Head - Controls & Governance

About the role

KCB Group, a non-operating holding company overseeing KCB Kenya and its regional units in East Africa, is hiring a Head of Controls & Governance in Westlands, Nairobi. The role covers reconciliation oversight, operational risk controls, quality assurance and assurance of controls, working closely with Internal Audit.

Key responsibilities

• Monitor adherence to Group standards on reconciliation of Nostro, other assets and liabilities suspense accounts, and ensure accuracy and integrity of accounts.
• Monitor, escalate and ensure correction of outstanding items in reconciled accounts for KCB Kenya and its subsidiaries.
• Monitor settlement accounts so they are reconciled against statement and ledger balances, and oversee automation and centralization of reconciliation for new products.
• Continuously review compliance, improve efficiency of operational processes and validate first-level controls.
• Work with Internal Audit to identify key risk parameters for audit planning, resolve audit exceptions within agreed timeframes, and develop/manage divisional Quality Assurance.
• Identify and mitigate events exposing the bank to risk from inadequate or failed processes, people and systems.
• Oversight of risk reporting, DORCCO and escalation of issues to GORCCO; apply test processes and tools to measure the effectiveness of operational risk controls.
• Ensure continuous transaction verification and monitoring, including automation and testing tools, and provide assurance that controls are designed, implemented and effective.
• Coordinate CMT and run reviews of Operational Business Continuity Management testing, Business Impact Analysis and plans.

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, Economics, Risk Management or a related field; Master's degree an added advantage.
• Professional qualification such as CPA(K), ACCA, CIA, CISA or equivalent an added advantage.
• Minimum 10 years in Banking Operations, Shared Services, Finance, Controls, Governance or Risk Management, with at least 6 years in a senior management role.
• Proven experience building governance, risk and internal control frameworks in a complex banking environment, and extensive experience in operational risk identification, control testing, issue remediation, loss prevention and regulatory compliance.
• Strong track record leading audit engagements, regulatory reviews and timely closure of findings, and driving process improvement, reconciliation automation and transformation across multi-entity operations.
• Ability to lead large teams, manage performance, develop talent and influence stakeholders across Operations, Finance, Technology, Risk, Compliance and subsidiaries.