Manager, Lender Capacity Building

Role Overview

This role leads Aceli’s lender capacity building program, which helps partner financial institutions expand and strengthen their agricultural SME lending. Day-to-day, you will shape the program’s strategic direction, coordinate a panel of specialist advisory firms, and manage the delivery of both bespoke and cohort-based technical engagements across five countries. The work directly enables commercial banks, non-bank financial institutions, and SACCOs to serve more agri-SMEs sustainably, making the role central to Aceli’s mission.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and operationalise the lender capacity building strategy, translating high-level goals into annual workplans for bespoke and cohort-based engagements across all five countries.
• Work with country teams to identify and qualify potential lenders, assessing institutional readiness, executive commitment, and genuine intent to expand agri-SME lending.
• Co-design engagement scopes with lenders, including conducting diagnostics, validating readiness, and facilitating applications for capacity building support.
• Oversee active engagements end-to-end: monitor timelines, review deliverables, manage escalations, and ensure consistent use of standard templates and key performance indicators.
• Coordinate with the Impact & Learning team to integrate thematic priorities such as gender inclusion and climate adaptation into capacity building engagements.
• Manage procurement of external advisory providers—issuing task order solicitations, evaluating proposals, awarding assignments, and maintaining master services agreements.
• Monitor provider performance through quarterly scoring, quality reviews, and direct backstopping where needed to maintain high standards.
• Own the monitoring, evaluation, and learning framework for the program—updating standard tools, ensuring consistent use from January 2027 onwards, and compiling data for internal reviews, donor reporting, and organisational learning.
• Manage the program budget, tracking both Aceli contributions and lender co-investments, reviewing activity budgets, and providing regular forecasts.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Economics, Business Administration, Agricultural Economics, Development Studies, or a related field; a Master’s degree is advantageous.
• At least eight years of relevant professional experience, with a minimum of four years in an advisory role or working within/alongside financial institutions.
• Demonstrated understanding of agricultural lending practices in sub-Saharan Africa, including agri-SME credit appraisal, loan structuring, and portfolio risk management.
• Proven project management skills—able to juggle multiple assignments, manage external service providers, and maintain client relationships within time and budget constraints.
• Strong analytical capabilities for conducting or reviewing financial institution diagnostics, interpreting portfolio data, and translating findings into actionable recommendations.
• Excellent written and verbal communication—comfortable preparing high-quality reports, engagement briefs, presentations, and terms of reference.
• Experience managing or contributing to monitoring, evaluation, and learning frameworks in advisory or program settings.
• Credibility to engage confidently with senior leadership of financial institutions, including C-suite stakeholders.
• Preferred: Experience at a management consulting firm, specialist advisory firm, or development finance institution with a financial sector advisory mandate.
• Preferred: Familiarity with the agri-finance ecosystem in East Africa, including lender segments, regulatory environments, and value chain financing models.
• Preferred: Exposure to climate finance, gender-lens lending, or ESG integration in financial institutions.
• Preferred: Experience procuring and managing external consultants or technical service providers.
• Preferred: Proficiency in data tools such as advanced Excel, Power BI, or Salesforce for program reporting.