ABOUT SKYQUEST

SkyQuest Technology Consulting is a rapidly expanding global advisory firm specialising in market intelligence, innovation management, and commercialisation strategy. We partner with corporates, governments, and development organisations to turn insights into implementation.

Learn more: https://www.skyquestt.com

ABOUT THE ROLE

SkyQuest is seeking an experienced Principal Consultant to lead the Phase 1: Diagnose & Baseline component of a technical assistance programme supporting a national agricultural development finance institution in Nigeria.

The role involves conducting a comprehensive institutional diagnostic to assess the Institution's organisational, operational, financial, and institutional capabilities; establish an evidence-based baseline; identify capability gaps; and recommend priority areas for institutional strengthening.

The consultant will lead the diagnostic process, including assessment design, desk reviews, institutional maturity assessments, management interviews, executive workshop facilitation, diagnostic scoring, and prioritisation of recommendations.

This is a hands-on consulting role requiring prior experience leading banking transformation and institutional diagnostic assignments, along with the ability to independently design and facilitate structured workshops with CEOs, executive management, business heads, and senior banking professionals.

THE PROGRAMME

SkyQuest is delivering a technical assistance programme to strengthen a national agricultural development finance institution in Nigeria.

The programme aims to improve the mobilisation and deployment of finance to agricultural enterprises and organisations serving smallholder farmers, particularly women and underserved producers.

The embedded Technical Support Unit (TSU) works alongside the Institution's teams, focusing on institutional strengthening, agricultural finance, operational improvements, and sustainable capability development.

THE OPPORTUNITY The assignment will be delivered over approximately 12 weeks as part of Phase 1: Diagnose & Baseline.

The consultant will establish the evidence base for institutional strengthening by assessing the Institution's current maturity, identifying organisational and operational gaps, validating diagnostic hypotheses, and recommending priority interventions.

The role involves direct engagement with senior management, functional heads, internal teams, and external stakeholders. The consultant will independently design and facilitate diagnostic workshops, validate findings, build stakeholder alignment, and translate discussions into actionable recommendations.

The assignment will culminate in a prioritised institutional intervention roadmap to guide the subsequent programme phases.

LOCATION

India-based role with extended travel to Nigeria.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

- Lead the institutional diagnostic kick-off, aligning senior management and stakeholders on objectives, scope, methodology, governance, timelines, and expected outcomes.
- Design the institutional diagnostic framework, assessment methodology, work plan, questionnaires, interview guides, and documentation requirements.




- Conduct comprehensive desk reviews of institutional strategies, business plans, annual reports, financial statements, organisational structures, policies, lending portfolios, credit processes, risk frameworks, and operational systems.
- Assess institutional capabilities across five dimensions: Strategy, Governance & Operating Model; People & Institutional Capability; Systems, Data & Digital Enablement; Processes, Products & Delivery Capability; and Partnerships, Capital & Resource Mobilisation.
- Conduct institutional maturity assessments using structured assessment frameworks and five-level maturity scoring methodologies.
- Lead institutional diagnostic assessments and banking transformation reviews, evaluating organisational structures, governance, operating models, business processes, credit and risk functions, technology, and institutional capabilities.
- Independently design and facilitate structured diagnostic workshops involving the CEO, Executive Committee, senior management, business heads, departmental heads, and functional teams.
- Facilitate cross-functional workshops covering institutional strategy, governance, agricultural lending, credit operations, risk management, technology, organisational capacity, and operational processes.
- Conduct management interviews, Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), focus group discussions, and stakeholder consultations to understand institutional challenges and validate assessment findings.
- Develop diagnostic hypotheses, identify institutional strengths and weaknesses, assess root causes, and validate findings through documentary evidence and stakeholder consultations.
- Consolidate findings from desk reviews, interviews, workshops, and institutional assessments into comprehensive diagnostic reports.
- Develop evidence-based scoring and prioritisation methodologies to evaluate institutional gaps, strategic value, implementation feasibility, financing potential, development impact, and sustainability.
- Identify and prioritise institutional interventions across the five programme workstreams, including dependencies, implementation requirements, and sequencing.
- Present diagnostic findings and recommendations to senior management and facilitate executive validation and strategic alignment sessions.
- Prepare executive presentations, strategic review documents, Board briefing materials, and recommendations for institutional endorsement.
- Develop the Phase 2 priority and implementation roadmap, identifying proposed interventions, institutional ownership, governance arrangements, milestones, and implementation requirements.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

EDUCATION

- Master's degree in Finance, Economics, Business Administration, Development Finance, Management, Organisational Development, Public Policy,



or a related discipline.
- Relevant professional certifications in institutional assessment, management consulting, organisational development, or programme management will be an advantage.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

- 12–15 years of relevant skilled experience in institutional diagnostics, banking strategy, financial-sector advisory, organisational assessment, or institutional transformation.
- Direct experience working with banks, Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), agricultural financial institutions, or other financial-sector organisations.
- Demonstrated experience independently leading institutional diagnostic assignments, bank-wide transformation projects, organisational maturity assessments, or financial-sector reviews.
- Proven hands-on experience designing and facilitating diagnostic workshops with CEOs, Executive Committees, senior leadership, business heads, and cross-functional institutional teams.
- Previous experience conducting bank diagnostics, including assessments of banking operations, organisational effectiveness, governance structures, operating models, credit and risk functions, and institutional capabilities.
- Experience conducting structured desk reviews, management interviews, stakeholder consultations, and institutional validation exercises.
- Demonstrated ability to develop institutional maturity frameworks, assessment methodologies, diagnostic scoring tools, gap analyses, and prioritisation matrices.
- Experience preparing institutional diagnostic reports, strategic recommendations, executive presentations, and implementation roadmaps.
- Strong understanding of banking operations, institutional governance, credit processes, risk management, organisational structures, and operational capabilities.

DESIRABLE EXPERIENCE

- Experience working with agricultural development banks, rural banks, or Development Finance Institutions.
- Previous involvement in institutional strengthening and financial-sector transformation programmes.
- Experience facilitating workshops and stakeholder consultations under donor-funded technical assistance assignments.
- Exposure to multilateral development institutions, international development partners, or government-supported financial-sector programmes.
- Experience working in Nigeria or other Sub-Saharan African markets.

IMPORTANT – CANDIDATE REQUIREMENT

Candidates must have personally led banking transformation or institutional diagnostic assignments and independently designed and facilitated structured diagnostic workshops with senior bank management, including CEOs, Executive Committees, business heads, and functional leaders.

Candidates should demonstrate actual project delivery experience in bank-wide diagnostics, organisational assessments, operating-model reviews, and transformation roadmaps.

General management consulting, research, training, or workshop coordination experience alone will not qualify. The role requires professionals who have directly executed banking diagnostic and transformation assignments and can independently lead senior-level institutional assessment workshops.

📌 Principal Consultant – Banking Transformation, Diagnostics & Executive Workshops (India)
🏢 SkyQuest Technology Consulting
📍 India