OLD MUTUAL

Position: Operations Specialist

Location: Lilongwe, Malawi

Old Mutual is a firm believer in the African opportunity and our diverse talent reflects this.

Job Description

To coordinate and supervise OMFIN’s back-office operations, ensuring efficient digital loan processing, strong operational controls, timely customer onboarding, effective sales-agent administration and consistent service delivery. The position will support the scaling of private employer payroll and Annuitants lending, as well as the government payroll lending product.

Key Roles And Responsibilities

Operational leadership and process management

1. Coordinate the day-to-day activities of the Credit and Operations back-office team, ensuring effective allocation of work and achievement of service targets.
2. Monitor the end-to-end loan processing journey, from application receipt and verification through credit decisioning, approval, disbursement and post-disbursement administration.
3. Identify operational bottlenecks, control weaknesses and process inefficiencies and implement approved corrective measures.
4. Develop, maintain and improve standard operating procedures, checklists, process maps and operational controls.
5. Ensure that all operational activities are conducted in accordance with approved credit policies, product terms, delegated authorities and regulatory requirements.
6. Coordinate operational readiness for new products, process changes, system enhancements and business expansion initiatives.

Digital lending and service-level management

1. Monitor loan application volumes, processing turnaround times, pending applications, approval queues and disbursement performance.
2. Ensure compliance with approved turnaround times and escalate cases that exceed established service standards.
3. Coordinate with Credit, Finance, ICT, Digital and other relevant teams to resolve system issues and processing exceptions.
4. Monitor the integrity of information transferred between the decision engine, core banking system and other approved platforms.
5. Ensure that system access, maker-checker controls, exception handling and transaction authorisations are applied consistently.
6. Analyse operational data to identify recurring delays, errors and opportunities for automation.

Sales-agent administration and performance oversight

1. Coordinate the operational onboarding of sales agents, ensuring that required documentation, training, system access and compliance checks are completed.
2. Monitor agent application pipelines, daily activity, application quality, conversion rates and productivity.
3. Ensure that applications submitted through agents are complete, accurate and compliant with OMFIN’s onboarding and customer verification requirements.
4. Identify unusual application patterns, potential fraud indicators, misrepresentation and breaches of agent conduct standards.
5. Maintain agent performance dashboards and prepare regular reports for management.
6. Coordinate with Sales and other stakeholders to improve agent productivity while maintaining appropriate credit and operational controls.
7. Escalate agent misconduct, customer complaints and suspected fraudulent activity through approved channels.

Team management and capacity planning

1. Supervise and coach Collections Administrators, the Customer Experience Administrator and the Recovery Officer, subject to the approved reporting structure.
2. Set daily and periodic work priorities, monitor productivity and support staff development.
3. Assess workloads against transaction volumes and recommend staffing or process adjustments where necessary.
4. Ensure adequate operational coverage, continuity of critical activities and adherence to agreed deadlines.
5. Conduct performance reviews and provide regular feedback in line with the organisation’s performance management framework.

Operational risk and portfolio support

1. Monitor operational risks associated with onboarding, disbursements, collections, system processing and customer data.
2. Ensure that disbursements are supported by complete documentation and valid approvals.
3. Monitor collection and recovery reports and coordinate action on emerging portfolio risks with the relevant credit and collections personnel.
4. Maintain operational incident and exception registers and track corrective actions to completion.
5. Support compliance reviews, internal audits, risk assessments and regulatory inspections.
6. Ensure proper records management, business continuity and compliance with applicable data protection and customer confidentiality requirements.

Reporting and continuous improvement

1. Prepare operational dashboards and management reports covering loan volumes, turnaround times, disbursements, pending applications, collections, recovery and agent productivity.
2. Analyse performance trends and recommend practical measures to improve operational efficiency and customer service.
3. Track implementation of management decisions and agreed remedial actions.
4. Provide operational input into product reviews, business planning, budgeting and capacity planning.

Minimum Qualifications

1. A bachelor’s degree in accounting, Finance, Banking, Business Administration, Operations Management or another relevant discipline.
2. Strong proficiency in Microsoft Excel and operational reporting tools.

Technical and behavioural competencies

1. Strong operational planning, coordination and problem-solving skills.
2. Sound knowledge of credit administration, digital lending and operational risk controls.
3. Ability to interpret operational data and use performance indicators to drive improvement.
4. Strong team leadership, coaching and performance management skills.
5. Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.
6. Strong judgement, integrity and accountability.
7. Ability to manage competing priorities in a growing financial services business.

Key performance indicators

1. Achievement of approved loan processing turnaround times.
2. Reduction in application backlogs and processing errors.
3. Accuracy and completeness of operational reporting.
4. Sales-agent onboarding turnaround time and productivity.
5. Compliance with operational procedures and internal controls.
6. Timeliness of resolution of operational incidents and system exceptions.
7. Team productivity and achievement of departmental service targets.
8. Improvement in customer service and operational efficiency.

Required Experience

1. At least five years of relevant experience in banking, microfinance, digital lending, credit operations or financial services operations.
2. At least two years in a supervisory, team leadership or operational coordination role.
3. Demonstrated experience managing loan processing workflows, operational controls, reconciliations or service-level performance.
4. Experience with core banking systems, loan management systems and digital credit decisioning platforms is highly desirable.
5. Experience managing sales-agent networks, payroll lending operations or high-volume digital lending processes will be an advantage.

Skills

Action Planning, Analytical Thinking, Computer Literacy, Current State Assessment, Data Compilation, Data Interpretations, Data Management, Data Modeling, Digital Literacy, Document Management, Evaluating Information, Legal Practices, Management Reporting, Numerical Aptitude, Oral Communications

Competencies

1. Collaborates
2. Courage
3. Ensures Accountability
4. Financial Acumen
5. Instills Trust
6. Manages Complexity
7. Optimizes Work Processes
8. Organizational Savvy

Deadline: 06 November 2026, 23:59

Apply now

https://oldmutual.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/Old_Mutual_Careers/job/Lilongwe/Operations-Specialist_JR-84815-1