ABOUT INKOMOKO
Inkomoko is dedicated to empowering micro and small entrepreneurs across Africa, including refugees, to create jobs, improve livelihoods, and build thriving communities. Since its inception in 2012, Inkomoko has supported nearly 100,000 entrepreneurs across East and Central Africa, providing a combination of training, consulting, access to finance, and market-level systems change. Notably, Inkomoko is the largest lender to refugee entrepreneurs in Africa, offering affordable financing to fuel business growth and economic development. In 2025, it was listed as Financial Times 8th fastest growing company in Africa, the fastest in East Africa.
With a team of more than 750 employees across 40 offices in Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, and South Sudan, Inkomoko is committed to expanding its impact. Through its 2030 strategic plan, the organisation aims to extend its services to three additional countries, reaching over 550,000 entrepreneurs and growing its $30 million loan fund to impact 7 million lives.
Inkomoko's vision is an Africa with thriving communities where young people and refugees are engaged, communities have access to relevant innovations for self-determination, and African solutions are unleashed to solve African problems. The organisation's core values guide its work:
- Purpose: Be solutions-oriented, produce high-quality work, and lead globally.
- Achievement: Push beyond previous limits and strive for excellence.
- Improvement: Stay humble, embrace continuous learning, and welcome open feedback.
- Bravery: Take risks, foster inclusivity, and create safe spaces for all.
- We Eat Goat: Celebrate success and support one another, embodying unity—turikumwe, tuko pamoja, abren nen, kula na sawa, on est ensemble.
Inkomoko is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer. Refugees, women, and persons who reflect the diverse communities we serve are strongly encouraged to apply.
ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY
As Inkomoko enters a phase of accelerated growth and geographic expansion, we are seeking a Chief Operating Officer (COO) to lead a multi-year transformation to integrate and scale Inkomoko’s internal and external operational systems to meet its 2030 growth targets.
The Chief Operating Officer will be a part of a five-person C-suite team, responsible for developing key strategies to execute the organization’s impact vision. This role stewards the enterprise-wide operating model, ensuring that Inkomoko’s systems, people, and infrastructure scale with integrity, impact, and values. The COO will report directly to the CEO and serve as a strategic partner across the executive team while managing the VP of Operations, VP of Digital Transformation, General Counsel, and security/safeguarding teams.
This role will lead the development of systems and governance that enable Inkomoko to scale effectively while maintaining strong standards for risk management, safety and security, and safeguarding. You will define and implement Inkomoko’s enterprise operating model—a blueprint for delivering our mission at scale—by integrating operations, legal, safeguarding, and aligning them to the full value chain, from entrepreneur capacity building to financing and private sector adoption and advocacy.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Operating Model for Scale
- Lead the development of an enterprise operating model that links Inkomoko’s strategy and long-term vision to execution across people, process, governance, and technology, ensuring scalable systems that endure beyond individual leaders.
- Establish operating principles and core standards across procurement, compliance, logistics, infrastructure, digital and IT that are consistent across geographies and functions.
- Design and reinforce enterprise systems that enable leaders across the organization to drive aligned execution toward shared strategic and impact goals – embed Inkomoko’s values and culture into daily operations.
- Define and implement cross-country governance systems, including decision rights, escalation pathways, and performance standards.
- Lead operational outcomes management, ensuring that execution aligns with strategic goals and impact metrics.
- Monitor delivery across countries and departments, introducing improvements that enhance alignment, effectiveness, and efficiency – balancing localization with organizational cohesion and quality standards
- Design interconnected operational platforms that support both internal execution and external delivery, including client onboarding, partner systems, and scalable support for programs and finance.
Systems Integration & Digital Leadership
- Coach and equip senior leaders to adopt cohesive operational strategies for constant improvement and scale in all areas of work; create alignment across departments for cohesion.
- Work with the VP of Digital Transformation to set governance frameworks and strategy, and embed technology into all areas of operations for efficiency and growth; ensuring procedures and systems are disseminated and utilized widely. .
- Develop and oversee the strategy for enterprise-wide platforms that drive efficiency, transparency, and real-time decision-making.
Legal, Compliance, and Governance
- Lead the legal and compliance processes for opening up new countries of operations, and setting up relevant processes, licenses, and legal operating procedures.
- Supervise and support the General Counsel to oversee legal risk management, contracts, regulatory compliance, and internal policies across all countries.
- Provide regular governance updates to the Board, ensuring that risk exposure, legal obligations, and compliance matters are addressed at the highest level.
- Strengthen enterprise-wide governance systems, supporting clear decision-making, compliance accountability, and risk mitigation across departments and geographies.
Safety, Security, and Organisational Resilience
- Strengthen Inkomoko’s risk management, safeguarding, and compliance infrastructure to keep staff and clients safe in all areas of operation.
- Lead teams to effectively prepare and implement Crisis Management Plans, including business continuity planning in an emergency or crisis situation
- In a time of crisis, lead the company’s response in a decisive and thoughtful manner that accounts for the contextual operating environment and our “people first” approach
- Embody core safeguarding principles that prioritize the well-being of our colleagues and clients, fostering a culture of safety, implementing robust policies and strategies, and ensuring accountability at the governance level
- Partner with Finance, People & Culture, Programs, and IT/Digital to lead enterprise planning, budgeting, and resource allocation processes for organizational growth.
- Use performance and delivery data from operations to coach senior leaders, strengthen shared accountability, and support continuous improvement across teams.
- Lead the design and implementation of transformative shifts to Inkomoko’s operating model, ensuring it is fit-for-purpose for growth, digital delivery, and Continental expansion.
- Provide steady, values-driven leadership that supports teams through complexity and change, modelling consistency and vulnerability to foster trust and psychological safety.
WHO YOU ARE
- A strategic operator with 15+ years of leadership experience, including 5+ years at the executive level in Africa with rapidly scaling organisations, ideally including multi-country growth.
- A proven architect of operating models that balance centralised systems with decentralised execution, enabling autonomy without sacrificing coherence.
- Brings a clear and compelling vision for how systems enable impact, and communicates this across internal and external stakeholders.
- Be a role model for systems leadership: enabling others through clarity, structure, and support.
- Highly digitally fluent, with a track record of driving enterprise-wide transformation in partnership wiih tech and data teams.
- Adept at building governance structures and cross-functional systems that support complex delivery across diverse contexts.
- Experience in culturally sensitive change management processes that maintain morale and quality through change - preference for work in rapidly scaling environments
- Grounded in values-based leadership, with experience operating in fragile or logistically complex environments. Coaches leaders to develop their own solutions, creating a ripple effect of accountability and distributed leadership.
- Delegates authority while providing the clarity, structure, and support needed for high-impact execution at every level.
- Recognised as a culture carrier who uplifts the contributions of diverse teams.
- Operates with curiosity and humility, actively listening and learning across cultural and functional boundaries.
- Brings calm, methodical, execution-focused leadership with high emotional intelligence.
- Demonstrates a strong personal commitment to safeguarding, and ensures that policies and practices for safety, dignity, and protection are upheld at all levels of the organisation, including senior leadership.
COMPETENCIES
We are looking for someone who;
- Leads with Vision and Accountability - Articulates a compelling long-term vision and strategy, inspiring commitment and ownership across the organization. Stewards the organization’s impact with integrity and takes ultimate responsibility for results.
- Leads with a Future Ready Mindset - Shapes strategy through forward-looking decisions that anticipate risks and opportunities. Coaches leaders to embed sustainability and innovation and growth into implementation.
- Fosters Culture of Trust - Strengthens organizational culture by modeling values, being accountable to own development, investing in people, and building high-trust relationships with transparency and vulnerability. Leads with humility, curiosity, and consistency to foster strong, aligned teams.
- Makes Strategic Decisions - Balances bold action with thoughtful risk, making principled decisions for long-term success. especially in complex or high-stakes situations.
Language: Fluency in English and at least one East African language required; French is a strong asset.
Travel: Up to 30% travel expected across Inkomoko countries and for other international engagements as needed.
Location & Eligibility: This role is open to candidates based in—or willing to relocate to—any Inkomoko office in Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Chad, or South Sudan.
Equity: We strongly encourage applications from women, refugees, and individuals from the communities that Inkomoko serves. We have policies in place that provide for a supportive work culture once candidates are hired as well.
We value unconventional paths to leadership and welcome candidates who share our entrepreneurial spirit and deep commitment to economic inclusion.
WHY JOIN INKOMOKO
With a decade of impact-driven growth, Inkomoko is at the forefront of economic transformation in East Africa. Our commitment to empowering entrepreneurs and fostering financial inclusion has positioned the organisation as a leader in social enterprise and innovation in private sector solutions that up-end traditional humanitarian aid.
As the COO, you will have a unique opportunity to shape the growth of a rapidly scaling organisation by building world-class systems dedicated to creating lasting economic impact.
Join us in building the operational foundation that will power Inkomoko’s vision of inclusive growth and resilience for underserved communities of women, youth, and refugees.
TO APPLY
If you’re excited about this role, please submit your application through this link: https://shortlist.thriveapp.ly/job/55
Tell us about what you’ll bring to this growing company.
DEADLINE: Open until filled. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, apply now!
Inkomoko is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer. Refugees, women, and persons who reflect the diverse communities we serve are strongly encouraged to apply.
Shortlist (www.shortlist.net) is our exclusive recruitment partner for this role. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until the position is closed, though early applications are strongly encouraged. If you believe you meet the attributes and skills above, please apply.
All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and background screening checks. Inkomoko also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme, In line with this Scheme, we will request information from job applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual misconduct, fraud, or abuse. By applying, the job applicant confirms his/her understanding of these recruitment procedures.
