Head of Data and AI

  • Full Time
  • Nairobi

Website Inkomoko

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 where African solutions are unleashed to solve African problems. Founded in 2012, Inkomoko has provided business advi… read moresory and access to finance for thousands of entrepreneurs across East Africa. As the largest investor in refugee businesses, we have disbursed more than $6M in capital to more than 3000 clients. This affordable finance for Inkomoko entrepreneurs helps them grow their businesses, create jobs, and improve their livelihoods. As we look forward, Inkomoko is developing new ways to engage communities to thrive. Creating meaningful market linkages, expanding to secondary cities, and advocating for economic inclusion, Inkomoko has added these community-based approaches to our enterprise development work. By 2030, Inkomoko will be in 8 countries, serving more than half a million small businesses, creating a positive impact for more than 7 million people across the Continent.

Key Responsibilities:

Data Strategy & Infrastructure

Together with the Director of Products and Innovation develop and execute a Data & AI Implementation Strategy aligned with organizational goals.
Lead data transformation initiatives in data infrastructure, analytics, AI products, automation.
Define and enforce data governance frameworks, policies, and ethical AI guidelines..
Standardize and govern all data sources (client, portfolio, operations, external).
Drive adoption of data-driven decision-making across departments.

Data Infrastructure & Engineering

Oversee design and management of data warehouses, data lakes, and integration pipelines.
Design and maintain scalable, multi-country data architecture.
Implement scalable cloud-based data platforms (e.g., Azure, AWS, GCP).
Improve data reliability, consistency, and accessibility across the organization.

AI/ML Product Leadership

Lead design, training, testing, and production deployment of AI solutions (credit scoring for thin-file clients, predictive risk models, NLP for WhatsApp/IVR, impact forecasting).
Champion responsible AI: bias mitigation, explainability, and ethical guardrails.
Lead development of AI/ML models, NLP systems, generative AI solutions, and automation tools.
Manage AI lifecycle: problem definition → data preparation → modeling → evaluation → deployment.
Introduce automation (RPA, intelligent workflows) to improve operational efficiency.

Governance & Compliance

Own data governance framework: quality, lineage, access controls, and IP protection.
Lead enterprise-wide master data management practices.
Ensure full compliance with GDPR, central-bank rules, donor requirements, and Inkomoko’s IP Policy.

Insights, Analytics & BI

Deliver executive dashboards and drive data literacy across Programs, Credit, Finance, and Leadership.Lead predictive analytics projects for forecasting, segmentation, and decision intelligence.
Introduce self-service BI tools and build analytical capacity across teams.
Lead predictive analytics projects for forecasting, segmentation, and decision intelligence.
Introduce self-service BI tools and build analytical capacity across teams.

Team & Culture

Build a high-performing, interdisciplinary Data & AI team.
Mentor staff and build data literacy across departments.
Oversee vendor relationships and implementation partners.

Requirements

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

Master’s or Bachelor’s in Data Science, Computer Science, Statistics, or equivalent.
10+ years in data engineering, analytics, or ML; at least 5 years leading teams.
Hands-on experience shipping production ML models, ideally in credit or financial inclusion.
Expertise in modern data stacks (dbt, Snowflake/AWS, Airflow, etc.) and ML frameworks.
Strong understanding of data governance, privacy regulations, and ethical AI practices.
Excellent leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.

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