Services Controls: Kenya Site Lead- Senior Vice President

This is an exciting opportunity to be the part of an established team in Citi’s Services’ Controls organization based in Kenya with senior responsibilities across the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) Cluster for Services business

The Controls function is part of Services’ 1st line of defense, and the SSA Cluster team manages risk in alignment to this, within the wider Middle East and Africa (MEA) Franchise given the unique Regulatory regimes that are at play

About the role

• Critical senior Risk & Control Site Lead based in Nairobi, Kenya, supporting Services Controls leadership and governance for Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) and broader MEA Cluster— a strategically significant and growing hub within the MEA cluster.

• This role is specifically designed to provide on-the-ground senior leadership as one of the MEA cluster's most important strategic locations. The Kenya site is not only a key in-country market but increasingly serves as a scalable hub for MEA cluster operations — making strong, embedded Controls oversight at this location a critical priority for the franchise.

• Importantly, MEA Services Controls organization already has an established presence in Nairobi with an existing team of 3 professionals on the ground — a clear demonstration of the site's growing strategic relevance and a strong foundation upon which this senior Site Lead hire will build. Critically, this role also carries a Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) regulatory compliance and governance mandate, with a longer-term view of supporting the broader MEA cluster — making it a significant and expanding strategic reach.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide dedicated, on-the-ground senior Risk & Control leadership and governance for the Kenya site and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), supporting Controls delivery at one of the MEA cluster's most strategically significant locations.

• Drive a proactive, forward-looking risk reduction agenda through thematic reviews, early identification of control gaps, and continuous process improvement across SSA and the broader MEA Cluster.

• Implement the R&C Target Operating Model (TOM) principles with rigour and consistency at the Kenya site level, bridging ground-level execution with the broader MEA Controls leadership structure.

• Serve as the primary Controls partner Services Country Operations — acting as the key bridge between Operations, Product, and Geography teams to deliver a unified approach to risk and control across all products.

• Identify and drive enhancements to documentation, controls, and processes — including within the Managers Control Assessment (MCA) construct — to meet local and cross-border risk and regulatory requirements across SSA.

• Monitor and ensure compliance with primary and secondary regulatory requirements across SSA for Services, accounting for the diverse and unique regulatory regimes across the sub-region.

• Lead and develop the existing Nairobi-based Controls team of 3 professionals, building capability and capacity in line with the site's growing strategic importance as a scalable MEA hub.

• Lead the identification, escalation, and end-to-end resolution of control issues and risk events cross the SSA and MEA Cluster in line with firmwide escalation guidelines.

• Build and maintain strong relationships with senior stakeholders across multiple countries, Citi franchise, products, and control functions within MEA and globally, to influence outcomes and drive accountability.

Knowledge/ Experience:

• Bachelor’s Degree is required.

• 10+ years expertise in Operational Risk Management and other regulatory related function within Financial Services sector preferred.

• Deep understanding of Operational Risk and related frameworks as they relate to the banking sector is required, as is a working knowledge of the Regulatory environments/regimes within MEA countries for Transaction Banking.

• Proven record in monitoring compliance to regulations including controls and process mapping within the Managers Control Assessment (MCA) construct.

• Excellent business acumen, and ability to quickly understand multiple areas within a function and across functions, and how they interact to achieve the objective of the processes.

• Strong working knowledge of the regulatory landscape impacting Transaction Banking across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) — including but not limited to payment system regulations, foreign exchange controls, anti-money laundering (AML) frameworks, central bank reporting requirements, and cross-border transaction regulations across key SSA markets such as Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, and South Africa.

• Ability to identify, assess, and respond to regulatory change across SSA markets — translating evolving requirements into timely and effective control and process updates within the Services business.

Competencies:

Risk & Control Leadership

• Proactive risk reduction mindset with a commitment to forward-looking control management through thematic reviews and early gap identification.

• Proven ability to design, challenge, and remediate controls across complex, multi-market environments, with a particular understanding of SSA's regulatory and operational landscape.

Site Leadership & Team Development

• Demonstrated ability to provide embedded, on-the-ground senior leadership at a strategic hub location, setting the tone for risk and control culture at the site level.

• Proven experience in leading and developing small, high-impact teams — building capability, fostering ownership, and scaling teams in line with growing organisational mandates.

• Ability to translate cluster-level strategy into ground-level execution, ensuring Target Operating Model principles are implemented with consistency and rigour.

Strategy & Transformation

• Ability to develop and execute a controls strategy that supports business transformation and long-term sustainable growth.

• Operates effectively at both strategic and executional levels — big picture thinking with high attention to critical detail.

• Strong process improvement orientation with a track record of embedding continuous improvement into risk and control delivery.

Operational & Processing Risk Management| Compliance & Regulatory Change Management

• Deep understanding of operational and processing risk frameworks as they apply to Transaction Banking and financial products across the SSA region.

• Proven record in identifying, assessing, and remediating processing risk exposures, including controls and process mapping within the MCA construct.

• Demonstrated ability to identify, assess, and manage the impact of regulatory change on the business — translating new and evolving regulatory requirements into actionable control and process updates across SSA markets.

• Experience in managing end-to-end regulatory change programmes, including horizon scanning, gap analysis, control remediation, and embedding changes into BAU governance and monitoring frameworks.

Stakeholder Influence & Communication

• Exceptional ability to engage and influence senior leaders, Country, Cluster and Product managers across a complex, matrixed organization.

• Strong written, verbal, and analytical skills — able to distil complex risk topics into clear, actionable insights for senior audiences.

Influencing & Matrix Effectiveness

• Proven ability to drive outcomes and effect change without direct authority — influencing senior stakeholders and cross-functional teams through credibility, expertise, and relationship capital.

• Skilled at building consensus and holding teams accountable across a highly matrixed, multi-geography organization, navigating competing priorities and ambiguous accountabilities across markets.

• Adept at translating complex risk and control issues into business terms to secure buy-in from non-controls audiences and drive timely decision-making at senior levels.

Execution & Accountability

• Committed to delivering results with exceptional execution skills and high personal accountability.

• Strong track record of managing competing priorities across multiple markets to deliver high-quality, timely outputs.

• Effective at managing compliance monitoring routines, audits, and governance cycles concurrently.

Collaboration & Cross-functional Partnership

• Acts as a principal partner to Operations, Product, Geography, and Technology teams across a geographically diverse cluster.

• Comfortable navigating complex, highly matrixed organizations across 29 markets with varying regulatory and operational contexts.

• Strong relationship-building skills across multiple countries, products, and control functions within MEA and globally.

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## Job Family Group:
Controls Governance & Oversight
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## Job Family:
Cross-disciplinary Controls
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## Time Type:
Full time
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## Most Relevant Skills
Please see the requirements listed above.
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## Other Relevant Skills
For complementary skills, please see above and/or contact the recruiter.
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