Head of Products & Innovation at Inkomoko Lead Digital Transformation Across East & Central Africa (Apply Now)

Location: Kigali, Rwanda

Regional Role: Open to candidates in Rwanda, Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan & Chad

Job Type: Full-Time | Digital Transformation | Leadership

Why This Opportunity Matters

Inkomoko is redefining entrepreneurship support in Africa. Ranked by the Financial Times as the 8th fastest-growing company in Africa (2025), Inkomoko empowers entrepreneurs, especially refugees and vulnerable communities, to build strong, resilient, and scalable businesses.

With 780+ staff, 45 offices, and a footprint across five African countries, Inkomoko continues to shape the entrepreneurial landscape through training, consulting, and its expanding $30M loan fund.

By 2030, Inkomoko aims to reach 550,000+ entrepreneurs, improving the lives of more than 7 million people. This is your chance to join a transformative movement shaping Africa’s future.

Head of Products & Innovation – Your Mission

This is a rare, high-impact leadership role for a visionary product builder. As the Head of Products & Innovation, you will architect, scale, and refine Inkomoko’s entire digital ecosystem—from lending platforms and ERP modules to client-facing apps and innovation frameworks affecting millions.

Your role is to transform complex challenges into practical, scalable, user-centered solutions across diverse African markets.

This position requires not just leadership—but courage, adaptability, strategic vision, and deep empathy for the entrepreneur.

Key Responsibilities

1. Product Strategy & Portfolio Leadership

• Translate the multi-year strategic roadmap into actionable plans, OKRs, and delivery milestones.
• Own the end-to-end product vision, prioritization, innovation framework, and multi-market product roll-out strategy.
• Lead product governance including PRD approvals, release roadmap reviews & cross-functional alignment.
• Collaborate with senior executives to ensure product initiatives match market realities and organizational goals.

2. Seamless Product Lifecycle Management

• Oversee design sprints, UX development, MVP creation, and product iteration loops.
• Guarantee top-tier product documentation including user stories, acceptance criteria, and PRDs.
• Ensure timely and high-quality delivery through strong partnership with technology teams.
• Drive continuous improvements based on metrics, user feedback, market trends & A/B testing.

3. Innovation Leadership & Future Thinking

• Build a strong innovation engine: rapid prototyping, sandbox environments, testing labs & experimental pilots.
• Identify emerging technologies and opportunities to keep Inkomoko ahead of market evolution.
• Foster partnerships with innovation labs, academia, accelerators, startups & digital innovators.
• Cultivate a culture of creativity, curiosity, and iterative improvement across all departments.

4. User, Client, and Market Intelligence

• Lead market research, customer discovery, and deep-dive user interviews across diverse markets.
• Translate insights into scalable product features, business cases, and launch strategies.
• Monitor adoption, NPS, retention, impact KPIs & product health dashboards.
• Advocate for human-centered, inclusive, and accessible product experiences.

5. Team Leadership & Culture Building

• Recruit, mentor, and manage a high-performing, user-centric product team.
• Train teams in product management, agile practices, innovation, UX, and design thinking.
• Promote collaboration and cross-department ownership of the entire product ecosystem.

6. Compliance, Ethics & Risk Mitigation

• Guarantee full compliance with GDPR, local data laws, donor policies & Inkomoko’s IP guidelines.
• Ensure all products are inclusive, accessible, and designed for diverse African users.

Who We Are Looking For

Essential Experience

• 10+ years in product management, with 5+ years leading product teams at senior level.
• Demonstrated success delivering multi-product portfolios in fintech, SaaS, financial inclusion, or digital ecosystems.
• Strong foundation in UX, agile methodologies, data analytics, and multi-country product rollouts.
• Ability to influence executives, lead technical teams, and communicate across business and tech audiences.
• Proven record of translating challenges into innovative, measurable, user-centered solutions.

Preferred Strengths

• Deep experience in digital innovation and building technology-driven solutions.
• Strong grasp of design thinking and lean experimentation.
• Excellent analytical abilities and strategic problem-solving skills.
• Ability to turn complex ideas into clear, executable product strategies.

Core Competencies

• Strategic Vision: Able to think two to three years ahead.
• Data-Driven: Makes decisions informed by insights, metrics & user behavior.
• Adaptive Leadership: Adjusts approach to evolving contexts and markets.
• Innovation-Centric: Constantly exploring new ways to improve and disrupt.
• Empowering Leadership: Coaches teams to excellence and high performance.

What You’ll Gain

Joining Inkomoko means becoming part of a dynamic, mission-driven organization with high-impact regional influence.

You will enjoy:

• Competitive compensation + performance bonus
• Health insurance for you and your family
• Staff savings & provident fund
• Negotiated bank rates and financial benefits for long-term staff
• Generous annual leave, parental leave & sabbatical opportunities
• Exposure to regional leadership & cross-country collaboration
• A diverse, inclusive, and empowering organizational culture
• A direct role in transforming lives and driving entrepreneurship across Africa

This is more than a job.
It’s a calling. A leadership mission. A chance to build Africa’s product innovation future.

How to Apply

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.

 Submit your application via the official Inkomoko jobs portal.
Tell Inkomoko what makes you the ideal leader for this transformative role.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Background checks apply in line with safeguarding and integrity policies.

 

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