Manager – Agriculture lending

Function : Credit Management
Reports to : Credit Manager
Updated : April 2021

Job Summary

A Credit Product Manager in FINCA Uganda is a Senior Manager with 8 major areas of responsibility, including:

1. Product delivery: This responsibility includes working with all staff involved in Agriculture Lending to ensure quality delivery of Agriculture product lines in compliance with policies and procedures and other operational guidelines issued from time to time.
2. Quality of the Product Portfolio: this requires the Product Manager to implement Portfolio Quality Checks, Special Portfolio Audits, Achievement of PAR targets and Delinquency Management.
3. Staff Efficiency – The Product Manager leads the drive for staff productivity and efficiency, primarily through growth of loan portfolio value and clientele; and secondary through analysis of efficient credit staffing levels, recommendations of appropriate credit staff placements, and innovations in credit extension processes to achieve high productivity, efficiency and excellent customer experience.
4. Credit Policy Administration; ensuring that policies, procedures and lending processes, required to implement sound credit management practices are effectively communicated, disseminated and implemented; and collecting feedback highlighting areas where policy reviews are required.
5. Product innovations: aimed at improving existing products, product features and processes for competitiveness and innovations for new Agriculture Lending Products. The Product Manager takes lead in the implementation of new products during pilot until they’re commercialized.
6. Capacity building: training & development, technical guidance, rotation, performance tracking and management and effective communication aimed at inspiring desired performance.
7. Management of Partnerships, Structured Value Chain Financing programs and FINCA Uganda Collaborations with funders, sponsors and external stakeholders in the area of agribusiness lending.
8. Planning and reporting: Budgeting and Budget Variance Analysis Reports, Stress Testing Reports, Product Profitability Reports.

Key Performance Indicators
The Product Manager – Agriculture Lending is ultimately responsible for achieving 5 Key Performance Indicators, in particular:

• Quality of the Agriculture Loan Portfolio (PAR>1day and PAR>30days)
• Growth for Number of Borrowers & Portfolio Value.
• Capacity Utilization of staff to the set standards.
• Profitability of the Agriculture Loans Portfolio.
• Number of Audit issues identified related to failure in quality of delivery and execution of the Agriculture loan product.

Essential Duties of the Manager – Agriculture Lending

1. To design, innovate and ensure quality delivery of Agriculture Lending product lines and to initiate implementation strategies and action plans for growth of the product lines; design product performance tracking tools and transform pertinent processes into standard policies and procedures for Agriculture Lending
2. To make periodical review of FINCA Uganda’s Agriculture Lending procedures and processes and make recommendations to Management for the purposes of correcting any inadequacies.
3. To do frequent branch visits to ensure that staff comply with FINCA Uganda’s policies and procedures. Agriculture Lending must be performed within all existing company policies and procedures including promotion, assessment, recommendation, approval, disbursement, and monitoring and arrears management.
4. To do regular field visits to select clients to confirm existence of the clients, businesses assessed, verify the quality of collateral pledged and review the loan field analysis conducted by the loan officer, in order to make or advise management to make appropriate loan decisions.
5. Together with the Regional Managers and Training Coordinator, to determine the training needs of credit staff to improve their credit skills and productivity. Develop and implement a staff training, mentoring and development plan. The plan will focus on building the capacity of Credit Supervisors and Loan Officers to deliver credit products according to methodology and achieve the targets set in the credit operating plan.
6. To train, guide and mentor credit personnel on Agriculture Lending policies, processes and credit underwriting / reporting tools to ensure quality delivery of the product.
7. To recommend to the Credit Manager and Chief Commercial Officer new staff requirements and staff movements (promotion, demotion, termination of the contract) in order to close staffing gaps and increase efficiency; and to recommend to the disciplinary committee staff in gross breach of policies and procedures or unacceptable performance.
8. To work with compliance / internal control team to identify all aspects of non-compliance with the policies and procedures in the implementation of the Business products and make appropriate recommendations for improvement.
9. As a part of the budgeting process, in conjunction with the Chief Commercial Officer, to develop 12-months product budgets and Growth Strategy for clientele and portfolio value.
10. To follow-up, monitor and track performance of the Agriculture Loan Portfolio to ensure achievement of set goals and budgets for the product; and to provide monthly reports to the Management Credit Risk Committee on the Performance of the product and highlight key issues that require attention of the MCRC.
11. To design and ensure implementation of strategies and action plans for recovery of delinquent loans in the Agriculture Portfolio; and to design delinquency tracking tools and transform the strategic recovery actions into standard policies and procedures.
12. To organize and attend regular head office based delinquency meetings and ensure that all branches regularly hold delinquency meetings and arrears discussions and follow-through on agreed action points.
13. To make recommendations to Management on any changes to Agriculture Lending products, policies, processes, or procedures that would contribute to achieving the targets contained in the operating plan. This would include innovations for new or existing products. The Manager Agriculture Lending will be responsible for implementing approved changes and ensuring that branch staff are trained properly and are complying with the new standards.
14. To execute any other duties that may be assigned by the supervisor or other superiors.

Key Relationships:

• Internally – with Regional Managers, Recovery Manager, Branch Managers, Credit Analysts, Credit Supervisors and Loan Officers on day to day operations
• Internally – with Credit Manager, Chief Commercial Officer and other Heads of Department on strategic matters.
• Externally – with customers on a regular basis relating to quality of services and product promotion and other external stakeholders including donors, funders, peers in the market, industry associations, etc.
• Supervisory Responsibility
• Credit Supervisors, Loan Officers.

Qualifications

• Degree in Agriculture, Agribusiness, Commerce, Accounting and Finance or Business Administration.
• At least or 2 years’ management experience at the level of a Product Manager / Regional Manager; or 3 years’ experience as a Branch Manager / Product Supervisor in a regulated financial institution.
• A sound knowledge of micro finance and banking regulations and practical knowledge of principles and practices of agribusiness.

Language Skills

• Fluency in 2 local languages and English

Travel Requirements

• Availability to travel (up to 60% of the time) to FINCA Uganda operational areas as may be required.

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