Country Manager

Location: Belize City,Belize,Belize

Job Description:

The Country Manager will facilitate CRNCY Group’s market entry and building the operation from the ground up. This role is accountable for ensuring licensing & regulatory readiness, team hiring and leadership, establishing relationships with 3rd party entities such as banks, payment processers and collection attorneys & 3rd party agencies.  Once operation has been launched, CM will direct all work performed and will fully manage all areas of operation for the country branch. Accountable for overall operational productivity, efficiency, compliance, and effective management ensuring customer satisfaction to meet goals set by the company.
Primary duties and responsibilities:

• Launch & Regulatory Readiness
•    Facilitate country setup: entity formation, tax/employer registrations, insurance.
•    Handle licensing process, coordinate with HQ to respond to regulator queries on a timely basis.
•    Join/activate credit-bureau membership & reporting as needed; ensuring data privacy compliance.
•    Align start-up activities across local stakeholders and HQ functions.
• Banking, Payments
•    Liaise with local banks to open required bank accounts; facilitate in setting up signatories and dual controls.
•    Work closely with IT team to establish integration capabilities for loan funding, online bill pay, card/merchant (e-commerce), and disbursement/repayment workflows.
•    Liaise and facilitate integration with 3rd party processors to expand the suite of payment options for customers.
• Collections Ecosystem (Extrajudicial & Judicial)
•    Contract and manage third-party collection agencies and attorneys; define SLAs, evidence packs, and escalation paths where applicable.
•    Work closely with Collections Manager to establish collection workflow and procedures.
• External Stakeholder Management
•    Maintain senior relationships with regulators, banks, ecosystem partners, community leaders, and media spokespeople as needed, coordinate with appropriate HQ stakeholders.
• Operational Start-Up
•    Ensure all policies, procedures and training materials are accurately translated, establish training plan and ensure training materials are ready for operational start-up. 
•    Work closely with Credit team to localize policy/decisioning; calibrate scorecards and decision engine guardrails.
•    Stand up branch/site: lease, security, cash controls, and SOPs for onboarding, disbursal, refunds, and complaints.
•    Work with Marketing team and local designer to ensure new branch meets or exceeds the corporate branch standards.
•    Work with IT team to ensure instant translation and telecom/IVR readiness.
•    Work with Contact Center team to ensure Cyber operational processes are supported fully.
• Team Building & Leadership
•    Hire, onboard, and coach core teams across sales, operations, customer service, underwriting, and collections; establish clear KPIs.
•    Set targets, cadences, and performance management; uphold a customer-centric, ethical culture
• Drives achievement of departmental performance, revenue, and active customer targets in alignment with the company’s overall goals.•    Provides hands-on support and maintains a strong presence at branches, leading by example.•    Oversees all operational aspects, including distribution, customer service, human resources, marketing, and sales.•    Develops strategies and maintains effective customer service programs to exceed customer expectations.•    Upholds high operational standards to foster a productive and positive working environment for employees.•    Maintains open, timely communication with team members and other departments, escalating issues to the Senior Director of Operations when necessary.•    Reports malfunctions or system issues promptly and ensures timely resolution to maintain smooth operations.•    Ensures that all customer and business confidential information is securely protected and used strictly for official purposes.•    Collaborates with the management team and departments to set, implement, and enforce policies, procedures, and systems, while ensuring operational efficiency and productivity.•    Identifies areas for improvement and recommends corrective actions to overcome challenges and capitalize on growth opportunities.•    Develops branch staff through regular training, coaching, and motivation to bring out their best performance.•    Acts in the capacity of branch lead and performs transactions when needed to support branch operations.•    Shares best practices, market insights, and operational knowledge with other branches and headquarters.•    Responds promptly to customer and employee concerns to maintain high satisfaction levels.•    Adheres to ethical standards and ensures full compliance with company policies and operational procedures.•    Builds networks and community relationships to enhance the reputation and visibility of the branch and company.•    Maintains control over master safe and alarm codes, ensuring they are securely managed.
• Hire, onboard, train and coach core local teams across customer service, sales and collections; ensure compliance and achievement of corporate KPIs.•    Set targets, cadences, and performance management; uphold a customer-centric, ethical culture in accordance with the company cultural pillars.Growth & Partnerships•    Work closely with the Marketing team to execute go-to-market: community presence, channel/partner development, and local brand activation.•    Drive first-time loan growth, approval rates, and conversion.•    Grow loan portfolio increasing active customer base per established country targets.
• Results Tracking and Reporting
•    Monitor operational performance; provide regular management updates; surface issues and opportunities promptly.

Any other operational and management duties as may be assigned from time to time.

Professional Qualification Requirements:
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.  The requirements that follow are representative of knowledge, skills and/or abilities required.

Education
Bachelor’s Degree preferred. A minimum of associate degree in business management or related field and 5 years’ experience in similar field.

• Work Experience
•    2+ years’ management experience in money lending/financial services.
•    Demonstrated experience launching or scaling fintech/consumer credit/retail operations.
•    Strong knowledge of local regulations, payments, and collections practices.
•    Track record growing teams from zero to scale (country launch or turnaround preferred).
• (Equivalent combination of education with work experience will be considered.)
• Knowledge/Skills/Abilities
•    Digital & Tech literacy 
•    Communication & Reporting 
•    Strategic Planning & Execution 
•    Leadership & Team Management
•    Financial Acumen
•    Fluent in English
• Attitude and Behaviours
•    Accountable & Results Oriented 
•    Adaptable & Resilient 
•    Client Centric 
•    Ethical & Transparent 

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