General Manager Operations

POSITION OVERVIEW:

General Manager (GM) is a business-critical role at BFIL which bridges senior leadership and field operations, ensuring the smooth running of the business in multiple branches, units, and divisions. This role is critical for the company's growth and maintaining financial sustainability while ensuring effective field operations and strong customer relationships.

The General Manager will be responsible for managing and growing a loan portfolio of INR crores across multiple branches within the assigned region. This role involves providing strategic leadership, overseeing business operations, ensuring compliance, and leading a team of approximately 250 employees including Field Assistants, Assistant Branch Managers, Branch Managers, Unit Managers, and Division Managers.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Business Development and Strategy:

• Drive business growth through member acquisition, loan disbursements, and cross-selling of CDF, two-wheeler, and IndusInd Banks liability products.
• Develop and implement strategies to expand outreach in underserved areas: identify new branch locations and pilot and roll out potential new products and services.
• Serve as the chief spokesperson for BFIL, while maintaining relationships with local communities and external stakeholders such as banks, local police, local leaders, etc.

Portfolio Management:

• Oversee a loan portfolio of INR crores, ensuring growth, quality and profitability.
• Monitor and optimize loan performance to achieve "Current (No Dues)" status within BFILs "Dues Past Days (DPD)" or Arrear buckets.
• Implement robust collection strategies aimed at maintaining member retention within their current buckets, while prioritizing efforts to promote backward flow, moving loans from higher DPD buckets to lower ones.
• Ensure regular tracking and reporting of portfolio health and growth metrics.

Process Management:

• Ensure 100% adherence to established processes, policies, and operational guidelines of BFIL, proactively addressing any procedural gaps to minimize risk and maintain portfolio quality.
• Ensure operational excellence by driving process improvements in loan disbursement, collections, and customer service.
• Regularly visit branches and centre meetings to assess ground-level operations and implement corrective measures when required.
• Improve center meeting efficiency, ensuring that all assigned units and branches have 100% repayments.
• Report regularly to senior management on business performance, risks, and market conditions.

Compliance and Risk Management:

• Ensure compliance with regulatory policies, including KYC norms and legal frameworks.
• Identify and mitigate risks within the portfolio, including credit, operational, and reputational risks.
• Address the concerns raised by the audit team and work towards implementing the recommendations.
• Proactively identify Early Warning Signs (EWS) of fraud and take preventive actions to mitigate risks before they escalate.
• Assist in the resolution of fraud incidents and disciplinary cases, through BFILs Disciplinary Action Management System (DAMS).

Team Leadership:

• Lead, mentor, and manage a team of around 250 employees, including Field Assistants, Assistant Branch Managers, Branch Managers, Unit Managers, and Division Managers.
• Oversee employee recruitment, development, engagement, and retention within the assigned region. Ensure effective deployment of team members in alignment with BFILs transfer policy, optimizing resource utilization and efficiency.
• Ensure adherence to BFILs branch hygiene standards and operational best practices.
• Coordinate and collaborate with cross-functional teams such as Admin, Finance, RCU, Audit, Collections and HR to meet RO objectives.

Member Relationship Management:

• Oversee member acquisition, retention, and satisfaction across branches.
• Monitor customer service standards and resolve escalated client issues.

SKILLS & EXPERIENCE:

• Postgraduate degree in Business, Finance, or a related field.
• 10-15 years of experience in microfinance, retail banking, or financial services, with at least 5 years in a leadership role managing large portfolios and teams.
• Proficiency in MS Office or comparable software.
• Strong leadership and people management skills.
• Proven track record in managing large loan portfolios.
• In-depth understanding of microfinance products and markets.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.