The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) announced four senior and managerial vacancies on its Digital Payment Services Division portal on Monday, targeting licencing and compliance functions for virtual asset service providers (VASPs). All positions close on 18 May, marking the regulator’s first recruitment drive dedicated to the emerging crypto‑related sector.
The advertised roles comprise a manager‑level post that will head the VASP licencing function, two deputy‑manager posts and a senior business analyst. The manager will oversee application review, recommend approvals or rejections and develop standard operating procedures for the forthcoming VASP regime. One deputy manager will support licencing activities, while the other will focus on product approval, risk‑based supervision, anti‑money‑laundering (AML) checks, cyber‑security assessments and enforcement of licencing conditions. The senior business analyst will assist with application assessment and provide regulatory guidance to prospective VASP applicants.
Candidates must have experience in payments, banking operations, financial services or law. The senior positions require familiarity with AML and counter‑terrorism financing frameworks, as well as international VASP standards.
The recruitment follows the passage of the Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP) Act by Kenya’s parliament in October 2025, the first legislation to create a legal framework for virtual assets used in payments. Under the Act, the CBK will supervise crypto‑linked remittances and mobile‑money integrations, sectors that have grown steadily in recent years. However, the subordinate regulations needed to operationalise the law remain pending.
The National Treasury drafted the VASP Regulations in March and opened them for public comment until 10 April. The draft proposes a 13‑member inter‑agency Coordination Committee that will include the CBK, the Capital Markets Authority, the Financial Reporting Centre and the National Computer and Cybercrimes Coordination Committee (NC4). The committee is intended to provide integrated oversight across the multiple use cases of virtual assets.
With the comment period closed and the regulations yet to be gazetted, the CBK’s hiring signals that the central bank is building internal capacity in anticipation of the regulatory rollout. Kenya joins a growing group of African jurisdictions—such as Rwanda and Ghana—moving to bring cryptocurrency activities under formal supervision. The gap between legislative approval and the issuance of detailed rules remains a regional challenge, but the CBK’s recruitment effort indicates readiness to implement the framework once the rulebook is finalized.
