Supply Chain Partnerships & Commercial Growth Lead

Role Overview

This is a commercial origination role for someone who can move fluidly between boardroom strategy and operational execution. You will be responsible for finding large enterprises operating across East African supply chains — manufacturers, FMCG brands, distributors, healthcare suppliers — and converting their distribution networks into new lending opportunities. Every partnership you win will become a dedicated credit programme for the smaller businesses in that chain, so you are expected to own the full life cycle: sourcing a partner, negotiating the deal, shaping the product, managing the launch, and then nurturing the relationship until lending volumes show real growth. The work matters because you are the person who connects local MSMEs to finance that was previously out of reach, and in doing so you directly move revenue, inventory, and growth through the company.

Key Responsibilities

• Proactively identify and prioritise anchor organisations whose distribution ecosystems include active networks of MSMEs, retailers, wholesalers, and agents across FMCG, agriculture, healthcare, manufacturing, distribution, and retail.
• Build trusting, senior-level relationships with C-suite decision-makers and commercial leaders — including CEOs, CFOs, commercial directors, and heads of distribution — to uncover financing gaps worth solving.
• Lead commercial conversations from initial pitch through negotiation and final agreement, ensuring each signed partnership has a clear path to generating scalable loan origination.
• Move supply-chain insights into concrete credit programme concepts: define the target borrowers, use cases, ticket sizes, repayment structures, expected volumes, and risk assumptions.
• Design and execute sector-specific go-to-market actions that position the company’s Origination-as-a-Service offering and drive interest among high-value anchor partners.
• Maintain a fully visible partnership pipeline with realistic forecasted revenue, close dates, and stage progression, while reporting weekly on both deal health and portfolio performance.
• Bring together product, credit, data, marketing, operations, technology, and capital teams to take a signed partnership from handover to successful launch — then stay engaged to keep the programme performing.
• Continuously monitor adoption, portfolio value, and repayment quality across active partnerships, identifying ways to deepen usage and deliberately increase financing directed to women-owned MSMEs.

Requirements & Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, economics, supply-chain management, marketing, or another relevant field.
• At least 5 years of hands-on experience in business development, partnerships, sales, or a commercial function within banking, fintech, supply-chain finance, FMCG, distribution, or a related industry.
• A demonstrable record of opening and closing B2B partnerships, ideally with enterprises of mid- to large size.
• Deep understanding of how goods flow through distributors, wholesalers, retailers, and MSME end-sellers — and where short-term finance can make that flow faster and more predictable.
• Existing contacts and networks within East African supply chains is a major asset, particularly at anchor businesses, distributor groups, and MSME trade associations.
• Hands-on experience running a commercial pipeline, with accountability for monthly and quarterly revenue or origination targets.
• Strong negotiation and senior relationship skills, plus the ability to switch between commercial conversations and operational credit discussions.
• Solid analytical and financial-modelling capabilities, with a practical grasp of credit economics and programme profitability.
• High-level written and verbal communication skills for executive audiences.
• High ownership, disciplined execution, and an entrepreneurial drive.

Preferred

• Experience in fintech, embedded finance, digital lending, supply-chain finance, banking, or another financial-services context.
• Prior involvement designing or launching a credit or financing programme for dealers, agents, distributors, or small merchants.
• Established relationships in FMCG, agriculture, healthcare, distribution, retail, or other MSME-heavy value chains.
• Understanding of how funding is structured with financial institutions, lenders, investors, or capital providers.
• Demonstrated work in developing or delivering financial products aimed at women-owned MSMEs.
• Comfort operating in a fast-paced startup or scale-up environment.

What We Offer / Why Join

This is not a traditional salary-only desk role. The compensation model reflects the high expectations for results, combining a competitive fixed monthly base with a variable commission structure tied to outcomes you can control. You earn when you close a qualifying anchor partnership, again when that partner goes live and starts originating, and continue earning as the partnership generates revenue and built portfolio performs. High-value, strategically significant relationships also open the door to additional bonuses.

There is a long-term ownership angle as well: after 12 months of demonstrating sustained commercial growth, strong partnership performance, and meaningful contribution to company results, you may be invited into an employee stock-ownership plan. For a commercially minded person looking to build a career in embedded finance, this role offers the rare opportunity to shape an emerging origination model while directly watching the impact unfold across East African supply chains.

Please send your CV and cover letter to [email protected].

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REF: 26 / SUPPLY CHAIN PARTNERSHIPS & COMMERCIAL GROWTH LEAD