FAST Manager, West Africa Region

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:

FAST (Finance Accelerating Savings group Transformation) is VisionFund’s program to offer financial services to saving groups. The flagship product, the FAST loan, follows a methodology, specifically designed to the target saving groups/VSLAs.

As the FAST Manager, you support and guide VisionFund MFIs during the pilot and roll out of this product, focusing on West African countries. We have already developed standards regarding product process, training materials and various guidance materials. FAST is a core pillar of VisionFund´s 2030 Our Promise Strategy to reach 10 million clients. FAST is a global business line and responsible to reach 2 million clients by 2030 working with and beyond the VisionFund network, leveraging on existing and upcoming technologies for saving groups.

You will use the existing materials, as well as develop new materials to support MFIs to increase their reach of savings groups. Each local VisionFund MFI has a local FAST product manager who has a dotted line into the FAST Regional Manager. The FAST RM is responsible for the quality, capacity and implementation of the regional FAST program. This will include capacity building among MFI staff, monitoring of operations both through field visits and through regular monitoring meetings, reports, etc., and developing new partnerships with NGOs.

Requirements include:

• University degree in relevant field (micro-finance, financial sector, or economic development, international development)
• At least 8-10 years of professional experience in development work internationally, across various countries and different cultural contexts (preferably with saving groups / livelihoods / microfinance, digital finance)
• Project management experience is required, including financial monitoring and reporting
• Specialisation in microfinance with majority of experience in group lending, proven experience in “down market” activities such as vulnerable populations e.g. refugees, rural remote communities etc.
• Must be fluent in French and English
• Must be able to travel for work (up to 30%) in very remote/rural areas and potential high-risk areas such as Mali