Internal Controls Officer

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

Internal Controls Officer

Microloan Foundation (Malawi) Limited is a premier microfinance institution which provides financial services and training support to help women set up and manage sustainable businesses in their communities. We are currently seeking dynamic and energetic individuals to work as Internal Control Officer.

OVERVIEW

You will primarily be responsible for identification of all aspects of non-compliance with the policies and procedures in the implementation of the products and making recommendations for improvement. Working within the framework of Internal Controls Manual, Operating policies and procedures and in coordination with responsible officers, you will manage and monitor control activities.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

Below is a summary of what you will do:

1. Conducts periodic supervision visits to branches and review lending process to ascertain level of compliance.

• Verify branch compliance with all the policies in the loan cycle.
• Draw a sufficient sample for every client officer to verify completion and proper filling of all loan documents and perfection of collateral (Cash collateral/savings, physical collateral where applicable)
• Conduct field visits to ascertain compliance to center methodology, existence of clients and businesses to which the loans have been disbursed, verify the quality of collateral pledged (individual lending) and review the loan field analysis conducted by the client officer.
• Interact with the client to establish whether they understood the loan process, and the terms of the loan.
• Monitor customer experience and professional conduct of the Branch staff while in the field.

2. Timely preparation and submission of reports to the Internal Control and Compliance Manager

• Conduct exit interviews with the Regional Manager, credit staff and Branch Management on the findings of their supervision visit
• Prepare inspection visits reports and submit to the Internal Control and Compliance Manager within three days of their visit
• Based on findings make recommendations for improvement in the implementation of policies and procedures.

3. Training of staff to address some of the areas of quality improvement so as to minimize breach of policy and procedures.

• Identify training needs in credit for every Client Officer and Branch Manager and any other staff involved in the process of underwriting loans and make recommendations to the Internal Control and Compliance Manager
• Test the knowledge of policies and procedures by the credit staff at the branch through direct prompting questions. Give guidance and conduct coaching of staff at the branch in some of the areas of weakness that have been identified.

4. Monitor performance and risk of all credit staff

• Prepare a score card for every Client Officer, Supervisor and Branch Managers based on compliance with the policies and procedures.
• Draw a risk matrix for all branches upon which frequency and duration of visits shall be based
• Verify update and use of BCP’s in management of the portfolio

5. Maintain all supervision records

• Participate in the review of policies and procedure
• During interaction with clients and staff while on supervision visits, identify areas of improvement in the policies and processes and make recommendations to the Internal Control and Compliance Manager in the supervision reports
• Participate in the annual policy review conferences.
• Assist Internal Auditors when appropriate
• Various tasks as assigned by from time to time

WHAT YOU WILL BRING 

Minimum of a Diploma in Banking, Business, Economics, Finance or other related fields. Those with a university degree have an added advantage

Experience

• 2 year’s work experience in Micro-finance
• A sound knowledge of Micro-finance and principles and practices of banking, practices of Micro-finance institutions.

Functional Skills

• Ability to compile and analyze accurate weekly and monthly reports
• Excellent writing skills
• Good planning and project management ability
• Works perfectly under minimum or/no supervision with a proactive approach
• Financial reporting /analysis and interpretations
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office products, particularly use of Excel for data analysis

Professional skills

• Good judgement and decision-making
• Ability to mentor staff
• Good interpersonal skills
• Good problem-solving skills
• Good communication skills and public relations skills
• Computer literacy is a MUST
• Ability to meet deadlines as set in the department reporting structure
• Ability to handle matters and information with strict confidentiality

To express an interest in this role, qualified candidates are required to submit an updated CV along with a brief cover letter detailing how they meet the above requirements by emailing to recruit@mlfafrica.org by Wednesday 10^thDecember 2025 with “Internal Control Officer Job” in the subject line. We thank you in advance for your interest. However, only candidates shortlisted for an interview will be contacted.