Services Controls: Kenya Site Lead- Senior Vice President at Citi

Job Description

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.