Card Portfolio Specialist

Job Title: Cards Portfolio Specialist

Term: 12 months (renewable)

Location: Kampala, Uganda

Division: Card Business

Reports to: Group, Head of Cards

Relevant experience: 8-10 years

Mandatory requirements: 

1. Card payments experience
2. Knowledge of local banking
3. English fluency

Purpose of Job:

The Card Portfolio Specialist is responsible for driving growth, profitability, and optimization of the card business across two subsidiaries. The role focuses on enhancing customer value proposition (CVP), accelerating digital adoption, and ensuring sustainable portfolio performance through data-driven strategies and cross-functional execution.

Tasks

Core Responsibilities and Accountabilities:

1. Portfolio Optimisation
   

• Monitor and optimize portfolio performance, tracking key metrics such as transaction approval rates, spend growth, credit utilization, and pricing effectiveness
• Proactively identify trends and implement corrective actions.
• Design and execute data-driven customer campaigns to drive acquisition, activation and spend.
• Lead end-to-end execution of sales and marketing initiatives, partnering with channel, marketing, and IT teams to deliver:
  o Customer acquisition programs
  o Spend stimulation campaigns and promotions
  o Tactical initiatives to increase revenue and optimize costs
  
• Coordinate campaign execution across stakeholders, ensuring timely delivery and issuer resolution.
• Enhance operational frameworks to improve efficiency across fraud management, operations, and sales.
• Foster cross functional collaboration with marketing, communications, IT, and operations to identify and resolve customer experience challenges (e.g., transaction declines, fraud incidents, chargebacks). 

2. CVP Re-calibration

• Drive product innovation in collaboration with internal teams and Mastercard.
• Define and refine card value propositions aligned with customer needs and market trends.
• Develop business cases for new products to support internal and external approvals for successful launch.
• Program manage product launches in ensuring delivery on scope, timeline, and business outcomes.
• Resolve technical product issues in partnership with IT and operations teams to ensure seamless service delivery

3. Digital Adoption

• Identify opportunities to increase digital adoption across portfolios 
• Execute initiatives to improve usage of digital channels and solutions

4. Portfolio Profitability

• Own portfolio financial performance including revenue, cost and profitability tracking. 
• Provide regular performance reporting with actionable insights 
• Escalate risks, blockers and performance gaps in a timely manner.

Knowledge and Experience 

• Education: Bachelors degree, master's degree holder is preferred 
• Minimum 8-10 years of relevant experience in the card payments industry 
• Proven experience in card products business development in retail banking 
• Strong analytical, communication, leadership, and stakeholder management skills 
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills and the ability to multi-task in a fast-paced environment 
• Experience in managing teams of multi-function in the cards business · Deep understanding of bank business operations 
• Ability to manage end-to-end card product launch or revamp projects independently 
• Knowledge of market trends, local banking regulations, risks and opportunities 
• Ability to work with various functional departments across the banks to get things done