Chief Executive Officer (CEO) & Principal Officer

Job description

We are seeking a visionary, high-energy FinTech or InsurTech Disruptor to serve as our founding Chief Executive Officer (CEO) / Principal Officer. We are building a tech-forward solution engineered for true financial inclusion.

As the founding CEO of this early-stage startup, you will rewrite the traditional corporate playbook. You will combine digital delivery networks with deep grassroots empathy to protect smallholder farmers, market traders, and MSMEs. You will be responsible for taking our community- centric products from concept to mass adoption, leveraging alternative digital channels and building absolute trust within local communities while masterfully navigating the modern Zambian regulatory landscape.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design and execute an innovative digital distribution strategy, leveraging technology networks and alternative ecosystems to achieve mass-market scalability.
• Drive proprietary market research and consumer insights within target segments to understand the financial realities of the unserved economy and build trust-based institutional partnerships.
• Oversee the conceptualisation, development and roll-out of consumer-centric microinsurance products, ensuring simplified terms, rapid claims processing and a seamless digital user experience.
• Guarantee that all digital delivery architecture,transaction flows and consumer data handling procedures comply fully with relevant financial, payment, and data privacy frameworks.
• Act as the primary corporate representative to regulatory bodies to ensure full compliance with the Insurance Act, 2021, while overseeing mandatory statutory filings, maintaining required capital metrics, and managing direct institutional reporting.
• Scale a lean,tech-forward organisational structure with minimal overhead, fostering a high-performance culture focused on operational agility, tight cash-flow management and robust customer advocacy.
• Manage high-level relationships with impact investors,venture capital partners, technology ecosystem players, and international development agencies to catalyze strategic growth and secure future funding rounds.

Mandatory Academic & Professional Qualifications

To meet the minimum licensing guidelines for Principal Officer status, candidates must possess:

• Full Grade 12 Certificate with a minimum of five credits, including English and Mathematics.
• A Bachelor’s Degree from a recognised institution in Actuarial Science, Insurance, Finance, Economics, Accountancy, Business Administration, or a related quantitative field.
• Degrees obtained outside Zambia must be accompanied by an evaluation certificate from the Zambia Qualifications Authority (ZAQA).
• An Advanced Diploma in Insurance (e.g., CII / AIISA) or a post-graduate qualification specialising in Microinsurance / InsurTech frameworks is highly preferred.
• Active, paid-up membership with the Insurance Institute of Zambia (IIZA) is mandatory.

Required Profile & Competencies

• 5+years of senior leadership experience within FinTech, Mobile Money, InsurTech, or a high-growth tech startup environment in Sub-Saharan Africa. An inclusive, financial- inclusion mindset is non-negotiable.
• Must seamlessly pass the full statutory Fit and Proper assessment.
• Exceptional emotional intelligence.
• Direct experience in building, scaling or managing customer-facing digital applications or platforms that thrive in low-bandwidth or highly distributed environments.
• Strong working knowledge of the Zambian financial ecosystem, with specific ability to balance operational speed with compliance requirements from the PIA, BoZ and Data Protection frameworks.