Chief Information Officer

COMPANY: Accion Microfinance Bank
JOB TITLE: Chief Information Officer
REPORTS TO: The Managing Director
SUPERVISES: Head, User Support and Head, IT Platform
DEPARTMENT: Information Technology
LOCATION: Lagos, Nigeria

Job Summary:

The Chief Information Officer will deploy and manage technology to support the MFI?s business strategy. The will include enterprise, branch, and desktop software applications, data center, network infrastructure, voice and data communications, and disaster recovery.

Key Areas of Responsibility:

? Development and implementation of IT Strategy which is closely aligned with the business strategy;
? Sets objectives, goals and plans for the unit as derived from the IT department?s strategic objectives;
? Monitor, manage, and enhance AMfB?s technical infrastructure to improve critical business drivers, minimize costs, and maximize uptime and security;
? Plan, analyze, and deploy new technology projects to increase revenue and gross margins, and reduce operating costs including initiatives such as the point of sale devices, ATM cards, the coy intranet and internet, website maintenance and internet banking;
? Establish, manage, and publish operating metrics for IT group;
? Manage the IT support and operations staff;
? Hire, develop, and train the IT staff to provide an efficient and effective workforce;
? Work with business heads to review existing processes to ensure the efficient use of the bank?s resources (reduce cycle time, variance, handoffs, manual processes, etc);
? Manage relationships with IT vendors to achieve cost goals;
? Formulate appropriate IT policies and procedures to provide user friendly guidance for the appropriate use of the Bank?s IT resources; and
? Liaison with Headquarters and Accion International regarding IT operations.

Qualifications and Requirements:

? In depth knowledge of corporate and retail banking infrastructure.
? Familiarity with enterprise application implementation, integration, and management.
? Proven ability to manage 7x24 operations for banking, call centers, and transaction processing.
? Ability to bridge business strategy and operational drivers with IT capabilities.
? Superior people and project management skills; able to coach and motivate a team.
? Strong industry related analytical skills, e.g. read and interpret financial statements; evaluate loan recommendations.
? Strong written and oral communication skills; comfortable presenting to executive teams.
? Strong negotiation skills and business judgment.
? Independent worker; honest.
? Understand the local economy in Nigeria.
? Fluent in English.
? Extensive banking IT management experience in a Bank or Financial Institution; Specific experience with Temenos Globus /T24 banking software would be useful.

? Previous departmental level budgetary responsibility
? Prior experience with innovative technology and channels is a plus (point of sale devices, ATMs, prepaid cards, mobile phone banking, internet infrastructure and banking, etc.)
? Business process and application integration experience.
? Prior Enterprise application integration experience.
? Minimum of Bachelor degree in Engineering, Electronics, Computer Science, and/or related fields with numerate coursework is preferred.
? Possession of a relevant professional certification like ITIL, PMP, Prince2, MCSE etc. is required.

Key Performance Indicators:

? Internal & external customer satisfaction and retention levels.
? Level of compliance bank wide with IT Security requirements and guidelines.
? Adequacy of internal systems and controls.
? Number of operational downtimes due to system failure.
? Occurrence/frequency of security breaches/violations.
? Compliance with IT regulatory provisions.
? Number and value of regulatory penalties caused by IT.
? Compliance level of the IT staff with internally pre-agreed SLAs/OLAs.

Applications: Please submit letter of interest and resume online at www.accion.org

About ACCION:

Accion Microfinance Bank is one of the largest microfinance banks in Nigeria with a capitalization of N1.2bn. Its shareholders include three of the leading commercial banks in Nigeria; Citibank, Zenith Bank, Ecobank, as well as three global financial institutions; IFC a subsidiary of the World Bank, SME Manager and Accion Investment which is a subsidiary of Accion International. Established in 1961 and a leader in microfinance since 1973, ACCION International has over 45 years of experience in the field of international economic development. ACCION today is one of the premier microfinance organizations in the world, with a network of lending partners that spans Latin America, Africa, Asia and the United States serving over 3.12m clients with an active portfolio $2.97bn.

Accion Microfinance Bank was established in Nigeria in 2006 has disbursed over N1.5bn in loans and currently has an active portfolio of over N660, 000,000 and 18,000 active clients. Staff strength has grown rapidly from 6 in 2006 to 170 as at August 2008. Please visit our website www.accionmfb.com for additional information. This rapid growth has heightened the need for a robust and professionally run operations department.