SME Cluster Manager - Western

SME Cluster Lead

Job Summary

Reporting to the Head of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME), the jobholder will directly lead a relationship team managing a portfolio of SMEs with annual turnover exceeding Kshs 30 million, while also managing their own portfolio in selected regions. The role includes coordinating the SME Sales Management process for relationship-managed clients and championing change initiatives that impact the SME Business segment within the cluster.

Key responsibilities include:

• Delivering full SME targets for the specified cluster, including portfolio business.
• Growing SME market share by identifying and executing growth opportunities.
• Managing SME Net Promoter Score (NPS) for the cluster to exceed 60.
• Maximising sustainable, risk-adjusted portfolio contribution and Economic Profit (EP) on both an individual and aggregate team/cluster basis.
• Ensuring sufficient focus on SME Enterprises with overall accountability for regional sales and service targets, including product penetration.

Responsibilities

Key Accountabilities / Deliverables / Outcomes

Sales and Service – 35%

• Grow own and sub-team’s portfolio profitability by identifying new and existing customer potential, including sales opportunities and new product promotion initiatives.
• Formulate SME business development strategies and objectives to meet changing market needs.
• Build relationships with SME Relationship Managers, SME Bankers, and Universal Bankers in assigned branches to ensure customer needs and service issues are communicated and followed up timeously.
• Proactively research competitive threats and opportunities within the cluster’s market and geographical area.
• Increase product penetration for the existing customer base by reviewing own and team’s portfolio to determine potential cross-sells and proactively recommend new products.
• Conduct regular face-to-face customer visits and arrange focused social events and individual entertainment, with primary responsibility for top revenue-generating clients in SME.
• Initiate credit applications for new and existing customers by completing documentation, performing financial analysis, and submitting applications to SME Credit for approval.
• Conduct risk analysis on the customer base, including financial statements and current portfolio held with Absa. Submit proposals to SME Credit Risk for new loan applications, including motivating interest rates based on the risk profile.
• Communicate all key messages to customers, including agreed service standards, negotiated pricing, relationship team contact points, and new product changes.
• In conjunction with the SME Head, organise SME meetings or conferences aimed at raising our game to beat competition.
• Champion the culture of change needed to reinforce consistent sales and service performance.
• Establish and maintain excellent working relationships with key stakeholders and colleagues in own and other functions to deliver first-class sales and service.
• Proactively support the Business Club and Women in Business proposition, providing input to seminars and trips arranged for customers, and ensuring high customer retention.
• Onboard Relationship Managed clients for the assigned cluster.

People Management – 30%

• Lead the SME Relationship Managers in the cluster using a team-based management approach.
• Coach cluster team members (including LGs, UBs, Bankers, ARMs, RMs) on SME, relationship development, service quality, and risk.
• Support team members to identify their strengths and weaknesses and develop personal development plans.
• Agree Performance Management (PM) objectives and assess performance of SME Relationship Managers against agreed objectives.
• Build and develop a high-performing team through embedding performance development and coaching.
• Regularly review staff performance patterns based on the sales dashboard and balanced scorecard statistics.
• Sign off leave requests from team members.
• Initiate disciplinary charges for the team as required, following the established disciplinary, capability, and grievance processes on advice from HR. Act as first-level escalation point for grievances.
• Act as the escalation point for unresolved queries and complaints on SME received from the entire cluster.
• Motivate staff to deliver and ensure they are recognised through recognition schemes.

Business Management – 35%

• Work with the cluster team to achieve sales targets in the cluster/region through business development activities. Ensure proper sales discipline is in place (e.g., each SME RM/Banker submits weekly sales plans and reports on realisation).
• Agree sales and service targets for the team against key financial, sales, service, and operational targets.
• Through regular client surveys (formal and informal), identify broader issues in the customer base around pricing, product promotions, and product features. Feed identified trends back to the Head of SME Banking.
• On a regular basis, interface with product specialists, particularly the Vehicle and Asset Finance team, to keep product knowledge current and follow up on all opportunities.
• Disseminate SME policy, product, service quality, and marketing information to branches in the allocated area. Educate SME Relationship Managers, Branch Managers, SME Bankers, and Universal Bankers on SME campaigns and products.
• Together with SME Credit, conduct annual reviews of existing facilities to check utilisation and the continued health of the cluster SME portfolio.
• Monitor conformance of the team using new relationship development procedures.
• Review excess reports and approve excesses within assigned limits.
• Champion, manage, and monitor implementation of change programmes or initiatives impacting the cluster team.
• Consult customer owners and managers on financial/credit issues and general business practices/ideas.
• Develop Customer Relationship Plans for selected customers in the portfolio across the sub-team and provide a quality assurance role.
• Assess the quality of credit applications from the cluster through sampling.

Role / Person Specification

Qualification

• A degree from a reputable institution.

Experience

• Minimum of 3 years in SME sales management experience within a bank, with a good appreciation of Absa’s business culture, objectives, products, and services.
• Proven track record in SME sales, SME credit risk, relationship, and portfolio management.
• Willingness and ability to travel regularly to branches within the assigned region to provide support.
• People management experience.
• Up-to-date knowledge of competitor and market activity in the local area.
• High attention to detail and a high sense of urgency.
• Flexibility and adaptability to meet the challenging demands of the role.
• Ability to work under pressure to tight timescales while producing high-quality output.
• Ability to deal with and relate well with staff at all levels.
• High focus on internal customer service excellence.