Chief Operating Officer - BFSI

WSDS-initiate is a development oriented MFI, receiving donor funding with the aim of alleviating rural poverty. It started as a development support organization and later transformed itself into a microfinance institution to reach the poor, especially in the remote and less developed regions of north eastern India. In the last one decade since its inception, WSDS-initiate has emerged as one of the leading microfinance institutions of Manipur. Its administrative office is located at Gollut Gens, New Lambulane, Imphal-East with its registered office at Motbung in Senapati District. It primarily operates in areas where the mainstream approaches and institutions often fail to reach. It is a relatively young organization established in the year 1989 under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.

The Chief Operating Officer shall be in overall charge of the Microfinance (MF) Operations. He shall be the key person responsible for leading and managing the MF team and delivering the required outputs.

He shall lead from the front and show confidence and leadership while delivering agreed business plan targets. With support from the team, he shall cover all aspects of the MF operations, including

- Operations performance,

- Branch operations quality

- Reporting quality and timeliness

- Cost control

- Organize adequate support functions like HR, Training, Accounts, IT along with Branch field operations.

- Formalize the work culture, with more emphasis on written communication and formal reporting

He shall also ensure that team members are allotted fair amounts of work and are not over-burdened or idle.

Task Descriptions - With the help of his team, he shall be responsible for the following target areas :

Leadership Matters - One of his core focus areas will be to assert himself as an effective leader for the operations team. His core focus areas would be :

- To supervise, motivate and mobilize the MF team, including Area Managers, Branch Managers and Field Staff.

- To anticipate, identify and resolve conflicts and inter-personal issues in the team.

- To evaluate the performance of Area Managers, Branch Managers and Field Staff.

Administration - He shall ensure that the following key tasks are properly implemented, followed up and maintained.

- Rent Agreements of all offices

- Cash and asset insurance papers and payments

Branch Monitoring - With the help of the Area Manager(s), he shall ensure that :

- The Branches understand the Company policies.

- That Area Manager maintains and follows the policies of the company.

- To train the Area Manager to ensure that all Branches follow the policies of the company in a uniform and stringent manner.

- To promote best practices amongst Branches.

- To train and ensure compliances at the Branches (Code of Conduct).

- To identify and highlight areas where WSDS's policies need to be refined.

- To interact with HO team and circulate the finalized policies to the team.

Branch Reporting - With the help of Area Manager, he shall ensure that :

- Branch Managers are well communicated with, and are aware of the reports to be submitted, whether periodic or ad hoc.

- Branches maintain a uniform pattern of Cash reporting on daily basis.

- All reports, whether ad hoc or periodic are received on time and that proper follow up is done for non-submission.

- Review with the Area Manager and MIS Operator/ Accountant, the reports reviewed from the Branches.

MIS Implementation and Control - With the help of IT Manager he shall :

- Ensure that Branches are utilizing the MIS software effectively.

- Ensure that Branches, Area Manager are extracting and using the reports of the MIS software in their daily work.

- Ensure that data entry in MIS software is done on a day to day basis in a timely and consistent manner.

- Ensure that Branches close their books on a day to day basis.

Internal Audit Compliance - He shall facilitate the internal audit schedule of Internal Audit team and :

- Follow up on the compliance of the Internal Audit reports by the auditors.

- Ensure that issues pointed out in the internal audit report are fully resolved by the Branches and that problems are not repeated.

Desired Qualifications :

- Minimum of Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business Administration, Commerce or similar field will be preferred. Preference will be given to the master degree /diploma holder in the commerce or management disciplines;

- Minimum 3-5 years of relevant experience in Micro Finance Sector operations in a leadership position