Program Manager - Customer Operations & Process Excellence at Pesapal

Key Responsibilities

Customer-Centric Process Design & Optimization

• Lead end-to-end customer journey mapping for critical processes including onboarding, KYC, transaction processing, dispute resolution, and support.
• Translate customer insights, complaints, and feedback into actionable improvements that reduce friction and improve satisfaction.
• Identify bottlenecks, manual interventions, and pain points across workflows using analytics, VoC feedback, and journey mapping tools.
• Design and implement streamlined, automated, and scalable workflows aligned to customer expectations and regulatory requirements.
• Document and maintain Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), policies, and Service Level Agreements (SLAs) across key departments.

Systems Enablement & Automation

• Collaborate with Technical, Product, and Customer Experience teams to embed customer-first thinking in process and systems design.
• Partner on the evaluation, selection, and implementation of enabling technologies such as CRMs, ticketing systems, knowledge bases).
• Translate business needs into technical specifications, coordinate user acceptance testing and track deployment readiness.
• Support deployment of self-service tools (e.g., smart IVRs, digital forms, chatbots) and ensure alignment with user experience principles.

Operational Efficiency & Cost Optimization.

• Analyze and streamline workflows using Lean Six Sigma and value stream mapping.
• Lead initiatives to reduce manual work, redundancies, and operational costs.
• Drive standardization and documentation of SOPs, SLAs, and quality frameworks.
• Champion digital-first, paperless, and self-service processes.

Cross-Functional Program Leadership

• Act as the process improvement lead, coordinating across departments to deliver high-impact change initiatives.
• Drive cross-functional workshops and project teams focused on optimizing customer-facing and internal operations.
• Create and manage detailed project plans, including scope, milestones, risk tracking, and communication strategies.
• Proactively resolve interdepartmental blockers and ensure process changes are delivered on time, within scope, and with minimal disruption.

Compliance & Quality Assurance

• Ensure all processes are compliant with regulatory frameworks including AML, KYC, PCI-DSS, and internal risk controls.
• Proactively identify and address potential compliance risks in workflows before they escalate.
• Collaborate with Risk and Internal Audit to address gaps and maintain audit readiness.
• Lead root cause analysis and corrective action planning for operational failures.

Performance Monitoring & Reporting.

• Define, track, and report on process effectiveness KPIs such as: Customer Effort Score (CES), CSAT, NPS, First Contact Resolution (FCR), SLA and QA adherence metrics
• Create and maintain dashboards and reports for the senior leadership, providing clear visibility into operational performance and the impact of improvement initiatives.
• Conduct post-implementation reviews to assess the success of changes and identify opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Use analytics to drive data-backed decisions and proactive issue resolution.

Required Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, Finance, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related field.
• A minimum of 5 years of experience in program management, project management, or operations management, preferably within a fintech, payments, banking, or fast-paced technology environment.
• Proven track record of leading complex, cross-functional projects focused on business process re-engineering and optimization.
• Strong understanding of process improvement methodologies such as Lean, Six Sigma, or Agile. Formal certification is a strong plus.
• Hands-on experience with operational tools such as CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce, Zoho), customer support platforms (e.g., Zendesk, Jira Service Desk), and project management software (e.g., Trello, Jira).