About the Role

The Geo Head - Financial Inclusion will own the end-to-end FI agenda across the geography and act as the senior governance and execution anchor between the Central FI team, State Heads - FI, regional leadership, Government authorities, SLBCs and other stakeholders. The role will provide a single point of accountability for consistent execution of Financial Inclusion, Social Security Schemes, Government Sponsored Schemes, Financial Literacy, Annual Credit Plan and state-level regulatory commitments across a geographically dispersed and stakeholder-intensive region.

Key Responsibilities

Geography
- Own the overall FI strategy, priorities and delivery plan for the geography, translating Central Office direction into clear state-level execution.
- Lead, guide and review mapped State Heads - FI, establish clear accountability, and drive a structured daily, weekly and monthly governance rhythm.
- Act as the single point of accountability for geography-level FI outcomes, escalations, decision-making and closure of interdependent issues.
- Build capability, execution discipline and succession depth across the regional FI team through coaching, field engagement and targeted training.

Government, Regulatory & SLBC Engagement
- Strengthen senior-level engagement with State Governments, SLBC convenors, RBI and other relevant authorities across geography.
- Ensure effective representation and participation in SLBC, DLCC, BLBC and other prescribed forums, and track decisions and commitments to timely closure.
- Drive accurate, complete and timely submission of SLBC, DFS and other Government or regulatory reports with appropriate supporting evidence.
- Maintain consistent regulatory messaging and proactively manage state-specific priorities, Government programmes and stakeholder expectations.

Business Delivery & Financial Inclusion Outcomes
- Drive geography and state budgets for FI, Annual Credit Plan, Social Security Schemes, Government Sponsored Schemes and Financial Literacy initiatives.
- Partner with Regional Heads, Branch Banking, Bharat Banking product teams, asset and liability businesses,



BC/BCBO channels and other distribution teams to improve delivery against Government mandates and internal targets.
- Identify state-specific opportunities and constraints, formulate action plans, and improve execution in markets requiring sustained focus on Credit-Deposit ratio and Government priorities.
- Enable adoption of scalable and digitally enabled sourcing and service models across branches, Business Correspondents and partner channels.

Execution Oversight, Controls & Issue Resolution
- Monitor state-wise performance through MIS and dashboards, identify gaps early, and drive corrective actions with clear owners and timelines.
- Ensure adherence to approved policies, SOPs, control requirements and regulatory timelines across the geography.
- Facilitate faster decision-making and issue resolution closer to the market, escalating material matters to Central Office with structured recommendations.
- Support timely and evidence-based responses and closure of audit, compliance, regulator and management requirements relating to geography-level FI activities.

Cross-functional Collaboration & Central Office Interface
- Bridge State Heads - FI and the Central FI team, ensuring two-way flow of priorities, field insights, risks and implementation feedback.
- Coordinate with business, operations, technology, finance, risk, compliance, collections, analytics and training teams to deliver cross-functional FI initiatives.
- Lead implementation of Central Office projects in the geography and provide handholding to State Heads - FI for day-to-day execution.
- Improve Central Office bandwidth by independently managing geography-level execution and stakeholder engagement while aligning on strategy, policy and enterprise-wide governance.

Qualifications

Optimal qualification for success on the job is:
.



Post-graduation from a recognized institute MBA or an equivalent professional qualification preferred.
. 15+ years of relevant banking or financial services experience, with meaningful exposure to Financial Inclusion, Government business, rural banking, regulatory coordination or large-scale geography management.
. Experience leading regional or multi-state teams and managing senior internal, Government and regulatory stakeholders.
. Demonstrated track record of cross-functional execution, governance, performance management and issue resolution in an operationally complex environment.

Role Proficiencies:

For successful execution of the job, the candidate should possess:
Skills
- Strong understanding of FI, SSS, GSS, SLBC frameworks, Annual Credit Plan, Financial Literacy and Government-led banking initiatives.
- Strong stakeholder management, negotiation and representation skills, with the ability to engage senior Government, regulatory and business leaders.
- Ability to interpret MIS and performance data, identify root causes and translate insights into practical action plans.
- Solid written and verbal communication, review governance and programme-management capability.

Abilities
- High ownership, outcome orientation and comfort operating across a large, geographically dispersed and diverse region.
- Ability to influence across reporting lines, align multiple stakeholders and maintain execution discipline.
- Sound judgement in balancing business delivery, regulatory commitments, customer outcomes, risk and controls.
- Ability to lead, coach and motivate teams while working independently in a high-visibility role.

Key Stakeholders
Internal: Central FI & PSL team, State Heads - FI, Regional and Circle leadership, Branch Banking, Bharat Banking product and distribution teams, Operations, Technology, Finance, Risk, Compliance, Collections, Analytics and Learning & Development.
External: State Government departments, SLBC convenors, RBI/DFS and other Government or regulatory bodies, partner institutions and Business Correspondents, as relevant to the portfolio.

📌 Bharat Banking: Geo Head - Financial Inclusion (Kolkata)
🏢 Axis Bank
📍 Kolkata