GM-Category Lead-Fin. Services&Payments

Vodafone Idea Limited is an Aditya Birla Group and Vodafone Group partnership. It is India’s leading telecom service provider. The Company provides pan India Voice and Data services across 2G, 3G and 4G platform. With the large spectrum portfolio to support the growing demand for data and voice, the company is committed to deliver delightful customer experiences and contribute towards creating a truly ‘Digital India’ by enabling millions of citizens to connect and build a better tomorrow. The Company is developing infrastructure to introduce newer and smarter technologies, making both retail and enterprise customers future ready with innovative offerings, conveniently accessible through an ecosystem of digital channels as well as extensive on-ground presence. The Company is listed on National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in India.

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Role

Category Lead – Financial services and payments

Job Level / Designation

General Manager / Band M3

Function / Department

Digital – Partnerships & Growth

Location

Corporate Office, Mumbai

Context for the new role

Vi Finance is a strategic growth agenda to bring relevant financial propositions for Vi’s captive customer base. The business will operate through a partnership-led model, bringing credible banks, NBFCs and fintechs onto the Vi platform across lending, cards, deposits and payments. Personal Loans will be the anchor portfolio within the broader Vi Finance proposition.

The immediate priority is to establish a high-quality, compliant multi-lender Personal Loan proposition: identify and onboard credible lending partners, define the right operating and commercial model, build seamless customer journeys, launch the go-to-market, and scale disbursals profitably. The role therefore requires a techno-commercial leader who can combine lender partnerships, product and platform execution, funnel analytics, regulatory governance and P&L ownership.

Proposal

We propose to appoint a Category Lead – Vi Finance to build and scale the Financial Services & Payments business, with Personal Loans as the primary growth portfolio.

The incumbent will first create a credible lender network and take partners from evaluation to launch readiness across commercials, contracting, API integration, information security, compliance and operating SLAs. Thereafter, the individual will define and execute the GTM, optimise the end-to-end funnel, expand distribution across Vi channels, build new platform capabilities, and scale disbursals and revenue while maintaining portfolio quality and sustainable unit economics.

The role will continuously benchmark Vi Finance against best-in-class lending and fintech platforms, translate market insights into a prioritised capability roadmap, and deliver customer adoption, conversion, disbursals, incremental revenue, partner productivity and customer experience in line with the annual operating plan.

Job Purpose

Build and scale Vi Finance as a trusted, partnership-led financial-services platform, with primary ownership of Personal Loans. Create a differentiated multi-lender proposition, deliver a seamless customer experience, and drive profitable growth in adoption, disbursals and revenue.

Key Result Areas / Accountabilities

Product and Growth

• Own the end-to-end vision, business plan and roadmap for Vi Finance, with Personal Loans as the principal focus alongside Credit Cards, Fixed Deposits, Payments and adjacent propositions.
• Build a scalable multi-lender Personal Loan platform by defining lender-selection criteria and onboarding credible banks and NBFCs and work across commercials, legal agreements, APIs, Design team, information security, compliance, etc. to define SLAs and create launch readiness.
• Design and execute the GTM across Vi digital assets, partner with CVM, retail & mass retail distribution and appoint channel partner; establish the proposition, segmentation, communication, offer architecture and acquisition playbook.
• Own the complete lending funnel from eligibility and pre-qualified leads through application, approval and disbursal; use funnel, cohort and lender-level analytics to improve conversion, approval rates and lead quality.
• Manage lender mix, commercials, CAC, unit economics and portfolio P&L to balance customer scale, partner productivity, portfolio health and profitability.
• Benchmark leading fintech and lending platforms, identify customer-experience and technology gaps, and prioritize capabilities such as multi-lender routing, straight-through processing, decisioning, experimentation, reporting and partner governance.
• Lead zero-to-one launches and subsequent scale-up of adjacent financial-services and payment categories in line with the portfolio strategy.

New Partnerships & Business Development

Develop and manage a high-quality ecosystem of banks, NBFCs, fintechs and payment partners. Create a structured partner-evaluation framework covering customer fit, scale, approval and fulfilment capability, economics, technology readiness, data security and regulatory compliance. Negotiate commercials and contracts, establish partner governance and performance scorecards, resolve integration and operating dependencies, give visibility to leadership team, keep evolving the finance business roadmap and maintain a pipeline of prospective partners to strengthen proposition breadth and resilience.

Other Tasks

• Translate the business blueprint into prioritized customer journeys, platform requirements and a sequenced delivery roadmap.
• Lead cross-functional execution with Product, Technology, Analytics, CVM, Marketing, Legal, Compliance, InfoSec, Finance, Customer Service and Retail teams.
• Create points of ingress across Vi App, web, CVM, prepaid and postpaid journeys, generate top of the funnel from the retail touchpoints and partner ecosystems.
• Plan and run performance campaigns, experiments and tailored offers to drive qualified traffic, application starts, approvals and disbursals.
• Establish daily and monthly MIS covering funnel conversion, lender performance, customer cohorts, CAC, revenue, unit economics, SLA adherence and customer experience.
• Institute compliance-by-design and operating governance in line with applicable RBI digital-lending requirements, data-privacy standards and Vi policies.
• Review performance, identify bottlenecks and lead course corrections with partners and internal teams to deliver the annual operating plan.
• Provide leadership with market intelligence, competitor benchmarks, forward-looking risks and recommendations for the next phase of growth.

Key Performance Indicators

• Personal Loans: active lender count, lead volumes, application-to-disbursal conversion, approval rate, monthly disbursals and revenue.
• Economics: CAC, revenue per disbursal, contribution margin, partner payouts and portfolio P&L.
• Execution: time to onboard and launch partners, API and journey delivery milestones, SLA adherence and funnel improvements.
• Customer: adoption, repeat engagement, journey completion, complaint rate and NPS.
• Broader portfolio: customers, transactions, GMV and revenue across Cards, Deposits and Payments.

Core Competencies, Knowledge, Experience

Demonstrated experience in digital lending, preferably building or scaling a multi-lender LSP or marketplace model. Strong lender-partnership and business-development capability across banks and NBFCs, including commercial negotiation, contracting, API integrations, InfoSec, compliance and operating governance. Deep understanding of Personal Loan funnels, credit journeys, customer segmentation, cohort analytics, CAC/LTV, unit economics and P&L. Working knowledge of RBI Digital Lending Guidelines, data privacy and partner-risk management. Proven ability to lead zero-to-one launches, scale GTM across large consumer ecosystems, benchmark best-in-class practices and influence senior stakeholders while leading large cross-functional teams.

Preferred profile: 7–12 years across fintech, banks, NBFCs or large digital ecosystems, with meaningful ownership of Personal Loans, lender partnerships, digital product or platform delivery, analytics-led growth and business planning.

Must Have Technical / Professional Qualifications

MBA preferred

Years Of Experience

07-12 years

Industries to look from

Financial services, Fintech, NBFC & Banks

Ideal Organizations to look from

Paytm, PhonePe, Gpay, TataNeu, Airtel Finance etc.

Team Size

Individual contributor

Business Size

INR 100 Cr+ revenue

Vodafone Idea Limited (formerly Idea Cellular Limited)

An Aditya Birla Group & Vodafone partnership