Anaplan Technical Lead

You've built planning models that finance teams actually trust. You've untangled messy data ecosystems, architected scalable solutions, and probably talked a few business stakeholders down from a spreadsheet cliff. You're good at this. Maybe even excellent.

But here's an honest question: how often does your work connect to something that changes the trajectory of someone's financial life?

At M-KOPA, we've unlocked over $2 billion in credit for more than 7 million customers across Africa — 55% of whom are accessing formal financial services for the very first time. 86% report a meaningful improvement in their quality of life. 70% use the products they finance through us to generate income. These aren't vanity metrics. They're the direct result of planning infrastructure, financial rigour, and operational precision — the kind of work you do every day, just with higher stakes than most roles will ever offer you.

We're hiring an Anaplan Technical Lead to own and evolve the connected planning backbone that underpins a business growing fast — deliberately, strategically, and at continent-scale.

Why now, and why this matters

M-KOPA has grown from 5 million to 7 million customers in the past year alone. We're building toward 10 million. That growth trajectory demands planning infrastructure that can keep pace: models that don't just report on the business, but help shape its next moves — across FP&A, Supply Chain, Workforce Planning, and beyond.

This isn't a maintenance role. It isn't a "keep the lights on" position handed to someone who'll spend their days fielding formula errors. This is the role for someone who wants to architect the connected planning ecosystem of one of Africa's most consequential fintechs, from the ground up, with full authority to shape how it works.

What this role actually looks like

You'll serve as the Solution Architect and Technical Lead for M-KOPA's enterprise-wide Anaplan environment — designing scalable, future-ready model architecture across Data Hub and spoke models, driving ALM practices, and leading end-to-end implementations from requirements through UAT to deployment. You'll own model optimisation: reducing sparsity, improving performance, and building the kind of standardised design practices that make the next model easier to build than the last.

On the data side, you'll partner with Finance and business leaders to sharpen the quality of budgeting, forecasting, and scenario planning — translating complex business requirements into efficient Anaplan solutions and equipping leadership with the variance analysis and strategic insight they need to make decisions with confidence.

Your scope extends into the data ecosystem too. You'll design and manage integrations via Anaplan CloudWorks, APIs, and ETL collaboration — ensuring clean, validated, reconciled data flow between source systems and the Anaplan Data Hub. Where automation opportunities exist (and they will), you'll find them, whether that means writing scripts or partnering with integration teams to remove manual dependencies and build for resilience.

Beyond the technical remit, you'll lead and mentor a team of Anaplan model builders and analysts, act as the primary escalation point for business-critical issues, and drive CoE governance that raises the standard across every model in the environment. You'll facilitate stakeholder workshops, manage competing priorities, and work cross-functionally with Finance, Tech, and Business teams to keep delivery on track and the roadmap aligned with where M-KOPA is going.

What makes you ready for this

• Proven track record as an Anaplan architect or technical lead, with demonstrable experience designing and delivering enterprise-grade connected planning solutions — ideally holding Level 2 or Level 3 Model Builder certification, with Solution Architect certification a strong advantage

• Extensive experience integrating Anaplan within complex data ecosystems — CloudWorks, APIs, ETL pipelines — alongside hands-on capability with scripting (Python, BAT) to automate workflows and reduce manual dependencies

• Demonstrated experience leading planning model delivery in an FP&A or multi-function environment, including workforce and supply chain planning, with the ability to translate business requirements into technically sound, performance-optimised architecture

The reality check

This role will stretch you. M-KOPA moves fast, the business complexity is real, and the expectations on planning quality are high because the decisions that rely on your models are high-stakes. You'll be navigating a multi-market, multi-function environment where stakeholder demands are constant and priorities shift. If you're looking for a quiet corner to maintain existing models, this isn't it. If you're looking for a role where you can build something genuinely significant, grow a team, and see your architecture decisions ripple through a business that matters — then you're probably ready for exactly this.

Why M-KOPA, not somewhere else

Most organisations that need Anaplan expertise need it for incremental improvement. M-KOPA needs it for transformation. Our connected planning infrastructure is being built to support a business that will touch the financial lives of tens of millions of people across Africa. The models you design will underpin budget decisions that fund new markets. The forecasting frameworks you build will shape how we grow. The CoE you lead will set the standard for how an ambitious, mission-driven African fintech manages its planning capabilities for the next decade.

That's not a typical Anaplan role. That's a defining one.

If you've been looking for the moment where your technical expertise, your leadership experience, and your ambition all point in the same direction — this might be it.

Ready to architect connected planning for a business building Africa's financial future? Let's talk.

At M-KOPA, we empower our people to own their careers through diverse development programs, coaching partnerships, and on-the-job training. We support individual journeys with family-friendly policies, prioritize well-being, and embrace flexibility.

Join us in shaping the future of M-KOPA as we grow together. Explore more at m-kopa.com.

Recognized four times by the Financial Times as one Africa's fastest growing companies (2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025) and by TIME100 Most influential companies in the world 2023 and 2024 , we've served over 6 million customers, unlocking $1.5 billion in cumulative credit for the unbanked across Africa.

Important Notice
M-KOPA is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer committed to assembling a diverse, broadly trained staff. Women, minorities, and people with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.

M-KOPA explicitly prohibits the use of Forced or Child Labour and respects the rights of its employees to agree to terms and conditions of employment voluntarily, without coercion, and freely terminate their employment on appropriate notice. M-KOPA shall ensure that its Employees are of legal working age and shall comply with local laws for youth employment or student work, such as internships or apprenticeships. 

M-KOPA does not collect/charge any money as a pre-employment or post-employment requirement. This means that we never ask for ‘recruitment fees’, ‘processing fees’, ‘interview fees’, or any other kind of money in exchange for offer letters or interviews at any time during the hiring process.

Applications for this position will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Shortlisting and interviews will take place at any stage during the recruitment process. We reserve the right to close the vacancy early if a suitable candidate is selected before the advertised closing date.

If your application is successful M-KOPA undertakes pre-employment background checks as part of its recruitment process, these include; criminal records, identification verification, academic qualifications, employment dates and employer references.