Chief Operations Officer

VisionFund is World Vision’s microfinance provider serving vulnerable clients through loans, savings, and insurance. We enable families to grow their livelihoods in hard to reach, rural locations in 28 countries so that caregivers can create secure futures for their children.

We believe in brighter futures for children; empowering families to create incomes and jobs; unlocking economic potential for communities to thrive.

Join VisionFund as we seek to end intergenerational poverty through microfinance.

Here’s where you come in:

As Chief Operations Officer, you will achieve VisionFund International’s (VFI) larger ambition of serving vulnerable clients through loans, savings, and insurance. You will work in partnership with the VisionFund Network and the VFI President and CEO in attaining the following core objectives:

• Simplify our operation in conjunction with building adaptive leadership qualities at all levels of senior management;
• Evolve the way we work to include ‘vertical’ approaches, as well as geographic, as we acknowledge that each Micro Finance Institution (MFI) has unique opportunities and challenges to which we must adapt our way of working to support their needs;
• Differentiate how we allocate resources and support to our MFI’s based on their specific situation and need.

As a member of the Senior Leadership Team, you will have overall accountability for the field, driving Operational Excellence and ensuring the capacity of the Network to deliver on Our Livelihoods Promise. You will be responsible for operationalising the ‘double bottom line’ performance of the Network through direct management and oversight of any business entity, be it local or VFI Global Centre, in relation to the field operations.

All MFI field staff will immediately roll up into this position. Through this reporting chain, you will have a duty of care of over 7000 staff in the network and will be closely supported by regional and MFI leaders.

Requirements include:

• A minimum of a university degree (ideally a Master’s degree) in Finance, Business, Economics, ICT, Engineering or equivalent level of knowledge demonstrated through relevant experience.
• COO experience or strong operating skills in transformational development, microfinance or banking delivering operational excellence
• 15+ years’ work experience in a global, matrix-managed organisation
• 5+ years’ experience managing people at a senior level
• Experience working in a multinational and multicultural environment with proven cross-cultural effectiveness
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and strong at influencing
• Travel up to 25% of the time