Head of Strategic Initiatives

Funding Societies | Modalku is the largest SME digital finance platform in Southeast Asia. We are licensed and operating  in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam, and backed by Sequoia India (Peak XV), Softbank Vision Fund, Khazanah and SMBC bank amongst many others. Funding Societies | Modalku provides business financing to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which is funded by individual and institutional investors, as well as payments solutions to SMEs and consumers.

Here at Funding Societies | Modalku we live by our core values GETFS:

• Grow Relentlessly: Strive to become our best, most authentic selves.
• Enable Teamwork, Disable Politics: Only by forging togetherness, we help each other succeed.
• Test Measure Act: Stay curious and reinvent ourselves, through innovation and experimentation.
• Focus on Impact: Create impact through bias for action and tangible results.
• Serve with Obsession: Build win-win relationships for the long-term by having a customer obsession.

We are seeking a highly capable, strategic, and execution-driven leader to support the Country Head in driving cross-team alignment, accelerating strategic initiatives, managing key partnerships, and improving organizational effectiveness across Funding Societies Malaysia. As a strategic partner to the Country Head, this role enables a sharper focus on priority of commercial, operational, product, and strategic domains.

The ideal candidate will not only shape and execute high impact initiatives but will also bring versatile leadership to proactively strengthen key areas alongside the Country Head , in stabilizing and elevating functions to ensure continuity and long term success.

What you will do:

1. Cross-Functional Leadership & Strategy Execution

• Drive alignment and cross-learning across multiple sales and business development teams focusing on different products and SME segments.
• Identify, prioritize, and implement commercial and operational improvement initiatives that drive revenue, risk-adjusted returns, and productivity.
• Develop and maintain dashboards and performance reviews with functional leaders to ensure consistent delivery of targets and KPIs.
• Collaborate with FP&A to track business performance and support commercial budgeting processes.
• Provide hands-on, targeted leadership for priority initiatives where functional alignment is needed.
  

2. SME & Institutional Partnerships

• Create strategy and roadmap for strategic partnerships across Malaysia-based SME ecosystems, including digital banks, fintech platforms, and ecosystem enablers, enabling sales teams.
• Serve as the relationship lead for partners whose engagement spans multiple segments, products, or investor bases.
• Structure, negotiate, and operationalize partnership models to drive mutual value and scalability.

3. Product & Innovation Leadership

• Act as commercial and operational lead for select financial product verticals, collaborating with Group Product, Credit, and Risk teams to shape roadmaps, pricing strategies, and go-to-market approaches.
  

4. Strategic Projects & Business Growth

• Drive key strategic initiatives on behalf of the Country Head or Group Leadership, including new product launches, market expansion efforts, and programs designed to boost revenue growth and enhance overall financial performance.
• Support the development of strategic business plans and investor narratives, working closely with internal and external stakeholders.

What we are looking for:

Experience & Background:

• 7–12 years of experience in strategy, fintech, consulting, product, or business operations.

• Commercial and financial literacy: Strong commercial acumen with demonstrated experience managing cross-functional projects or teams.
• Experience working with FP&A or finance teams on commercial budgeting, business planning, and P&L understanding.

• Proven track record in building partnerships, launching new products, or leading business transformation initiatives.
• Analytical, structured, and results-oriented with strong communication and stakeholder management capabilities.
• Familiarity with fund structuring and investor engagement via wholesale funds, VCC, or other capital-raising structures.
• Demonstrated ability to take strategic concepts from idea to measurable results in complex, fast-moving environments.
• Experience leading through change and ambiguity, influencing diverse stakeholders to align behind new priorities.
• High resilience under pressure, with the ability to rapidly adapt priorities in response to shifting market, organisational, or regulatory conditions.
• Strong track record of driving outcomes through cross-functional teams without direct line authority, including conflict resolution and alignment-building

Preferred Attributes

• Familiarity with SME lending, digital financial services, or embedded finance models.
• Experience working with senior stakeholders, institutional investors, or government-linked organizations.
• Passion for technology, innovation, and data-driven execution—especially in leveraging AI for business productivity.

• Time off - We would love you to take time off to rest and rejuvenate. We offer flexible paid vacations as well as many other observed holidays by country. We also like to have our people take a day off for special days like birthdays and work anniversaries.
• Flexible working - We believe in giving back the control of work & life to our people. We trust our people and love to provide the space to accommodate each and everyone's working style and personal life.
• Medical benefits - We offer health insurance coverage for our employees and dependents. Our people focus on our mission knowing we have their backs for their loved ones too.
• Mental health and wellness - We understand that our team productivity is directly linked to our mental and physical health. Hence we organize org-wide fitness initiatives and engage partners to provide well-being coaching.
• Tech support - We provide a company laptop for our employees and the best possible support for the right equipment/tools to enable high productivity

Interested to know more about us? Learn about our Stories here.