Assistant Manager, PAPSS (Software & Integration Support)

About Afreximbank African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance and promote intra-and extra-African trade. For 30 years, the Bank has been deploying innovative structures to deliver financing solutions that support the transformation of the structure of Africa’s trade, accelerating industrialization and intra-regional trade, thereby boosting economic expansion in Africa. A stalwart supporter of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Afreximbank has launched a Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) that was adopted by the African Union (AU) as the payment and settlement platform to underpin the implementation of the AfCFTA. Working with the AfCFTA Secretariat and the AU, the Bank is setting up a US$10 billion Adjustment Fund to support countries to effectively participate in the AfCFTA. At the end of December 2023, Afreximbank’s total assets and guarantees stood at over US$37.3 billion, and its shareholder funds amounted to US$6.1 billion. The Bank disbursed more than US$104 billion between 2016 and 2023. Afreximbank has investment grade ratings assigned by GCR (international scale) (A), Moody’s (Baa1), Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) (A-) and Fitch (BBB). Afreximbank has evolved into a group entity comprising the Bank, its impact fund subsidiary called the Fund for Export Development Africa (FEDA), and its insurance management subsidiary, AfrexInsure, (together, “the Group”). The Bank is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt.

Job Purpose

Reporting to the Manager Technology and Operations, the Assistant Manager Software & Integration Support will have a detailed real-world understanding of retail payment systems gained in a bank or similar financial institution such as Switches and Payment Service Provider (PSPs) with vast experience in instant payments.

The chosen candidate will lead technical engagements with prospective PAPSS participants (Banks, switches & PSPs) and come up with the system integration requirements and other specific features of the PAPSS product.

This includes but not limited to the integration of PASS to different Core banking applications (Flexcube, Finacle, T24 etc), Infrastructure connectivity, Payment interface and message development and Integration to Central Banks.

Key Responsibilities

• Conduct detailed analysis for Instant Payment integration requirements as may be provided by the Product Owner.
• Work closely with the other technical teams to explain and elaborate the Instant Payment requirements and ensure that the acceptance criteria are clearly and unambiguously stated.
• Assisting with the creation of technical documentations such as manuals, requirements, and design specification documents for PAPSS
• Support the team through integration and assist with everything from writing requirements, defining new strategies, planning capacity, discussing field definition, drawing out flows to answering questions from other teams and customers on the PAPSS Instant payment system.
• Develop and maintain new Integration API, PAPSS Sandbox and Management Reporting Dashboard
• Coordination, design, development, deployment, and third-level support of a robust, reliable, and highly available PAPSS Instant Payment Gateway built on proven messaging and web service technologies.
• Technical coordination, interface design, end-to-end development, deployment, and third-level support of PAPSS Instant Payment systems, PAPSS Marketplace and future payment initiatives of PAPSS.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

Minimum Qualifications

First degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Software Engineering, Mathematics, or Postgraduate degree in the same or related fields from a recognized University or a relevant professional qualification in lieu. Master’s degree required but not mandatory.

Years & Nature of Experience

At least 5 years of professional and demonstrated hands-on experience in Software development, enterprise architecture and software solution design, obtained from a bank, Switches or Fintechs with a strong focus on cross border Payment for trade & services, preferably at a regional or continental level. Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English and or another language such as French or Arabic.

Detailed practical experience of Payment Schemes and Systems – Instant Payment, SCT Inst, SEPA, FPS, RTGS BACS, CHAPS, SWIFT etc. In-depth understanding of ISO20022 payment messages and the usage of specific fields within those messages is Mandatory.

Technical focus and API experience

Full range of lifecycle experience, workflow automation flows and automated/improved BA and testing processes.

Awareness of industry initiatives impacting the Instant Payments environment. Knowledge of agile methodology is desirable.

Use of UML diagrams including Sequence Diagrams and State Diagrams using a modelling tool (or Visio)

Creation and elaboration of Requirements, User Stories, etc. using industry best practices.

Proven experience of instant payment or software delivery projects.

Knowledge of i-PAAS, Middleware, Spring Boot/.NET or equivalent

Comfortable with JBoss, IBM Integration Bus, MQ, Kafka, Java, Oracle, Postgres, AIX

Knowledge of AWS and other cloud environment is a must.

TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES

Proficiency level: use of modelling tools like Visio, PowerPoint presentation.

As shown in Table 1 below:

PROFICIENCY

• Experienced professional with significant experience in Software development.
• Operates autonomously and is generally responsible for an end-to-end process software solution, including managing and coordinating people and resources.
• Acts as a 3^rd level escalation point across PAPSS for all technical queries and technical clarifications with documented process manual and knowledge repository to aid team members.

LEADERSHIP SKILLS

• Acts as a subject matter expert in all software and solution delivery, providing technical guidance to colleagues across Afreximbank and PAPSS while maintaining required integrity.
• Coaches, motivates and mentors junior colleagues.
• May have formal line management responsibilities for a limited number of junior professionals and associates.
• Identifies and addresses training needs for the team, including preparing and delivering training programmes as directed by senior management.

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS

• Builds and manages effective working relationships both internally and (where relevant) externally at different organisational levels.
• Influences decisions at functional level and may support external negotiations.
• Presents complex technical information to diverse audiences in a clear and concise manner for purposes of driving results.

PROBLEM SOLVING & BUSINESS IMPACT

• Solves non-routine and occasionally complex problems based on sound critical analysis, technical knowledge and prior experience.
• Acts with flexibility as an escalation point for technical issues encountered by junior colleagues.
• Impacts its own function by managing a specific area or sub-function, including making necessary inputs to strategy and policies and providing expert opinion, advice and guidance across the organisation.

SUPPORTING AFREXIMBANK MANDATE

• Has a solid understanding of Afreximbank and PAPSS products and services and how the role of leading PAPSS development team contributes to Afreximbank’ s values and mission.
• Has a good knowledge of the Continent’s political, economic and trade landscape and is able to offer well informed opinions on the subject internally and to external
• Identifies practical ways in which Afreximbank’ s values and mission can be cascaded to junior colleagues and external parties.

Behavioural Competencies

Afreximbank’s Core Values:

• Commitment to Africa and supporting the emancipation and empowerment of Africans
• Uncompromising integrity
• Passion for Learning and Drive
• Teamwork
• Trust and Respect for the Individual
• Innovation, Excellence and Flexibility
• Professionalism and Responsiveness

KEY INTERACTIONS

Internal
Extenal