M-Pesa Africa: Technology Portfolio & Partner Governance

Job Description

M-Pesa is a pioneering fintech business and global market leader in mobile money. Starting from 2007 as a convenient means by which the unbanked and underbanked could make digital payments, M-Pesa has now grown to offer over 60 million active customers Financial Services, Enterprise, Merchant and Retail solutions. We are proud of our work in enabling the digital economy in our markets, and in driving financial inclusion.

M-Pesa Africa is the largest FinTech providing services to more than 60 million customers and 5 million businesses solutions across Financial Services, Enterprise, Merchant and Retail. We are now well on our way to becoming the preferred digital payment method across the markets that we serve, for both in-store, remote and online payments. With headquarters in both Nairobi and Johannesburg, we serve markets that include Kenya, Tanzania, DRC, Lesotho, Ghana, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Mozambique.

We are a united, energetic and passionate team. A place where leaders coach, teams connect, and everyone is empowered to go further, faster. A place where heroes become superheroes; through growth, opportunity, and the chance to work with the best minds in FinTech.

Role Purpose:

The Technology Portfolio & Partner Governance Specialist will play a pivotal role in aligning technology investments, vendor relationships, and portfolio performance with M-Pesa Group’s strategic objectives.

This role brings together financial governance, vendor stewardship, and cross-domain collaboration to ensure that every shilling spent on technology delivers measurable value, resilience, and innovation across markets.

The ideal candidate combines commercial acumen with governance discipline , someone who can speak both the language of finance and the logic of technology.

Your responsibilities will include:

Portfolio Governance & Financial Management

• Lead the governance of M-Pesa’s multi-market technology portfolio including budgeting, forecasting, and cost optimisation.
• Develop and maintain a transparent view of OPEX and CAPEX utilisation, ensuring spending aligns with business value and technology strategy.
• Implement portfolio dashboards for visibility across demand, spend, risk, and performance metrics.
• Partner with Finance to ensure accurate financial planning, accruals, and reporting cycles.

Vendor & Partner Governance

• Manage and govern strategic vendor and partner ecosystems,OEMs, cloud providers, managed services, and software partners.
• Lead quarterly business reviews (QBRs) and governance councils to monitor SLAs, performance, and commercial health.
• Ensure contract renewals, extensions, and renegotiations follow value-driven principles and risk mitigation controls.
• Champion partnership maturity models to strengthen trust and collaboration between M-Pesa and its strategic suppliers.

Demand Management & Investment Alignment

• Coordinate technology demand intake across business units, ensuring prioritisation aligns with strategy and budget.
• Evaluate new investment proposals, assess feasibility, ROI, and dependency across projects and partners.
• Provide governance oversight for technology transformation programs to ensure benefits realisation and cross-domain alignment.

Compliance, Risk & Policy Governance

• Ensure adherence to procurement, finance, and compliance frameworks (COBIT, ITIL, ISO 27001).
• Identify and mitigate financial and operational risks arising from vendor dependencies or governance gaps.
• Work closely with the Cyber Security and Legal teams to ensure data protection, contract security, and policy compliance.

Strategic Partner Collaboration

• Foster collaboration with strategic technology and business partners to drive innovation and co-creation.
• Support partnerships with fintechs, hyperscalers, and regional tech alliances to enhance M-Pesa’s ecosystem capabilities.
• Facilitate joint technology roadmaps to ensure long-term alignment and shared success metrics.

Reporting & Continuous Improvement

• Develop executive-level dashboards and governance reports highlighting cost efficiency, partner performance, and portfolio health.
• Continuously review governance frameworks and propose improvements for efficiency and transparency.
• Lead cross-market workshops to promote best practices in technology portfolio and partner governance.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Collaborate closely with Finance, Procurement, Cyber Security, and Platform Engineering teams.
• Liaise with Market CIOs and Program Managers to ensure local initiatives align with Group governance standards.
• Build trusted relationships with key vendors, OEMs, and technology service providers to foster shared accountability.

The ideal candidate for this role will have:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, Finance, Information Systems, or related field.
• 5+ years’ experience in technology portfolio management, vendor governance, or commercial operations, preferably in financial services or telecoms.
• Proven experience managing large multi-vendor ecosystems and technology transformation portfolios.
• Deep understanding of OPEX/CAPEX management, contract governance, and vendor performance frameworks.
• Strong commercial acumen and negotiation skills.
• Familiarity with ITIL, COBIT, ISO 27001, and financial governance standards.

Core Competencies,knowledge and experience:

• Strategic & Financial Acumen: Ability to connect business strategy with financial and vendor decisions that drive measurable outcomes.
• Cross-Domain Collaboration: Skilled at bridging business, finance, and technology teams to achieve aligned objectives.
• Governance Expertise: Deep understanding of IT and financial governance frameworks, risk management, and compliance.
• Stakeholder Leadership: Influential communicator with a partnership mindset, capable of navigating complex ecosystems.
• Continuous Improvement Mindset: Always seeking smarter, simpler, and more transparent ways to govern technology investments.

Closing date for Applications: 03 December 2025.

The base location for this role is, Vodacom Cape Town Campus.

The Company's approved Employment Equity Plan and Targets will be considered as part of the recruitment process. As an Equal Opportunities employer, we actively encourage and welcome people with various disabilities to apply.
Vodacom is committed to an organisational culture that recognises, appreciates and values diversity & inclusion.