SME FINANCE & CREDIT SPECIALIST

About the Opportunity

PAWA Africa is seeking an experienced SME Finance and Credit Specialist to provide part-time financial assessment and transaction-support services to businesses. The appointed specialist will review business and financial information, assess credit readiness and repayment capacity, identify financial and transaction risks, recommend suitable funding products and support the preparation of quality funding applications.

This is a practical, outputs-based role. It is suited to a finance professional with direct experience in business banking, SME lending, credit assessment or development finance who is available to contribute on a part-time consultancy basis.

Purpose of the Role

The purpose of the role is to provide specialist credit and financial services to appropriate funding-product matching and application preparation.

The specialist will not be responsible for making lending decisions or guaranteeing finance. All applications will remain subject to the independent credit, affordability, compliance and due-diligence processes.

How to Apply

Applicants should submit:

• An updated CV highlighting relevant SME finance, business banking and credit experience.
• A short motivation outlining their suitability and availability.
• A brief description of relevant SME lending or funding transactions previously assessed or supported, without disclosing confidential client information.
• An indication of their experience with working-capital, purchase-order, invoice, asset or development-finance products.
• Contact details for two relevant professional references.

Email: recruitmentZA@pawaafrica.com
Email subject: Application – SME Finance & Credit Specialist
Closing date: 31st August 2026

Key Responsibilities

Financial and Credit Assessment

• Review business profiles and finance-readiness assessments.
• Assess the business’s trading history, revenue model, customer base, funding need and growth opportunity.
• Review business bank statements and identify turnover patterns, unpaid items, existing deductions, cash-flow pressures and account-conduct risks.
• Review available management accounts, financial statements, income and expense records, debtor and creditor information and existing debt obligations.
• Assess the reasonableness of the funding amount, proposed use of funds and expected business benefit.
• Evaluate cash flow, affordability, repayment capacity and the proposed source of repayment.
• Identify material credit, financial, customer-concentration, compliance and operational risks.

Finance-Readiness Support

• Identify gaps that may prevent a business from submitting a credible funding application.
• Provide practical recommendations to strengthen financial records, cash-flow information and supporting evidence.
• Assist businesses to clarify their funding requirements and prepare an itemised use-of-funds schedule.
• Review financial projections and ensure that assumptions are reasonable and aligned with available business information.
• Recommend whether a business is ready to proceed to finance application preparation or requires further corrective action.

Finance-Product Matching

• Identify suitable SME finance products based on the business’s funding purpose, trading activity, affordability and repayment source.
• Consider products such as working-capital finance, purchase-order finance, invoice finance, asset finance, overdrafts, term loans and relevant development-finance facilities.
• Match businesses to appropriate banks, development-finance institutions, fintech lenders or alternative finance providers.
• Record the reasons for each recommended finance-product and provider match.
• Avoid submitting businesses indiscriminately to multiple providers where the product or eligibility criteria are unsuitable.

Funding Application Review

• Review or assist with the preparation of funding application packs for selected businesses.
• Check that funding applications contain accurate and consistent financial and business information.
• Review supporting documents such as bank statements, management accounts, quotations, contracts, purchase orders and invoices.
• Check that the funding request, use of funds, cash-flow projections and repayment assumptions align.
• Review KYC, company registration, tax, ownership and related compliance documentation where applicable.
• Prepare or review concise credit summaries and funding recommendations.
• Identify missing information and provide a clear action list before submission.

Transaction and Pipeline Support

• Support the team in responding to reasonable requests for additional information from finance providers.
• Participate in scheduled internal reviews of priority finance cases.
• Provide specialist input on application quality, credit risks, product suitability and next actions.
• Maintain accurate records of cases reviewed, recommendations made and outstanding actions.
• Submit weekly progress updates covering completed reviews, material risks, application gaps and recommended next steps.

Key Deliverables

The specialist will be expected to produce:

• An initial review of the allocated finance pipeline and recommended approach.
• Completed financial and credit assessments for an agreed portfolio of priority businesses.
• Written recommendations and action plans for businesses requiring further preparation.
• A current matrix of relevant SME finance providers, products and minimum eligibility requirements.
• Quality-reviewed funding applications and supporting packs for agreed priority cases.
• A final report summarising cases reviewed, key risks, finance-product recommendations, application progress and outstanding actions.

Required Qualifications and Experience

• A relevant qualification in finance, accounting, banking, investment, business management or a related field.
• At least two years of relevant experience in SME finance, business banking, lending, credit assessment, development finance, transaction advisory or enterprise finance.
• Direct experience working within a bank, credit department, lending institution, development-finance institution or SME finance provider is strongly preferred.
• Practical experience assessing SME credit applications and making or supporting lending recommendations.
• Demonstrated ability to review business bank statements, management accounts, financial statements and cash-flow forecasts.
• Experience assessing affordability, repayment capacity and financial risk.
• Understanding of SME finance products, including working capital, purchase-order finance, invoice finance and asset finance.
• Experience preparing, reviewing or quality-assuring business funding applications.
• Knowledge of South African SME funders and lending requirements.
• Existing relationships with banks, development-finance institutions, fintech lenders or alternative finance providers will be advantageous.
• Experience working with women-owned businesses or underserved SMEs will be advantageous.
• Strong Microsoft Excel, financial-analysis, document-review and portfolio-tracking skills.
• Ability to explain complex financial and credit requirements in practical and accessible language.
• High ethical standards and the ability to manage confidential business, financial and personal information responsibly.

Suitable Professional Backgrounds

This opportunity may be suitable for an experienced:

• SME or business banking credit analyst.
• Business banker or relationship manager with credit experience.
• Commercial lending or credit officer.
• SME finance or transaction advisor.
• Credit risk or portfolio specialist.
• Former banking professional seeking a flexible consultancy assignment.

Pay: R20 000,00 - R30 000,00 per month

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Johannesburg, Gauteng