Product Manager (Fintech/Payments)

Black Pen Recruitment; Cape Town; Hybrid; ZAR 900,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Black Pen Recruitment is assisting a client in Cape Town to hire an experienced Product Manager for fintech/payments. You will shape the South African product roadmap, collaborating with engineers, designers, data analysts, and external partners to build local payment solutions.

You will lead end-to-end product initiatives, balance short-term milestones with long-term strategy, and ensure user-centric digital experiences across platforms.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5+ years in product management, fintech/payments, or banking environments.
• Familiarity with APIs, payment integrations, and card scheme operations.
• Experience leading cross-functional teams and delivering complex projects end-to-end.
• Excellent communication, leadership, and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong analytical and data-driven decision-making abilities.
• Hands-on familiarity with AI tools as part of product workflow (e.g., Claude Code).
• Organisational skills to keep teams focused and efficient.
• Clear, structured written communication for actionable docs.
• User-focused mindset delivering world-class digital experiences.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute the product strategy and roadmap for South Africa, aligning with broader goals.
• Drive decision-making across the full product lifecycle from discovery to launch.
• Collaborate with design and engineering to deliver scalable payment solutions.
• Create detailed product documentation (PRDs, merchant comms, product marketing docs).
• Own problem-solving, identify blockers, ensure timely delivery.
• Engage with customers to translate needs into deliverables.
• Work with banks, card schemes, and financial partners to meet needs.
• Represent the client in negotiations and industry events.
• Maintain open communication on priorities and progress with stakeholders.
• Combine qualitative and quantitative insights to guide decisions.

Skills

Product management

Fintech/payments experience

APIs & integrations

Cross-functional leadership

Data-driven decision making

Analytical thinking

AI tooling (Claude Code)

Excellent written communication

Education

Degree in Computer Science/Software Development/Information Systems

Tools

Claude Code

Job description

Our client is a technology company solving payments problems for businesses. Their mission is to help businesses in Africa become profitable, envied, and loved. They provide a suite of products to help businesses accept payments online and offline, manage their operations, and grow their business. Our client is driven by a commitment to excellence, innovation, and customer satisfaction.

Role Overview

Our client is seeking an experienced Product Manager with a proven track record in delivering customer facing digital products. The ideal candidate will have experience in fintech, particularly within the payments landscape, and a strong understanding of how to design and implement API-driven financial solutions.

You'll play a pivotal role in defining and delivering our client’s South African product roadmap, working cross functionally with engineers, designers, data analysts, and external partners to build innovative local payment solutions.

Our client's team is small but highly accomplished, so your voice will be heard and your ideas will make meaningful contributions to the business.

Job Type: Full Time/Permanent

Location: Cape Town

Workplace: Hybrid

Requirements

• A minimum 5+ years experience in product management, preferably within fintech, payments, or banking environments.
• Familiarity with APIs, payment integrations, and card scheme operations.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and deliver complex projects end-to-end.
• Exceptional communication, leadership, and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong analytical and data-driven decision-making abilities.
• Hands-on familiarity with AI tools as part of your product workflow — for example, using Claude Code or similar tools to prototype ideas, explore solutions, and accelerate discovery and documentation.
• Have excellent organisation skills to ensure your team is focused and operating efficiently.
• Turn incomplete or conflicting inputs into clear, actionable plans.
• Are an excellent written communicator — your documents are clear, precise, and structured so teams can act on them without further explanation.
• Are relentlessly user-focused, passionate about delivering world-class digital experiences.
• Are a self-starter, equally comfortable leading a team or executing independently and able to operate effectively with limited supervision.
• Use an evidence-based approach to decision-making.
• Are comfortable balancing short-term deliverables with long-term strategic vision.
• Continuously seek to improve processes, products, and team performance.
• Do whatever it takes to make your product, and your team, successful.

Bonus points if you have

• An understanding of the South African payments ecosystem, including compliance and regulatory considerations.
• A degree or qualification in Computer Science, Software Development, or Information Systems.
• Certification or training in Business Analysis or Product Management (Agile, Scrum, or SAFe methodologies).
• Experience working across African markets.

Responsibilities

• Help define and execute the product strategy and roadmap for South Africa, aligning with our client’s broader business goals.
• Drive the decision making process across the full product lifecycle, from discovery and strategy through design, development, launch, and continuous iteration.
• Collaborate closely with design and engineering teams to deliver high-quality, scalable payment solutions.
• Create detailed product documentation that teams can execute against — PRDs, merchant communications, product marketing docs, and more.
• Take ownership of problem-solving, proactively identifying blockers and ensuring timely delivery of objectives.
• Engage directly with customers to translate their business needs and problems into deliverable solutions.
• Work with banks, card schemes, and other financial partners to deliver solutions that meet customer needs.
• Represent our client in high-value negotiations and at industry events.
• Maintain open communication on product priorities, progress, and updates with internal and external stakeholders.
• Combine qualitative and quantitative insights to inform product decisions and measure success.
• Ensure exceptional user experiences by continuously refining features based on feedback and performance data.