Payments Strategy Lead: Growth & Execution

PwC Careers Africa; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 1,200,000 - 2,100,000; Full time

Job summary

PwC South Africa is seeking a Strategy Analyst at Manager grade to lead strategic initiatives across the Payments business and partner with senior leaders to set strategy, assess growth opportunities, and drive execution across complex, cross-functional programs.

This role combines hands-on strategic analysis with team leadership, requiring deep payments knowledge, strong analytical skills, and proven ability to coach junior analysts and influence stakeholders.

Qualifications

• 6–10+ years’ experience in strategy, consulting, corporate strategy, or commercial roles, with significant exposure to Payments.
• Strong understanding of the payments value chain and economics.
• Proven ability to lead complex, ambiguous workstreams and deliver high‑quality strategic outputs.
• Advanced analytical and financial modelling skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with experience presenting to senior audiences.
• Demonstrated people‑management or team‑lead experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategic assessments across payments (cards, wallets, real-time payments, acquiring, issuing, cross-border).
• Develop market, competitor, and ecosystem analyses to inform decisions.
• Build robust financial and commercial models for new products and partnerships.
• Support medium- and long-term payments strategy, including pricing and operating models.
• Translate strategy into actionable initiatives with milestones, KPIs, and success measures.
• Drive end-to-end delivery of strategic projects from hypothesis to recommendations.
• Mentor junior analysts and manage stakeholder relationships.

Skills

Payments expertise

Strategic analysis

Financial modelling

Stakeholder management

Leadership

Executive communication

Excel

PowerPoint

Tools

Excel

PowerPoint

Job description

PwC South Africa is seeking a Strategy Analyst at Manager grade to lead strategic initiatives across the Payments business and partner with senior leaders to set strategy, assess growth opportunities, and drive execution across complex, cross-functional programs.

This role combines hands-on strategic analysis with team leadership, requiring deep payments knowledge, strong analytical skills, and proven ability to coach junior analysts and influence stakeholders.