Agri-Finance Specialist

About the role

The Agri-Finance Specialist designs, launches and manages digital agri-lending solutions for farmer groups across agricultural value chains, driving field rollout, repayment performance and partner engagement. Reporting to the Manager, Digital Lending (dotted line to the Project Manager, Agriculture), the role is based in Dar es Salaam with extensive regional travel. It covers pilots and scale-up, portfolio health (NPL/PAR), farmer onboarding, training and retention, on-ground team management and cross-functional project delivery.

Key responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end go-to-market for pilots and scale-up, including rollout plans, field staff and agent training, incentives and blocker removal.
• Own loan performance: define collection processes, early-warning triggers and restructuring rules, lead field recovery and meet NPL/PAR targets.
• Manage farmer-group onboarding, KYC/KYB compliance, merchant and agent enablement and channel operations.
• Build relationships with input suppliers, agribusinesses, cooperatives, financial institutions, NGOs and local government, negotiating MoUs and co-financing.
• Run pilot governance with milestone and budget tracking, and produce operational dashboards and fortnightly/monthly reports.
• Design group-based lending models and financial products such as input, supply-chain, output and embedded financing, working with product, technology and commercial teams.
• Provide technical guidance during pilots, train field teams and support farmer-group onboarding.
• Track loan performance and portfolio health, analyse data for trends and risks, and prepare regular reports.
• Develop risk assessment frameworks and recommend mitigation strategies such as insurance, guarantees and alternative credit-scoring models.

Required profile

• At least 3 years' experience in strategic planning, agricultural finance and digital lending product development.
• Degree in Economics, Finance or a business-related field; experience in agriculture, digital lending or credit products.
• Familiarity with digital financial services and mobile-based lending platforms.
• Excellent spoken and written Swahili and English, and confident public speaker.
• Willingness to travel extensively across regions and to work in both rural and urban settings.

Required skills

• Strong analytical, communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to work in a cross-functional environment and to act as a self-starter and quick learner.

Candidates apply through the employer's HR manager by email or online, attaching a current CV, certificates and a passport-size photo or ID, each file under 5 MB.