We are looking for a Senior Operational Excellence and Quality Manager to lead M-KOPA Kenya's Operational Excellence function, driving continuous improvement, process standardisation, and performance accountability across Telesales, Customer Care, and Retail operations.
Key Responsibilities
Operational Excellence Leadership & Continuous Improvement
- Designing and executing M-KOPA Kenya's operational excellence roadmap, identifying and prioritising high-impact process improvement opportunities across Telesales, Customer Care, and Retail.
- Applying structured improvement methodologies (Lean, Six Sigma, or equivalent) to diagnose root causes, eliminate inefficiencies, and drive measurable performance gains.
- Building operational performance frameworks that enable data-driven decision-making and continuous improvement at all levels of the organisation.
- Leading cross-functional improvement initiatives, engaging operational leaders and securing buy-in for change.
- Driving cultural transformation toward an operational excellence mindset, embedding preventive thinking and continuous improvement into daily operations.
- Sponsoring strategic improvement initiatives that require cross-functional collaboration and executive support.
- Establishing and maintaining performance measurement systems that track Q&OE outcomes against operational KPIs.
Strategic Leadership & Team Development
- Leading and developing a three-pillar leadership team (Managers of Process Excellence, QA & Compliance, Training & Development), building a high-performance culture centred on independence, objectivity, and continuous improvement.
- Making organisational design decisions including structure optimisation, talent acquisition, and resource allocation as the function matures.
- Providing strategic direction and coaching to pillar managers, ensuring each delivers measurable outcomes within their domain.
- Championing an operational excellence culture, positioning Q&OE as a business enabler that improves operational delivery rather than a constraint on it.
Cross-Functional Influence & Partnerships
- Building strategic partnerships with operational department heads (Telesales, Customer Care, Retail) ensuring Q&OE is positioned as a valued business partner, not an audit function.
- Navigating organisational complexity and managing resistance when quality standards or process changes conflict with short-term operational pressures.
- Collaborating with Risk & Compliance team, maintaining clear boundaries between operational integrity (Q&OE scope) and strategic enterprise risk (R&C scope).
- Partnering with Global QA/Training leadership to leverage global methodologies and frameworks, adapting them to the Kenya context and owning local execution outcomes.
Quality Governance & Standards
- Ensuring quality governance frameworks are implemented consistently across all channels—Telesales, Customer Care, and Retail—maintaining rigorous standards while adapting to local operational context.
- Maintaining quality councils, calibration sessions, audit protocols, and escalation mechanisms that drive accountability with operational leaders.
- Driving transparent performance conversations with channel heads using scorecards and data, holding quality outcomes to account through evidence rather than hierarchy.
- Balancing independence and objectivity with collaborative partnership, maintaining appropriate distance while building the trust needed for sustained influence.
Training & Capability Oversight
- Overseeing Training & Capability Development for M-KOPA Kenya's operational workforce, co-designing training programmes with the Group Training function and local pillar manager.
- Ensuring training investment is linked to identified performance gaps and that effectiveness is measured through observable behaviour change, not completion rates alone.
- Driving a culture of continuous learning across Telesales, Customer Care, and Retail operations.
- Monitoring training ROI and reporting on capability gains as part of the broader Q&OE performance narrative to senior leadership.
Strategic Oversight & Performance Management
- Providing strategic direction and performance oversight across all three Q&OE pillars, translating business priorities into functional roadmaps and KPIs.
- Developing and delivering executive reporting that enables senior leadership to make informed decisions on operational investments and quality priorities.
- Demonstrating business impact of Q&OE activity through clear metrics: efficiency improvements, quality score gains, fraud prevention outcomes, and training effectiveness.
- Maintaining transparency on operational gaps and quality concerns, ensuring leadership has full visibility.
Risk Management & Preventive Controls
- Maintaining a comprehensive view of the operational risk landscape through analysis of audit findings, quality trends, and process inefficiencies.
- Ensuring preventive control mechanisms identify system vulnerabilities, fraud patterns, and compliance risks before they materialise.
- Balancing risk mitigation with operational efficiency, ensuring controls are effective without creating unnecessary process burden.
Resource Management & Strategic Planning
- Developing annual strategic plans for the Q&OE function aligned with M-KOPA Kenya's business priorities.
- Managing departmental budget across all three pillars, optimising resource allocation to maximise business impact and ROI.
- Making investment decisions on quality infrastructure with clear business case justification.
Requirements
Education & Experience
- Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Operations Management, Industrial Engineering, or related field (Advanced degree — MBA, Master's in Quality Management, or equivalent — preferred).
- 8+ years of progressive leadership experience in operational excellence, operations management, or related disciplines within contact centre, retail, telecommunications, financial services, or BPO environments.
- 5+ years of senior people leadership experience managing managers and leading multi-functional teams.
- Demonstrated ability to build or rebuild a function from scratch — designing structures, establishing governance, and embedding ways of working in a previously undefined organisational space.
Operational Excellence & Process Improvement
- Strong process improvement capability with hands-on experience designing and executing improvement programmes using Lean, Six Sigma, or equivalent structured methodologies (Formal certification — Green Belt or higher — is an advantage).
- Working familiarity with quality assurance governance frameworks, audit methodologies, and compliance monitoring in service operations environments.
- Proven experience leading QA as a function is an advantage; candidates with strong operational excellence credentials and a learning orientation will be considered.
- Experience partnering with global or regional centres of excellence — leveraging shared methodologies while maintaining local execution ownership.
Leadership & Strategic Capabilities
- Outstanding cross-functional stakeholder management and strategic influencing skills, with demonstrated ability to drive accountability without direct operational authority.
- Strategic thinking and business acumen, with the ability to translate company strategy into clear operational excellence roadmaps with minimal guidance.
- Change management capability with a track record of driving organisational transformation and building buy-in across diverse stakeholder groups.
- Exceptional executive communication skills with the ability to present to senior leadership, translating complex operational data into compelling business narratives.
Analytical & Financial Acumen
- Data-driven decision-making expertise with experience building executive dashboards and demonstrating ROI of operational investments.
- Budget management and financial acumen, including departmental P&L ownership and strategic resource allocation decisions.
- Working knowledge of operational risk management, internal controls, and fraud prevention in service operations environments.
Critical Success Factors
- Build-from-scratch capability: You're comfortable with ambiguity and energised by the challenge of establishing structure where little exists — you don't need a playbook to start delivering.
- Operational diagnostic rigour: You go beyond first plausible explanations to identify real root causes and design interventions that deliver lasting performance change — not temporary improvements that fade.
- Partner orientation: You work effectively with Group QA/Training leadership, leveraging global frameworks rather than reinventing them — a strong local execution partner who adapts intelligently.
- Executive presence: You can represent Q&OE credibly at senior forums, maintaining the function's strategic standing with leadership through insight and evidence rather than position.
- Influence without authority: You've driven accountability and sustained change in environments where you don't control the operations you're improving — and you've done it without burning bridges.
- Resilience: You can uphold standards when facing operational pressure to compromise, and you stay constructive while doing it.
How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates can apply online by visiting M-KOPA Solar on jobs.ashbyhq.com.
