Business Development Manager – Payroll / Check-off Lending

At Strivo Labs, we are passionate about helping businesses scale with speed and precision. We specialise in providing end-to-end digital solutions, from custom design and MVP development to automation and content creation. We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Business Development Manager – Payroll / Check-off Lending

Location: Lagos Role Overview We are seeking an experienced Payroll Lending Manager – Private Sector to drive the growth and performance of the private-sector payroll lending portfolio. The successful candidate will be responsible for developing employer partnerships, driving sales and loan origination, managing portfolio performance, and ensuring effective underwriting, remittance, risk management, and compliance. This role requires strong business development and relationship management skills, as well as the willingness to travel extensively across Nigeria.

Key Responsibilities

Employer Partnerships, Business Growth & Sales: Identify, onboard, and manage relationships with private-sector employers, including corporates and SMEs, to establish salary deduction or check-off partnerships. Drive loan origination, disbursement volumes, and portfolio growth in line with approved targets and risk appetite. Develop and improve the end-to-end payroll lending sales process, from employer prospecting and partnership development to employee acquisition, conversion, and loan disbursement. Own sales execution, ensuring agreed sales activities, pipeline targets, conversion rates, and growth objectives are achieved. Build and maintain a strong pipeline of prospective employer partnerships across target industries and locations. Collaborate with Sales, Business Development, Credit, Risk, and other relevant teams to drive business growth. Travel extensively across Nigeria to develop employer relationships, pursue business opportunities, support sales activities, and strengthen existing partnerships. Underwriting & Deduction Management: Develop and continuously improve underwriting criteria for private-sector employees, considering employer credit standing, industry risk, employment tenure, income verification, and other relevant credit parameters. Work closely with employer HR and payroll teams to verify employment status, salary, deduction consent, and remittance compliance. Manage accounts where employees resign, are terminated, or change employers, including transitioning affected accounts from payroll deduction to direct collection where required. Risk, Compliance & Portfolio Management: Monitor employer-level risk indicators, including restructuring, layoffs, delayed salary payments, financial distress, and other factors that may affect repayment performance. Take appropriate actions to manage employer exposure and maintain portfolio quality. Own portfolio performance, including PAR and NPL, and drive appropriate remedial and recovery actions on delinquent accounts. Work with Legal, Compliance, Credit, and Risk teams to ensure payroll lending activities and employer partnerships comply with regulatory and internal requirements. Balance portfolio growth with appropriate credit quality, risk management, and compliance controls. Reporting & Performance Management: Prepare regular reports covering sales pipeline, employer acquisition, loan origination, disbursement volumes, conversion rates, PAR, NPL, employer partnerships, and remittance compliance. Track performance against agreed sales, growth, portfolio quality, and operational targets. Identify performance gaps and implement appropriate corrective actions. Monitor loan approval and disbursement turnaround times and drive improvements against agreed service targets. Provide management with insights on sales performance, portfolio trends, emerging risks, and new growth opportunities.