Role Summary:
Our collections product is a B2B product that enables merchants to collect using online checkout, payment links, subscriptions across over 200+ payment methods in 24 countries across Africa. This is a high-impact role for a strategic product leader who thrives in fast-paced fintech environments and has deep understanding of African financial ecosystems.
We are therefore seeking an experienced Product Owner to spearhead the expansion and growth of Alternative Payment Methods across African markets(NON card payment methods). This role will focus on mobile money (MOMO) and bank payment integrations, driving product strategy and execution to unlock new revenue streams and market opportunities across the continent.
Key Responsibilities:
Product Strategy, Partnership, Expansion & Growth
- Develop and execute comprehensive product roadmap for alternative payment methods across key African markets including Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, francophone and South Africa
- Partner with business development and partnerships teams to identify and prioritize market entry opportunities based on payment infrastructure maturity and business potential
- Drive go-to-market strategy for new payment methods, working closely with marketing, sales, and customer success teams
- Establish success metrics and KPIs for payment method adoption, transaction volume, and revenue growth
Product Development & Innovation
- Lead end-to-end product development for mobile money integrations (M-Pesa, MTN Mobile Money, Orange Money, Airtel Money, etc.)
- Oversee bank payment method implementations including direct bank transfers, instant payments, and local banking rails.
- Collaborate with engineering teams to ensure seamless API integrations and optimal user experience across web and mobile platforms
- Drive product localization efforts including currency support, language adaptation, UX refinement, and compliance with local regulations.
- Monitor and drive the growth of key KPIs of the payment methods, success rates, conversion, abandonment, activation and adoption rates.
Cross functional Collaboration
- Work closely with compliance and legal teams to navigate complex regulatory requirements across different African jurisdictions.
- Partner with finance and risk teams to establish appropriate risk management frameworks for new payment methods.
- Collaborate with customer support to ensure smooth onboarding and troubleshooting processes for alternative payment methods.
- Coordinate with data and analytics teams to track performance, identify optimization opportunities, and inform product decisions.
Market Research & Analysis
- Conduct deep market research on payment preferences, infrastructure capabilities, and competitive landscape across target African markets
- Analyze transaction data and user behavior to identify trends and opportunities for product improvement
- Stay current on fintech regulations, central bank policies, and payment infrastructure developments across Africa
- Gather and synthesize customer feedback to inform product prioritization and feature development.
Education and Experience Requirements:
Experience & Background
- 4+ years of product management experience in fintech, payments, or financial services
- 2+ years of experience specifically with African payment methods or African market expansion
- Proven track record of launching and scaling payment products in emerging markets.
- Experience working with payment service providers, mobile network operators, or banking partners.
Technical & Analytical Skills
- Strong understanding of payment processing, APIs, and financial infrastructure
- Experience with payment method integrations and third-party provider management
- Familiarity with African payment ecosystems including mobile money, bank transfers, and digital wallets
- Knowledge of PCI DSS, KYC/AML requirements, and other relevant compliance frameworks for payment processing.
Market Knowledge & Cultural Competency
- Demonstrated ability to develop and execute go-to-market strategies for new products
- Strong analytical skills with experience using data to drive product decisions
- Experience with A/B testing, user research, and product experimentation methodologies
- Understanding of business models, pricing strategies, and revenue optimization
Preferred Qualifications
- MBA or advanced degree in business, engineering, or related field
- Previous experience at high-growth B2B fintech or payments company
- Direct experience living or working in African markets
- Experience with agile development methodologies and product management tools
Personal Attributes
- Entrepreneurial mindset with ability to thrive in ambiguous, fast-paced environments
- Strong communication and presentation skills with ability to influence senior stakeholders
- Cultural sensitivity and awareness when working across diverse African markets
- Results-driven approach with focus on measurable business outcomes
- Collaborative leadership style with ability to work effectively across time zones and cultures
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Role Summary:
- Our collections product is a B2B product that enables merchants to collect using online checkout, payment links, subscriptions across over 200+ payment methods in 24 countries across Africa. This is a high-impact role for a strategic product leader who thrives in fast-paced fintech environments and has deep understanding of African financial ecosystems.
- The Principal Product Owner: Core at Cellulant will play a pivotal role in driving the execution of our financial transaction products with a strong focus on business solution architecture and business analysis principles.
- This role combines the strategic, market-focused responsibilities of a Product Owner with the solution-oriented, engineering-focused duties. The successful candidate will bridge the gap between engineering and business teams to deliver exceptional payment solutions across multiple African markets. At the core of this role is a person with great business analysis fundamentals.
CORE RESPONSIBILITIES
- Execute the product strategy, aligning with Cellulant's business goals and market opportunities.
- Conduct market research to identify trends and opportunities in the African financial services landscape, specifically related to Payment Collections in local and foreign currencies, Local payouts and IMTO, Treasury, FX, Float, Recon & Settlements, Mobile money, Card Payments, EFT and APMs.
- Analyse customer needs and pain points through user research and feedback loops.
- Translate market insights into a clear product vision and roadmap that aligns with Cellulant's overall business objectives.
- Define product vision and roadmap, prioritising features and enhancements based on market demand and business value (i.e.: the benefits you identify).
- Deliver features against the roadmap you define and the benefits you identified.
- Manage timelines and stakeholder expectations around product/feature delivery and be ultimately accountable for the production go-lives.
- Act as the bridge between business and technical teams to design and deliver scalable solutions.
- Lead the creation of detailed business requirements documents (BRDs), user stories, and acceptance criteria.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to design workflows that align with both business needs and technical capabilities.
- Map and optimize end-to-end processes such as reconciliation, settlement (incl FX settlement), and treasury management, ensuring efficiency and accuracy. Have an ability to identify and define technical and operational requirements for those complex systems.
- Develop solutions that address AML, fraud prevention, and other regulatory requirements in financial transactions.
- Proactively identify risks, gaps, and opportunities in product workflows and recommend actionable improvements.
- Engage with key stakeholders, including merchants, financial institutions, and regulatory bodies, to gather feedback and ensure product alignment with market requirements.
- Collaborate with sales, marketing, and business development teams to ensure product-market fit and drive customer acquisition.
- Work closely with the software engineering team to translate product vision into detailed user stories, requirements, and acceptance criteria.
- Prioritize features and user stories for development sprints, ensuring alignment with the product roadmap and business goals.
- Conduct user acceptance testing (UAT) to validate that delivered features meet the specified requirements and user expectations.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including QA, UX/UI, and customer support, to ensure a seamless end-to-end product delivery.
- Monitor and analyse product performance, using data-driven insights to make informed decisions and drive continuous improvement.
QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE:
- 5-10 years of experience in product management, with at least 3 years in fintech or payments within African markets. Demonstrable experience working within the African market, understanding its unique dynamics, regulatory frameworks, and cultural nuances.
- Bachelor's degree in Business, Information Systems, or a related field.
- Certifications in Agile (e.g., Certified Scrum Product Owner) and Business Analysis (e.g., CBAP, ECBA) are highly desirable.
- Proven track record of successfully launching and scaling products in multiple African countries.
- Deep understanding of Mobile Money ecosystems and operations in Africa, In-depth knowledge of mobile money platforms, including their design, functionality, and adoption patterns.
- Extensive knowledge of various payment methods, preferable if you also know about card payments.
- Strong experience with reconciliation and settlement processes in financial transactions. Ability to address discrepancies and manage financial flows efficiently.
- Familiarity with core banking platforms and integration methodologies.
- Understanding of treasury management principles and practices; treasury operations, liquidity management, and risk mitigation strategies specifically, account floats, balancing and settlement.
- Strong background in security considerations for financial transactions.
- Proven track record of successfully launching and scaling products in African markets.
- Strong understanding of payment systems, mobile money, and cross-border transactions.
- Experience with Agile methodologies and product ownership.
- Strong communication and leadership abilities.
- Fluency in English; knowledge of other African languages is a plus.
- Experience with multi-channel payment methods, including card acceptance, mobile money, API integration, USSD, and web portals.
- Excellent communication and leadership skills, with the ability to influence and collaborate with cross-functional teams.
- Data-driven mindset with strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES PREFERRED:
- Expertise in financial technologies and payment systems, with a strong understanding of digital payment gateways and security protocols.
- Strong leadership skills, with the ability to manage and inspire a team of product managers.
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, essential for coordinating with multiple teams and reporting to executive leadership.
- Strong number crunching capabilities with the ability to navigate and use data analysis tools to drive a data driven approach to insights and recommendations
- A strategic mindset capable of balancing various perspectives and making informed decisions that align with business goals.
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Role Summary:
We are seeking a strategic Product Owner to lead payment methods partnerships across African markets. This role will focus on building, managing, and optimizing strategic partnerships with mobile network operators, banks, payment processors, and fintech providers to expand our payment ecosystem and drive market penetration across the continent.
Key Responsibilities
Partnership Strategy & Development
- Develop comprehensive partnership strategy for payment methods across our footprint in Africa markets including new and emerging markets as we expand.
- Identify, evaluate, and prioritize potential partners including mobile network operators (MTN, Safaricom, Orange, Airtel e.t.c), banks, payment processors, and local fintech companies
- Lead partnership negotiations and structure commercial and service level agreements that drive mutual growth and market expansion
- Create partnership frameworks and templates that can be scaled across multiple markets and use cases
Product Integration & Management
- Oversee end-to-end product integration for new payment partners, ensuring seamless technical implementation and optimal user experience
- Collaborate with engineering teams to establish standardized API frameworks and integration processes for rapid partner onboarding
- Manage product roadmap for partnership-driven features including payment routing optimization, settlement workflows, and reconciliation processes
- Drive product requirements for partner-specific customizations while maintaining platform scalability
Business Development & Growth
- Partner with business development teams to identify market entry opportunities and partnership-driven growth initiatives
- Develop go-to-market strategies for new payment methods introduced through partnerships
- Create joint value propositions and business cases for potential partners to accelerate deal closure
- Establish performance metrics and success criteria for partnership initiatives including transaction volume, conversion rates, and revenue attribution
Stakeholder Management
- Build and maintain strong relationships with key partners including C-level executives, product leaders, and their technical teams.
- Coordinate cross-functional initiatives involving legal, compliance, finance, and engineering teams
- Present partnership performance and strategic updates to executive leadership as appropriate.
- Manage partner communications including regular business reviews, product updates, and strategic planning sessions
Market Intelligence & Analysis
- Conduct comprehensive market research on payment infrastructure, competitive landscape, and partnership opportunities across African markets
- Analyze partnership performance data to identify optimization opportunities and inform strategic decisions.
- Monitor regulatory developments and industry trends that impact partnership strategies
- Gather market feedback from partners to inform product development and competitive positioning.
Experience and Qualifications
Experience & Background
- 5+ years of product management or business development experience in fintech, payments, or financial services
- 2+ years of experience managing strategic partnerships or business development in African markets
- Proven track record of successfully negotiating and managing complex B2B partnerships
- Experience working with payment service providers, mobile network operators, or financial institutions in Africa.
Partnership & Business Skills
- Strong negotiation and deal structuring experience with ability to create win-win partnership agreements
- Experience managing partner relationships and driving joint go-to-market initiatives
- Understanding of partnership economics including revenue sharing models, technical integration costs, and mutual value creation
- Demonstrated ability to influence without authority and manage complex stakeholder relationships
Technical & Product Skills
- Deep understanding of payment processing, APIs, and financial infrastructure
- Experience with technical partnership integrations and API management
- Knowledge of African payment ecosystems including mobile money, banking rails, and digital payment platforms
- Familiarity with compliance requirements including PCI DSS, KYC/AML, and local regulatory frameworks across Africa.
Strategic & Analytical Skills
- Strong analytical skills with experience using data to evaluate partnership performance and opportunities
- Ability to develop business cases and financial models for partnership initiatives
- Experience with market research methodologies and competitive analysis
- Understanding of B2B SaaS business models and growth metrics
Preferred Qualifications
- MBA or advanced degree in business, engineering, or related field
- Previous experience at high-growth fintech, payments, or B2B software company
- Direct experience living or working in multiple African markets
- Existing relationships with key players in African fintech and payments ecosystem
- Knowledge of local languages and cultural nuances across target markets and their impact on product experiences.
- Experience with partnership management platforms and CRM systems
Personal Attributes
- Entrepreneurial mindset with ability to identify and pursue new business opportunities
- Strong relationship-building skills with cultural sensitivity for diverse African markets
- Results-driven approach with focus on measurable partnership outcomes
- Excellent communication and presentation skills for senior-level stakeholder management
- Adaptability and resilience in fast-paced, ambiguous environments
- Strategic thinker with strong execution capabilities
Key Performance Indicators
- Number of new payment method partnerships established quarterly.
- Partnership-driven transaction volume and revenue growth.
- Time-to-market for new partner integrations.
- Partner satisfaction scores and relationship health metrics.
- Market share growth in targeted African markets.
- Partnership ROI and contribution to overall business objectives.
- Partnership success rates.
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