Head of Payments

Belay Talent Solutions; Pretoria; On-site; ZAR 1,200,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Job summary

Belay Talent Solutions headhunting a senior leader to drive the payments business from its Pretoria base. The role oversees growth, partnerships with banks and merchants, and regulatory compliance while scaling the payments platform.

The successful candidate will lead a high-performing team, translate strategy into quarterly plans, and report to the CEO as the payments function becomes increasingly central to the company’s ecommerce platform.

Qualifications

• 8+ years experience in payments, fintech, banking, or related commercial environment.
• Minimum of 3 years' experience leading a team, department, or business unit.
• Proven success in driving revenue growth and building strategic partnerships.
• Experience with SA payments ecosystem and regulatory requirements.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute the payments growth strategy and merchant acquisition.
• Lead and develop the payments team; set goals and accountability.
• Align payments objectives with group strategy and monitor KPIs.
• Maintain regulatory compliance and manage key banking relationships.

Skills

Revenue growth

Strategic partnerships

Leadership

Regulatory compliance

Payments ecosystem

Executive communication

Education

Tertiary qualification in Commerce/Finance/Technology

MBA or equivalent

Job description

Head of Payments

Reporting to: Chief Executive Officer

Level: Head of Department

Location: Menlyn, Pretoria

Work Model: In-Office

About the Company

Our client is a rapidly growing ecommerce technology business that simplifies online commerce through innovative technology, seamless payment solutions, and integrated logistics services. The business is entrepreneurial, fast-paced, and focused on creating meaningful solutions for merchants and customers across South Africa.

Role Overview

The Head of Payments will be responsible for the growth, performance, and strategic direction of the company's payments division. This role requires a commercially focused leader who can drive revenue growth, build strategic partnerships, manage regulatory obligations, and lead a high-performing team.

The successful candidate will play a key role in expanding the payments business, strengthening market position, and ensuring the payments platform remains secure, scalable, and integrated across the broader business ecosystem.

Key Responsibilities

Business Development & Growth

• Develop and execute the payments growth strategy, identifying target merchant segments and acquisition opportunities.
• Lead merchant acquisition from pipeline development and pricing through to onboarding and relationship management.
• Personally manage key strategic merchant relationships.
• Increase transaction volumes, transaction values, and revenue per merchant.
• Drive channel and partnership growth, including ecommerce platform integrations, API partnerships, and emerging distribution channels.
• Evaluate commercial opportunities through detailed business cases, including pricing, cost-to-serve, revenue projections, and return on investment analysis.

Leadership & Team Development

• Lead and develop the payments team through direct leadership of operational and technical managers.
• Establish clear goals and accountability measures across the team.
• Build organisational capability as the business scales, including recruitment and succession planning.
• Coach and develop leaders to take ownership of their functional areas.
• Manage performance, conduct, and employee development in line with company policy and South African labour legislation.
• Serve as the primary representative of the payments division at executive level.

Strategy & Commercial Management

• Align payments objectives with broader group strategy.
• Translate strategic goals into measurable quarterly objectives and execution plans.
• Monitor and manage key performance indicators, including:
• Transaction value
• Revenue growth
• Merchant acquisition and retention
• Payment success rates
• Platform uptime
• Processing costs
• Contribute to budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning processes.
• Monitor market trends, competitor activities, and regulatory developments within the South African payments landscape.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Identify opportunities created through the integration of payments, ecommerce, marketplace, and logistics offerings.
• Partner closely with Product, Technology, Marketing, Finance, Compliance, and People teams to execute growth initiatives.
• Ensure alignment between commercial strategy, product development, and operational execution.

Regulatory, Risk & Compliance Management

• Maintain compliance with relevant South African financial services and payments regulations.
• Manage relationships with sponsoring banks, acquirers, payment schemes, industry bodies, and other key stakeholders.
• Oversee merchant due diligence processes, fraud prevention, chargeback management, and settlement integrity.
• Ensure operational resilience, uptime standards, and effective incident management procedures are maintained.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Essential: Tertiary qualification in Commerce, Business, Finance, Economics, Technology, or a related field.
• Advantageous: Postgraduate business qualification (MBA or equivalent).
• 8+ years' experience within payments, fintech, banking, or a related commercial environment.
• Minimum of 3 years' experience leading a team, department, or business unit.
• Demonstrated success in driving revenue growth, acquiring clients or merchants, and building strategic partnerships.
• Experience managing and developing leaders across operational and technical functions.
• Strong exposure to the South African payments ecosystem, including card acquiring, EFT, instant payments, banking relationships, and regulatory compliance requirements.
• Experience engaging with executive leadership teams and boards through strategic planning, budgeting, and performance reporting.

Key Competencies

Business Development

• Ability to build pipelines, structure commercial agreements, negotiate pricing, and close strategic deals.

Commercial Acumen

• Strong understanding of unit economics, margins, forecasting, pricing models, and financial performance management.

Leadership

• Proven ability to lead, coach, develop talent, and manage performance effectively.

Strategic Thinking

• Ability to translate business strategy into practical execution plans and prioritise effectively.

Technical Understanding

• Strong understanding of payment systems, integrations, APIs, and transaction flows.

Governance & Risk Management

• Sound judgement in managing regulatory, operational, fraud, and reputational risks.

Communication & Influence

• Ability to engage credibly with merchants, banks, regulators, executives, and internal stakeholders.

Ownership & Accountability

• Demonstrates accountability for outcomes and proactively addresses challenges and risks.