REPORTING TO: HEAD DIGITAL FINANCIAL SERVICES, TRANSACTIONAL & ECOSYSTEMS BANKING

Job Purpose

This role involves designing, developing, and scaling strategic ecosystems that strengthen Family Bank’s positioning across customer and partner networks. The Ecosystem Manager is responsible for forging alliances with fintech’s, merchants, telcos, regulators, and community organizations to embed Family Bank’s products and services into everyday customer journeys, creating integrated value chains that drive adoption and loyalty.

By leveraging digital innovation, data insights, and collaborative models, the role ensures Family Bank remains competitive, customer-centric, and fully aligned with regulatory frameworks while unlocking new revenue streams.

Ultimately, the Ecosystem Manager acts as a connector and catalyst - orchestrating partnerships, enabling seamless digital experiences, and positioning Family Bank as a trusted, indispensable player in Kenya’s evolving financial services landscape.

Key Responsibilities

1. Partnership Development

• Proactively identify, evaluate, and pursue strategic partnerships with fintech’s, merchants, telcos, regulators, and other ecosystem players.
• Negotiate commercial terms, service level agreements, and joint go-to-market strategies that maximize mutual value.
• Build and sustain long-term, trust-based relationships that enhance Family Bank’s relevance in customer and partner networks.
• Continuously map the ecosystem landscape to spot emerging players, disruptive technologies, and potential collaborators.

2. Customer Ecosystem Strategy

• Design and implement innovative models that embed Family Bank products into customers’ daily financial and lifestyle activities.
• Develop customer journey maps to identify integration points where ecosystem partnerships can drive adoption, loyalty, and retention.
• Champion customer-centric design thinking, ensuring solutions address real pain points and deliver seamless experiences.
• Collaborate with marketing and customer experience teams to position ecosystem offerings as differentiators in the market.

3. Revenue & Growth

• Develop and execute ecosystem driven revenue models, including transaction fees, cross-selling opportunities, and bundled services.
• Establish clear KPIs for ecosystem initiatives (e.g., adoption rates, transaction volumes, partner contribution).
• Monitor performance metrics, analyze trends, and provide actionable insights to leadership on ecosystem ROI.
• Identify opportunities to scale successful pilots into enterprise-wide revenue streams.

4. Innovation & Digital Transformation

• Partner with product managers and IT teams to co-create digital solutions that integrate seamlessly into ecosystem platforms.
• Drive experimentation with emerging technologies (e.g., APIs, open banking, biometrics, AI) to enhance ecosystem offerings.
• Benchmark against global best practices to ensure Family Bank remains competitive in digital financial services.
• Act as a thought leader, presenting ecosystem innovation opportunities to senior leadership and external stakeholders.

5. Governance & Compliance

• Ensure all ecosystem partnerships comply with Central Bank of Kenya regulations, AML/KYC requirements, and the Data Protection Act.
• Develop and maintain governance frameworks for partner onboarding, due diligence, and ongoing risk management.
• Manage contracts, pricing structures, and performance obligations to safeguard Family Bank’s interests.
• Establish escalation protocols and monitoring mechanisms to address compliance breaches or operational risks promptly.

Key Competencies and Attributes

• Deep understanding of ecosystem lifecycle management and partnership development.
• Demonstrated experience in building and scaling ecosystems that deliver measurable business outcomes.
• Strong business strategy and market development expertise with advanced analytical and business modelling skills.
• Deep knowledge of digital financial services, open banking, APIs, and customer engagement models.
• Ability to create new business offerings from scratch via partnerships and strategic investments while focusing on market share and revenue growth.
• Strong understanding of the banking and regulatory framework in Kenya.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and influencing skills across all levels of the Bank and external stakeholders.
• Strong analytical skills with financial and business planning experience, including budgets, financial models, and strategic analysis.
• Knowledge of emerging technologies, digital payments, and market dynamics.

Leadership and People Management

• Actively partner with affiliate business heads and channel managers to grow ecosystem acceptance points.
• Provide timely and accurate feedback on project status, pipeline progress, and closure timeliness.
• Foster teamwork and cross-functional collaboration to deliver ecosystem initiatives.

Risk, Process Control and Operational Performance

• Promote ethical and integrity standards within ecosystem partnerships.
• Manage risks associated with partnerships, including AML, KYC, credit, audits, regulatory, and compliance requirements.
• Ensure strong internal control systems are in place to minimize operational losses and franchise risk.
• Monitor adequacy and effectiveness of ecosystem governance frameworks.

The Person: Qualifications, Experience and Personal Attributes

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, ICT, Economics, or related field from a recognized university.
• Minimum of 5 years’ experience in banking, fintech, or ecosystem management with proven success in partnership development.
• Inclusive and collaborative, driving teamwork and cross-team alignment.
• Strong discipline in business management, achieving growth targets, and operational excellence.
• Effective communication skills with ability to present complex ideas to diverse audiences.
• Deep understanding of digital transformation drivers, cyber security, platform capabilities, and solutions that generate partner growth.
• Experience working with customers and partners across multiple industries.
• Demonstrated responsiveness, urgency, and accuracy in execution.
• Customer-focused and results-oriented with strong project management skills.
• Knowledge of banking operations, operational risk management, and service delivery.
• General knowledge of digital payments services and ecosystem platforms.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

• Proactively identify, evaluate, and pursue strategic partnerships with fintech’s, merchants, telcos, regulators, and other ecosystem players.
• Negotiate commercial terms, service level agreements, and joint go-to-market strategies that maximize mutual value.
• Build and sustain long-term, trust-based relationships that enhance Family Bank’s relevance in customer and partner networks.
• Continuously map the ecosystem landscape to spot emerging players, disruptive technologies, and potential collaborators.
• Design and implement innovative models that embed Family Bank products into customers’ daily financial and lifestyle activities.
• Develop customer journey maps to identify integration points where ecosystem partnerships can drive adoption, loyalty, and retention.
• Champion customer-centric design thinking, ensuring solutions address real pain points and deliver seamless experiences.
• Collaborate with marketing and customer experience teams to position ecosystem offerings as differentiators in the market.
• Develop and execute ecosystem driven revenue models, including transaction fees, cross-selling opportunities, and bundled services.
• Establish clear KPIs for ecosystem initiatives (e.g., adoption rates, transaction volumes, partner contribution).
• Monitor performance metrics, analyze trends, and provide actionable insights to leadership on ecosystem ROI.
• Identify opportunities to scale successful pilots into enterprise-wide revenue streams.
• Partner with product managers and IT teams to co-create digital solutions that integrate seamlessly into ecosystem platforms.
• Drive experimentation with emerging technologies (e.g., APIs, open banking, biometrics, AI) to enhance ecosystem offerings.
• Benchmark against global best practices to ensure Family Bank remains competitive in digital financial services.
• Act as a thought leader, presenting ecosystem innovation opportunities to senior leadership and external stakeholders.
• Ensure all ecosystem partnerships comply with Central Bank of Kenya regulations, AML/KYC requirements, and the Data Protection Act.
• Develop and maintain governance frameworks for partner onboarding, due diligence, and ongoing risk management.
• Manage contracts, pricing structures, and performance obligations to safeguard Family Bank’s interests.
• Establish escalation protocols and monitoring mechanisms to address compliance breaches or operational risks promptly.
• Actively partner with affiliate business heads and channel managers to grow ecosystem acceptance points.
• Provide timely and accurate feedback on project status, pipeline progress, and closure timeliness.
• Foster teamwork and cross-functional collaboration to deliver ecosystem initiatives.
• Promote ethical and integrity standards within ecosystem partnerships.
• Manage risks associated with partnerships, including AML, KYC, credit, audits, regulatory, and compliance requirements.
• Ensure strong internal control systems are in place to minimize operational losses and franchise risk.
• Monitor adequacy and effectiveness of ecosystem governance frameworks.

• Ecosystem lifecycle management
• Partnership development
• Business strategy
• Market development
• Analytical skills
• Business modelling skills
• Digital financial services knowledge
• Open banking knowledge
• API knowledge
• Customer engagement models
• New business offering creation
• Strategic investments
• Market share focus
• Revenue growth focus
• Banking regulatory framework knowledge (Kenya)
• Communication skills
• Negotiation skills
• Influencing skills
• Financial planning experience
• Business planning experience
• Budget management
• Financial modelling
• Strategic analysis
• Emerging technologies knowledge
• Digital payments knowledge
• Market dynamics knowledge
• Teamwork
• Cross-functional collaboration
• Ethical standards promotion
• Risk management
• Internal control systems implementation
• Governance framework monitoring
• Digital transformation drivers understanding
• Cyber security understanding
• Platform capabilities understanding
• Partner growth solutions understanding
• Project management skills
• Banking operations knowledge
• Operational risk management knowledge
• Service delivery knowledge
• Digital payments services knowledge
• Ecosystem platforms knowledge
• Verbal communication skills
• Written communication skills

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, ICT, Economics, or related field from a recognized university.
• Minimum of 5 years’ experience in banking, fintech, or ecosystem management with proven success in partnership development.
• Inclusive and collaborative, driving teamwork and cross-team alignment.
• Strong discipline in business management, achieving growth targets, and operational excellence.
• Effective communication skills with ability to present complex ideas to diverse audiences.
• Deep understanding of digital transformation drivers, cyber security, platform capabilities, and solutions that generate partner growth.
• Experience working with customers and partners across multiple industries.
• Demonstrated responsiveness, urgency, and accuracy in execution.
• Customer-focused and results-oriented with strong project management skills.
• Knowledge of banking operations, operational risk management, and service delivery.
• General knowledge of digital payments services and ecosystem platforms.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.