embed digital and financial literacy, data privacy, informed consent, consumer protection, regulatory compliance (including KYC and data protection), and accessibility for low-connectivity and digitally-underserved clients.
• Build and manage strategic partnerships with vendors, MNOs, and fintech platforms, oversee integrations and SLAs, and drive adoption of digital tools by monitoring usage, satisfaction, and operational KPIs for continuous improvement.
• Implement the Universal Standards for Social and Environmental Performance Management and Client Protection Standards across BTFL's portfolio to safeguard client wellbeing and institutional integrity.
• Define and embed outreach and outcome targets for poverty outreach, women and youth inclusion, and resilience in product lifecycles, performance monitoring, and strategic planning.
• Oversee systematic collection, analysis, and reporting of client impact data and ensure insights are integrated into product design, digital strategy, and external communications.
• Coordinate with Risk & Compliance, Legal to ensure products, channels, and marketing materials meet ethical standards and regulatory requirements.
• Promote environmental and social sustainability across operations and align BTFL activities with broader development objectives such as climate resilience and inclusive growth.
• Identify, secure, and manage partnerships with fintechs, mobile money operators, technical service providers, donor agencies, and industry associations to expand products, reach, and client engagement.
• Coordinate with BRAC affiliates and external partners to share expertise, digital platforms, and funding for initiatives aligned with BTFL's strategy.
• Lead grant and technical assistance fundraising, producing high‑quality proposals, budgets, and donor reports with cross‑functional input.
• Negotiate partnership agreements and ensure adherence to contractual terms, donor requirements, and BTFL governance standards.
• Design and maintain a KM system to capture, catalogue, and share lessons learned, case studies, research, and best practices across BTFL.
• Produce high‑quality outputs such as policy briefs, impact reports, blogs, and presentations to showcase innovations and social impact.
• Promote organizational learning through webinars, peer exchanges, and cross‑team collaboration.
• Lead communications planning and execution to clearly convey BTFL's mission, activities, and impact to internal and external audiences while upholding brand and client protection standards.
• Collaborate with Operations, IT, and branch teams to ensure new products and digital initiatives are operationally feasible, system-ready, and supported through effective training and change management.
• Work closely with Finance and Risk to align pricing, profitability, liquidity, compliance, and capital allocation with product and digital finance strategies.
• Coordinate with HR and external stakeholders—including donors, lenders, regulators, and industry groups—to deliver capacity-building, ensure responsible DFS practices, and advocate for enabling policies while sharing BTFL's learnings.
• Provide visionary leadership to direct reports; set clear objectives, deliver regular coaching, and conduct performance reviews that support career progression.
• Hire and onboard high‑performing staff; build team capability through targeted training and mentoring.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, and mutual respect.
• Champion DEI by designing team structures and recruitment strategies that promote gender balance and inclusion.