Job Description
Equity Bank Kenya is seeking an experienced, commercially driven, and strategically focused Business Origination Manager – Food & Agriculture to strengthen its Corporate and SME Banking division. This leadership opportunity is designed for a highly analytical professional with extensive experience in agricultural finance, corporate credit, agribusiness development, and financial risk management. The successful candidate will play a central role in expanding the bank’s Food and Agriculture financing portfolio while ensuring that every credit proposal meets the highest standards of financial quality, regulatory compliance, and prudent risk assessment.
The position requires an individual who understands the complete agricultural value chain, including primary production, processing, logistics, input financing, commodity trading, food manufacturing, and agribusiness distribution. The manager will collaborate closely with relationship managers, business development teams, credit analysts, risk specialists, legal teams, and senior executives to originate sustainable lending opportunities that contribute to long-term portfolio growth.
Working within the Credit function, the successful candidate will evaluate complex financial information, analyze market conditions, identify emerging sector opportunities, and structure credit facilities that balance customer needs with sound banking principles. The role also involves reviewing financial statements, conducting detailed cash flow assessments, evaluating collateral structures, performing industry analysis, and preparing comprehensive credit appraisal reports for executive approval.
Beyond credit analysis, the manager will actively contribute to policy development by improving agricultural lending frameworks, refining credit assessment methodologies, enhancing portfolio monitoring tools, and supporting environmental and social risk compliance initiatives. The role demands continuous monitoring of industry trends, climate-related risks, commodity price movements, regulatory developments, and macroeconomic factors that influence agricultural financing decisions.
The Business Origination Manager will also serve as a technical advisor across the organization by mentoring relationship managers, coaching branch teams, strengthening institutional credit capabilities, and promoting best practices in agricultural lending. Through knowledge sharing and continuous improvement initiatives, the position supports stronger credit quality and sustainable business growth throughout the bank's nationwide operations.
This opportunity is ideal for a finance professional who combines commercial awareness with technical expertise, possesses exceptional analytical capabilities, demonstrates strong leadership qualities, and enjoys developing innovative financial solutions for one of Africa's most important economic sectors. The successful candidate will join a high-performing institution committed to financial inclusion, sustainable economic development, and transformative banking solutions that positively impact businesses, farmers, processors, exporters, and agricultural enterprises across Kenya. The role offers the opportunity to influence strategic lending decisions, strengthen agricultural value chains, promote responsible financing practices, and contribute meaningfully to the continued success of one of the region's leading financial institutions.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead the origination, assessment, and structuring of Food and Agriculture financing opportunities for SME and Corporate Banking customers.
- Review complex credit applications and ensure complete, accurate, and policy-compliant documentation before submission for approval.
- Conduct comprehensive financial analysis, including profitability, liquidity, leverage, cash flow, and debt servicing capacity assessments.
- Prepare detailed credit appraisal reports supported by sound commercial and financial recommendations.
- Present business proposals to senior management, credit committees, and executive decision-making forums.
- Evaluate agricultural value chains to determine financing opportunities, operational risks, and long-term commercial viability.
- Analyze industry performance, commodity markets, seasonal production cycles, and macroeconomic indicators affecting agricultural businesses.
- Recommend appropriate financing structures based on customer business models and repayment capacity.
- Monitor existing agricultural lending portfolios and recommend corrective measures where portfolio quality requires improvement.
- Perform periodic portfolio stress testing to evaluate resilience against changing economic and sector conditions.
- Support the formulation and continuous enhancement of Food and Agriculture credit policies and lending guidelines.
- Develop standardized credit assessment templates to improve consistency across lending processes.
- Review environmental, climate, sustainability, and social risk considerations during credit evaluation.
- Collaborate with Relationship Managers to identify high-quality lending opportunities within agricultural markets.
- Participate in customer meetings to understand financing requirements and propose appropriate banking solutions.
- Provide technical guidance to branch teams on agricultural lending principles and credit structuring.
- Mentor junior analysts and relationship managers to strengthen institutional credit capabilities.
- Conduct portfolio reviews and recommend risk mitigation strategies where necessary.
- Ensure compliance with internal credit policies, banking regulations, and governance requirements.
- Maintain accurate records supporting all lending recommendations and approval processes.
- Coordinate with Legal, Compliance, Operations, and Risk departments during transaction processing.
- Identify emerging opportunities within agribusiness, food processing, manufacturing, export agriculture, and commercial farming.
- Support innovation in agricultural financial products designed for evolving customer needs.
- Evaluate customer financial projections and validate business assumptions used during lending assessments.
- Promote responsible lending practices while maintaining commercial competitiveness.
- Prepare management reports highlighting portfolio performance and sector developments.
- Participate in strategic planning sessions relating to Food and Agriculture banking initiatives.
- Strengthen relationships with internal and external stakeholders supporting agricultural finance.
- Contribute to continuous improvement initiatives that enhance credit quality and operational efficiency.
- Uphold the highest standards of confidentiality, professionalism, integrity, accountability, and ethical banking practices in every aspect of the role.
Qualifications & Requirements
- The ideal candidate should possess a bachelor's degree in Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness Management, Agriculture, Food Science, Agricultural Finance, Agricultural Engineering, Finance, Economics, Business Administration, or another closely related discipline from a recognized institution. Professional qualifications such as CPA, ACCA, CFA, AKIB, ACIB, or recognized Credit Management certifications will provide a significant advantage. Applicants should demonstrate extensive practical knowledge of agricultural lending, corporate banking, financial statement analysis, credit structuring, business valuation, portfolio management, and enterprise risk assessment.
- Candidates must possess exceptional analytical thinking, commercial judgment, and problem
- solving ability with proven experience interpreting financial information and transforming complex business data into practical lending recommendations. Strong communication, presentation, negotiation, stakeholder engagement, leadership, mentoring, and relationship management skills are essential. Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, financial modeling tools, and business reporting applications is expected. The successful candidate should demonstrate sound knowledge of Kenya's agricultural sector, commodity markets, environmental and social risk principles, regulatory compliance, sustainable finance practices, and corporate governance standards. A proactive mindset, excellent organizational skills, attention to detail, sound decision
- making ability, resilience under pressure, integrity, professionalism, and commitment to delivering exceptional customer value will be critical for success in this leadership position.
How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should submit their application through Equity Bank Kenya's official careers portal. Applicants should prepare an up-to-date curriculum vitae, academic and professional certificates, and any additional supporting documentation required for the recruitment process. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for the next stages of assessment. Early applications are encouraged, as the recruitment process may close once a suitable candidate has been identified. Ensure that all information submitted is accurate, complete, and reflects your professional qualifications and experience before final submission.
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