M-Pesa Africa - Senior Anti-Money Laundering Manager

About M-Pesa Africa

At M-Pesa Africa, we’re the heroes that make things happen.​

We are a united, energetic and passionate team. A place where leaders coach, teams connect, and everyone is empowered to go further, faster. A place where heroes become superheroes; through growth, opportunity, and the chance to work with the best minds in FinTech. ​

We are Africa’s largest FinTech providing services to more than 60 million customers and 5 million businesses solutions across Financial Services, Enterprise, Merchant and Retail. We are now well on our way to becoming the preferred digital payment method across the markets that we serve, for both in-store, remote and online payments. With headquarters in both Kenya and South Africa, we serve markets that include Kenya, Tanzania, DRC, Lesotho, Ghana, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Mozambique. 

About the Role

This varied role will lead a talented team to support the Risk & Compliance Director in the delivery of an effective risk based anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) program. This includes supporting the implementation of all proactive and reactive activities required to ensure that the business has a robust and fit for purpose anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing compliance program which demonstrates effective and transparent management of the risk within local markets and compliance with all relevant legislation and international standards.

• Serve as the Subject Matter Expert on technical AML / CFT issues providing strategic guidance to technical in-market teams;
• Ensure that M-Pesa markets have fit for purpose Financial Crime Systems. This role oversees the requirements development and implementation of Anti-Financial Crime Systems across the M-Pesa markets;
• Develop, implement and maintain M-Pesa Africa support in in-market AML/CFT policies, procedures and controls in line with local, in-market and international requirements;
• Develop and oversee methodologies for detecting and reporting suspicious activities related to AML/CFT;
• Develop and deploy AML controls best practices and foster in-market collaboration to identify and address new AML typologies, including the development, testing, and implementation of new alert typologies;
• Conduct AML /CFT risk assessments, identifying vulnerabilities and implementing strategies to mitigate them;
• Evaluate the AML risks associated with the products and services offered by M-Pesa Africa to the markets and develop appropriate controls to mitigate those risks;
• Conduct due diligence on International Money Transfer (IMT) partners and relevant M-Pesa Global Framework agreements (GFA) to ensure compliance with regulations and best practices;
• Create networks with IMT partners’ compliance teams to ensure timely resolution of AML issues that may arise;
• Creation and implementation of M-Pesa Africa AML program;
• Prepare and present relevant AML / CFT reports to the M-Pesa Africa Board Audit Committee as well as EXCO;
• Operational oversight and management of 1st level KYC screening for all M-Pesa markets;
• Lead and mentor AML/CFT professionals both in MPA as well as in-market technical AML teams;
• Partner with internal Legal, Risk and Compliance teams to align on Financial Crime Compliance goals and alignment to the relevant legislation as well as regulatory bodies.
   

• At least 7 years of relevant experience in Financial Services;
• Technical experience in the implementation of financial crime technology platforms including definition and design of business, functional and technical requirements;
• Strong analytical skills and hands on knowledge in performing advanced analysis. For example, use of Python, SQL, machine learning models etc. 
• Strong relationship building and stakeholder management skills as well as experience leading a diverse team across multiple locations;
• Ability to deal with diverse cultures;
• International experience and multicultural sensitivity.
  
  Education & Experience:
• BSc in Finance, law, Technology or related field;
• Professional certification in ACAMS Certified, ICA diploma qualification or similar relevant AML qualification preferred;
• A strong understanding of regulation, risk management, governance and control systems; 
• Experience and knowledge of financial services preferred;
• Relevant 2nd line compliance activity experience in AML or similar experience.
   

We are the leading telecommunication company in East Africa. Our purpose is to transform lives by connecting people to people, people to opportunities and people to information. We keep over 42 million customers connected and play a critical role in the society, supporting over one million jobs both directly and indirectly while our total economic value was estimated at KES 362 Billion ($ 3.2 billion) for the 12 months through March 2021. We are listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) and with annual revenues of close to KES 298 Billion ($2.5 billion) as at March 2022. We were founded in 1997 as a fully owned subsidiary of Telkom Kenya before a 40 percent acquisition by Vodafone Group PLC in May 2000, and a public offering of 25 percent shares through the NSE in 2008. Under the management of Vodafone Group PLC, we welcomed Michael Joseph, as our first CEO, a few months later in July of 2000. He led the company’s growth to accommodate 16.71 million subscribers from the previous 20,000, largely owing to innovative products like M-PESA in 2007.