Background information about the job or company (e.g., role context, company overview)

Equity Bank Limited (The "Bank”) is incorporated, registered under the Kenyan Companies Act Cap 486 and domiciled in Kenya. The address of the Bank’s registered office is 9th Floor, Equity Centre, P.O. Box 75104 - 00200 Nairobi. The Bank is licensed under the Kenya Banking Act (Chapter 488), and continues to offer retail banking, microfinance and relat...

The Head of Forensic Investigations is responsible for providing strategic leadership and operational oversight of the organization’s fraud investigation function to detect, investigate, and resolve fraud, financial crime, misconduct, or breaches of policy and regulatory requirements. This role safeguards the organization’s assets, reputation, and compliance posture by developing and implementing investigation strategies, managing complex investigations, and recommending effective mitigation and prevention measures. It ensures that investigations are conducted ethically, objectively, and in compliance with legal and regulatory standards while influencing organizational risk management and fraud prevention practices at the highest levels.

Responsibilities or duties

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership & Governance
  • Develop and execute the organization’s fraud and forensic investigation strategy.
  • Establish investigation policies, frameworks, and operating standards aligned with regulatory requirements and best practice.
  • Drive cross‑organizational fraud‑risk governance and ensure robust oversight.
• Strategic Development of Investigation Management
  • Oversee end‑to‑end investigations for fraud, financial crime, employee misconduct, and regulatory breaches.
  • Direct complex, high‑risk, and high‑profile investigations, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and evidentiary integrity.
  • Ensure proper case prioritization, resource deployment, escalation, and closure.
• Team Leadership and Capability Building
  • Lead, coach, and develop a multidisciplinary forensic investigations team.
  • Set performance standards, KPIs, capacity plans, and competency requirements.
  • Build a high‑performance, ethics‑driven, investigative culture.
• Risk and Controls
  • Analyze fraud trends, systemic risks, and control gaps; recommend preventive and corrective measures.
  • Approve implementation of investigative tools, forensic technologies, and analytics.
  • Advise leadership on organizational fraud risks and emerging threats.
• Stakeholder & External Engagement
  • Partner closely with Compliance, Legal, Risk, Audit, IT/Cybersecurity, HR, and business units.
  • Liaise with regulators, law enforcement, prosecutors, industry bodies, and external forensic experts.
  • Present investigation insights and risk intelligence to senior leadership and governance committees.
• Reporting and Documentation
  • Ensure comprehensive, accurate, and clear investigation documentation and reporting — including internal management reports and external reports to regulators or law enforcement where required.
• Governance and Regulatory Compliance
  • Ensure all investigations and related activities align with internal policies, legal requirements, regulatory standards, and industry best practices, upholding due process and ethical conduct.
• Continuous Improvement & Innovation
  • Lead initiatives to enhance fraud investigation processes, tools, and technologies; stay informed of emerging fraud schemes and innovative techniques for detection and prevention.
• Customer Protection & Engagement (for financial services environments)
  • Oversee the protection of customers impacted by fraud, ensuring best-in-class service and collaboration with customer support teams where appropriate.

Core Accountabilities and Deliverables

• Strategic Leadership & Fraud Governance
  • Lead the development and implementation of a comprehensive fraud investigation strategy that aligns with organisational goals, risk appetite, and regulatory requirements.
  • Establish and maintain effective fraud governance policies, frameworks, procedures, and standards across all business units.
• Operational Risk Management & Investigations Outcomes
  • Ensure all fraud and suspicious activity investigations are conducted thoroughly, independently, and in compliance with policies and procedures.
  • Ensure the organization detects, reports, monitors, and escalates fraud incidents appropriately, keeping fraud losses within agreed thresholds.
  • Deliver timely remedial recommendations and actionable insights following investigations, including root cause analyses.
• Team Leadership & Capability Development
  • Lead, coach, and develop the fraud investigations team, setting performance objectives, growth plans, and competency standards.
  • Ensure staffing, skills, and training are adequate to meet evolving fraud risks and investigation demands.
• Fraud Risk Monitoring & Reporting
  • Oversee the regular review of fraud trends, systemic risks, control weaknesses, and emerging threats, ensuring insights inform strategic planning and control enhancements.
  • Produce and present accurate, insight-driven reports to senior management, risk committees, regulators and other stakeholders.
• Stakeholder Engagement & External Collaboration
  • Maintain strong relationships with internal partners (e.g., compliance, legal, risk, IT, audit) to integrate fraud mitigation efforts and support decision-making.
  • Represent the organization in external forums, liaise with sector peers, law enforcement, regulators, and industry bodies to stay informed of fraud trends, intelligence and best practice.
• Service Delivery & Customer Impact
  • Ensure fraud investigation outputs contribute to high standards of customer protection and experience where applicable.
  • Ensure resolution of fraud-related complaints and engagement with customers and business units to foster trust and compliance.
• Continuous Improvement & Innovation
  • Drive process improvements, adoption of technology tools and analytics to enhance fraud detection, investigation efficiency and control effectiveness.
  • Lead efforts to refine metrics and KPIs that measure the effectiveness of the fraud investigations function and delivery against targets.

Qualifications or requirements

Experience needed

• 8- 10 years forensic investigation experience
• Over 5 years leadership experience
• Strong fraud investigation and forensic accounting background
• Experience working with regulators and law enforcement

Academic Qualifications and Certifications

• Business related degree from a recognized University or College.
• Professional Certification in Fraud Examination (CFE), Auditing, Accounting, Risk management and Information systems audit is an added advantage

• Strategic Leadership & Governance
  • Develop and execute the organization’s fraud and forensic investigation strategy.
  • Establish investigation policies, frameworks, and operating standards aligned with regulatory requirements and best practice.
  • Drive cross‑organizational fraud‑risk governance and ensure robust oversight.
• Strategic Development of Investigation Management
  • Oversee end‑to‑end investigations for fraud, financial crime, employee misconduct, and regulatory breaches.
  • Direct complex, high‑risk, and high‑profile investigations, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and evidentiary integrity.
  • Ensure proper case prioritization, resource deployment, escalation, and closure.
• Team Leadership and Capability Building
  • Lead, coach, and develop a multidisciplinary forensic investigations team.
  • Set performance standards, KPIs, capacity plans, and competency requirements.
  • Build a high‑performance, ethics‑driven, investigative culture.
• Risk and Controls
  • Analyze fraud trends, systemic risks, and control gaps; recommend preventive and corrective measures.
  • Approve implementation of investigative tools, forensic technologies, and analytics.
  • Advise leadership on organizational fraud risks and emerging threats.
• Stakeholder & External Engagement
  • Partner closely with Compliance, Legal, Risk, Audit, IT/Cybersecurity, HR, and business units.
  • Liaise with regulators, law enforcement, prosecutors, industry bodies, and external forensic experts.
  • Present investigation insights and risk intelligence to senior leadership and governance committees.
• Reporting and Documentation
  • Ensure comprehensive, accurate, and clear investigation documentation and reporting — including internal management reports and external reports to regulators or law enforcement where required.
• Governance and Regulatory Compliance
  • Ensure all investigations and related activities align with internal policies, legal requirements, regulatory standards, and industry best practices, upholding due process and ethical conduct.
• Continuous Improvement & Innovation
  • Lead initiatives to enhance fraud investigation processes, tools, and technologies; stay informed of emerging fraud schemes and innovative techniques for detection and prevention.
• Customer Protection & Engagement (for financial services environments)
  • Oversee the protection of customers impacted by fraud, ensuring best-in-class service and collaboration with customer support teams where appropriate.
• Strategic Leadership & Fraud Governance
  • Lead the development and implementation of a comprehensive fraud investigation strategy that aligns with organisational goals, risk appetite, and regulatory requirements.
  • Establish and maintain effective fraud governance policies, frameworks, procedures, and standards across all business units.
• Operational Risk Management & Investigations Outcomes
  • Ensure all fraud and suspicious activity investigations are conducted thoroughly, independently, and in compliance with policies and procedures.
  • Ensure the organization detects, reports, monitors, and escalates fraud incidents appropriately, keeping fraud losses within agreed thresholds.
  • Deliver timely remedial recommendations and actionable insights following investigations, including root cause analyses.
• Team Leadership & Capability Development
  • Lead, coach, and develop the fraud investigations team, setting performance objectives, growth plans, and competency standards.
  • Ensure staffing, skills, and training are adequate to meet evolving fraud risks and investigation demands.
• Fraud Risk Monitoring & Reporting
  • Oversee the regular review of fraud trends, systemic risks, control weaknesses, and emerging threats, ensuring insights inform strategic planning and control enhancements.
  • Produce and present accurate, insight-driven reports to senior management, risk committees, regulators and other stakeholders.
• Stakeholder Engagement & External Collaboration
  • Maintain strong relationships with internal partners (e.g., compliance, legal, risk, IT, audit) to integrate fraud mitigation efforts and support decision-making.
  • Represent the organization in external forums, liaise with sector peers, law enforcement, regulators, and industry bodies to stay informed of fraud trends, intelligence and best practice.
• Service Delivery & Customer Impact
  • Ensure fraud investigation outputs contribute to high standards of customer protection and experience where applicable.
  • Ensure resolution of fraud-related complaints and engagement with customers and business units to foster trust and compliance.
• Continuous Improvement & Innovation
  • Drive process improvements, adoption of technology tools and analytics to enhance fraud detection, investigation efficiency and control effectiveness.
  • Lead efforts to refine metrics and KPIs that measure the effectiveness of the fraud investigations function and delivery against targets.

• Fraud investigation
• Forensic accounting
• Leadership
• Risk management
• Regulatory compliance
• Stakeholder management
• Team development
• Investigation strategy development
• Fraud trend analysis
• Control gap analysis
• Forensic technologies
• Data analytics
• Reporting
• Documentation
• Ethical conduct
• Due process
• Process improvement
• Customer protection

• Business related degree from a recognized University or College.
• Professional Certification in Fraud Examination (CFE), Auditing, Accounting, Risk management and Information systems audit is an added advantage