Account Manager, South Africa

About Paystack

Paystack's mission is to power African ambition.

Today, over 300,000 businesses across Africa rely on Paystack's modern payment gateway to accept payments from customers across the continent and around the world. These include renowned businesses such as MTN, Burger King, UPS, WorldRemit, FairMoney, PiggyVest, FilmHouse Cinemas, Smile Communications, Air Peace Airlines, Crocs, Under Armour, Xero, and many more.

Over the last decade, our team has transformed the digital payments landscape with innovations such as automated recurring billing, direct bank payments, automated chargebacks, and other firsts that continue to raise the bar for online commerce in Africa.

Paystack is obsessed with building the best place to work in African fintech; a place where passionate, talented people can do their best work, grow fast, and make a lasting impact on how millions of people move money every day.

If you're excited about building world-class payment systems that shape the future of digital commerce in Africa, we'd love for you to join us!

About the Account Manager role

We are seeking an experienced Account Manager to own a portfolio of enterprise and SME merchants and platform partners in South Africa. You'll be the trusted advisor for some of Paystack's most important customers - deepening relationships, driving product adoption, and growing revenue across your portfolio.

This is a commercially-minded, technically-savvy role. You'll work closely with Sales, Product, Solutions Architects, and Developer Relations to make sure merchants get exceptional value from Paystack, from onboarding through renewal and expansion.

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

Location: South Africa

We'll trust you to

• Serve as the main point of contact for a portfolio of enterprise and SME merchant accounts, building trusted advisor relationships with key stakeholders.

• Lead structured onboarding programmes for new merchants, ensuring efficient implementation and platform integration.

• Conduct regular business reviews with merchants to assess satisfaction, identify opportunities, and align on strategic goals.

• Proactively monitor account health metrics, address concerns before they escalate, and respond promptly to merchant inquiries.

• Manage a portfolio of platform and service partners, conducting regular reviews to assess growth, identify opportunities and risks, and align on strategic goals.

• Develop and execute account plans to achieve payment volume, net revenue, and lifetime value targets.

• Identify and drive upsell and cross-sell opportunities by understanding merchant business priorities and payment processing requirements.

• Lead renewal negotiations and contract expansions in collaboration with the Sales team.

• Guide merchants through implementation of new payment products and features, coordinating with Product and Developer Relations on API deployment.

• Analyze transaction data and payment performance metrics to provide actionable optimisation recommendations.

• Educate merchants on industry best practices, fraud prevention, and regulatory compliance.

• Address escalations and facilitate cross-functional solutions for complex technical issues.

• Champion merchant needs internally - partnering with Product on the feedback loop, Sales on onboarding, and Marketing on case studies, testimonials, and industry events.

• Maintain accurate CRM records and report clearly on portfolio KPIs.

• Stay current on payment industry trends, the competitive landscape, and regulatory changes, and provide merchants with strategic guidance on payment acceptance, geographic expansion, and emerging payment methods.

What it takes to succeed in the role

You:

• Build strong, trusted relationships with stakeholders at every level - from developers to C-suite.

• Are an excellent written communicator - your account plans, business reviews, and merchant communications are clear, precise, and easy to act on.

• Are commercially sharp, comfortable with negotiation, forecasting, and pipeline management.

• Take an analytical, evidence-based approach to KPI reporting and problem-solving.

• Are relentlessly merchant-focused, championing their needs while holding the highest standards of customer satisfaction.

• Are highly organised, self-managing, and adaptable in a fast-moving environment.

You'll thrive in this role if you have

• Proven experience managing enterprise and SME clients within the payments or technology sectors.

• Technical acumen in payment platforms, APIs, and enterprise integration practices.

• Commercial planning, sales forecasting, and pipeline management ability.

• Strong relationship building, negotiation, and client-facing communication skills.

• Hands-on familiarity with AI tools as part of your workflow - for example, using tools like Claude to analyse data, draft merchant communications, and work more efficiently.

Bonus points if you have

• An understanding of the South African payments ecosystem, including compliance and regulatory considerations.

• Experience working across African markets.

• Experience working alongside Solutions Architects or Developer Relations teams on technical implementations.

How we'll measure success

• Account retention rate (target: 97%+)

• Revenue growth from existing accounts

• Revenue growth from new inbound accounts or platform referral customers

• Client satisfaction scores (CSAT)

• Upsell, cross-sell, and new product adoption against quota

• Number of businesses onboarded per quarter

• Time to resolution for client issues

Benefits

• Competitive compensation package and benefits

• Commission based earning for new and existing client revenue growth

• 13th month bonus

• Equity compensation

• Full medical coverage

• Wellbeing stipend

• Generous leave policies

• Hybrid working environment

• Smart, kind colleagues invested in your growth

Paystack is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind. We’re committed to providing employees with a work environment that is progressive and open-minded. Our employment philosophy is to hire the best people and empower them to do the best work of their lives. Employment decisions are based on business needs and individual merit without regard to race, color, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, nationality, marital status, gender, or age.