Head of Operations (Payment Gateway / Fintech)

Black Pen Recruitment; Wes-Kaap; On-site; ZAR 1,200,000 - 2,100,000; Full time

Job summary

Black Pen Recruitment is seeking a Head of Operations for a Cape Town fintech payments business. You will lead merchant onboarding, integrations and customer support, building strong teams and robust controls as the company scales.

The role emphasizes incident management, process improvement and cross-functional collaboration with Product, Tech, Risk and Compliance to ensure reliable payment services and excellent merchant experience.

Qualifications

• A degree in business, operations management, information systems, finance or a related field.
• At least 8 years’ experience in operations, service delivery or call centre environment.
• Experience in payments, banking or another regulated transaction environment is advantageous.
• At least 3 years’ experience managing team leaders or supervisors and a shift environment.
• Proven responsibility for service levels, technical onboarding or implementation, and operational budgets.
• Experience managing major incidents and planning after-hours or continuous support.
• A postgraduate business qualification, ITIL or project management certification would be advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Lead Customer Support, Onboarding and Integrations, ensuring clear accountability and consistent service standards.
• Manage merchant onboarding, system configuration and activation, ensuring approvals and independent checks are completed before merchants go live.
• Oversee plugin and API integrations, testing and readiness to process live payments.
• Manage service levels, escalations and major incident communication, including support for enterprise and whale merchants.
• Work with Product, Technology, Risk, Compliance, Finance and Commercial to resolve issues, address root causes and prevent recurring failures.
• Maintain operational controls, documented procedures and business continuity arrangements, and track audit actions to completion.
• Use workload and transaction data to plan staffing, shift coverage and budgets, and improve efficiency through automation and self-service.
• Recruit, coach and develop team leaders and specialists, building the skills and coverage needed for launch, growth and peak trading.

Skills

Leadership

Payments industry experience

Stakeholder collaboration

Incident management

Team management

Onboarding & onboarding workflows

Education

Bachelor's degree in business / operations management / information systems / finance

Postgraduate business qualification or ITIL/PM certification advantageous

Tools

APIs & webhooks

PCI DSS knowledge

Security/compliance

Job description

Head of Operations (Payment Gateway / Fintech)

Our client is an innovative fintech company transforming the payments landscape through cutting-edge financial technology solutions. Specialising in instant EFT payments, Open Banking integration, seamless payout processing, and comprehensive reporting tools, the company enables businesses to streamline transactions and improve cash flow management. With a focus on mobile-first technology, enterprise-grade security, and reliability, our client delivers secure, efficient, and scalable payment solutions designed to meet the evolving needs of modern businesses.

Role Overview:

Our client is seeking a Head of Operations to lead merchant onboarding, integration and customer support across its payment gateway. The role will build effective teams, strengthen operational controls and deliver reliable merchant service as the business grows.

This position requires practical knowledge of leading teams, resolving complex service issues and improve processes in a growing payments business. Knowledge of card payment processing is advantageous.

Job Type:

Full Time/Permanent

Location:

Cape Town

Workplace:

Onsite

Requirements

• A degree in business, operations management, information systems, finance or a related field. Comparable operational leadership experience may be considered in place of a degree.
• At least 8 years’ experience in operations, service delivery or call centre environment.
• Experience in payments, banking or another regulated transaction environment, is advantageous.
• At least 3 years’ experience managing team leaders or supervisors and a shift environment.
• Proven responsibility for service levels, technical onboarding or implementation, and operational budgets.
• Experience managing major incidents and planning after-hours or continuous support.
• A postgraduate business qualification, ITIL or project management certification would be advantageous.

Advantageous payments knowledge

• Card processing from authorisation through clearing, settlement, reconciliation and payout; 3D Secure, declines, refunds, reversals and chargebacks.
• Merchant onboarding and due diligence, including KYB/KYC and FICA requirements.
• APIs, plugins, webhooks, integration testing, payment routing and secure system configuration.
• Operational application of PCI DSS, POPIA, relevant SARB and PASA requirements, and card scheme rules.
• Account-to-account and alternative payment methods, together with service management and incident escalation processes.

Key responsibilities

• Lead Customer Support, Onboarding and Integrations, ensuring clear accountability and consistent service standards.
• Manage merchant onboarding, system configuration and activation, ensuring approvals and independent checks are completed before merchants go live.
• Oversee plugin and API integrations, testing and readiness to process live payments.
• Manage service levels, escalations and major incident communication, including support for enterprise and whale merchants.
• Work with Product, Technology, Risk, Compliance, Finance and Commercial to resolve issues, address root causes and prevent recurring failures.
• Maintain operational controls, documented procedures and business continuity arrangements, and track audit actions to completion.
• Use workload and transaction data to plan staffing, shift coverage and budgets, and improve efficiency through automation and self-service.
• Recruit, coach and develop team leaders and specialists, building the skills and coverage needed for launch, growth and peak trading.

The person they are looking for

Our client is looking for a Head of Operations who combines strong operational leadership with a flexible, hands-on approach. The ideal candidate adapts quickly to changing priorities in a growing fintech business, brings high emotional intelligence and builds trust through open communication and collaboration.

Success in this role requires someone motivated by meaningful contribution and shared results, who takes ownership, responds when the business needs them and is comfortable working beyond rigid role boundaries. They should welcome feedback, raise challenges early, offer practical solutions and be willing to learn and grow alongside the team and the company.