M-Pesa Africa: Head of Product, Merchant Solutions (SMME)

M-Pesa Africa is the largest FinTech providing services to more than 60 million customers and 5 million businesses solutions across Financial Services, Enterprise, Merchant and Retail. We are now well on our way to becoming the preferred digital payment method across the markets that we serve, for both in-store, remote and online payments. With headquarters in both Nairobi and Johannesburg, we serve markets that include Kenya, Tanzania, DRC, Lesotho, Ghana, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Mozambique.

We are a united , energetic and passionate team. A place where leaders coach, teams connect, and everyone is empowered to go further, faster. A place where heroes become superheroes; through growth, opportunity, and the chance to work with the best minds in FinTech.

M-PESA already moves money for millions of merchants across our markets. What it does not yet do well is help them run their businesses: get paid reliably, see their numbers, access working capital, and grow. We are hiring a Head of Product to own the merchant product portfolio end to end, from the till and Pochi la Biashara to business apps, merchant tools and credit, and to turn a set of separately built products into one coherent merchant proposition.

You will start in Kenya, the largest and most mature merchant base in the footprint, and design what you build there so it can be reused across the other M-PESA markets. This is a senior, hands-on role: you will set strategy and own the roadmap, but you will also be in the data, in the field with merchants, and in the room with engineering and vendor partners.

Essential

- 10+ years in product management, with at least 4 years leading product teams or a product portfolio.
Deep experience in mobile money, payments or fintech in Africa, ideally with merchant, SME or agent products at scale.
- A track record of launching and growing products in Kenya or comparable East African markets, with measurable commercial results.
- Strong grasp of merchant payments economics: acceptance, pricing, settlement, reconciliation and merchant lifecycle.
- Data fluency: comfortable defining metrics, working with analysts and SQL outputs, and designing experiments.
- Experience working across complex stakeholder environments (operators, group functions, regulators, partners) and influencing without direct authority.
- Excellent written and verbal communication, including presenting to senior executives.
- Bachelor's degree in business, economics, engineering, computer science or related field.

Desirable

- Multi-market product experience across several African countries.
- Exposure to SME lending, working capital or data-driven credit products.
- Experience managing third-party technology vendors and commercial contracts.
- Knowledge of Central Bank of Kenya and regional payments and data protection regulation.
- MBA or relevant postgraduate qualification.