Our client helps businesses in Africa get paid by anyone, from anywhere in the world. Thousands of businesses, from fast‑growing startups to large enterprises, use them to power payments, including Xero, Qatar Airways and many more
Founded in Nigeria and now active across multiple African markets, our client is building the payments infrastructure that will power growth across the continent. In South Africa, they work with ambitious businesses across e‑commerce, fintech, retail, logistics, and digital services.
Job Type: Full Time/Permanent
Location: Johannesburg
Workplace: Hybrid
Role Overview
The Business Development Lead will own our client’s Business Development and Account Management function in South Africa, with a primary focus on driving enterprise growth.
This is a senior leadership role. You will be the specialised subject matter expert for enterprise revenue in South Africa.
You will set the commercial strategy, build and lead a high‑performing team, and personally guide our most strategic opportunities and customer relationships. You will navigate complex, multi‑stakeholder sales cycles, translate our clients’s evolving strategy into clear priorities for your function, and ensure that South African enterprises see our client as a trusted advisor, not just a vendor.
Requirements
- 10+ years in enterprise business development, sales, or strategic account management, with at least 4+ years leading managers and teams in high‑growth B2B environments (fintech, payments, SaaS, or financial services strongly preferred).
- Proven track record of owning a regional or segment P&L or revenue target and consistently meeting or exceeding aggressive goals.
- Demonstrated success leading complex, multi‑stakeholder enterprise deals and account strategies in South Africa; comfortable operating at C‑suite level.
- Strong understanding of South Africa’s payments and digital commerce landscape, or the ability to ramp quickly on local market dynamics, regulation, and competitive environment.
- High technical and product fluency - able to understand APIs, integrations, and payments architecture, and to translate between business and technical stakeholders.
- Evidence of building scalable sales systems: territory design, quota setting, forecasting, CRM discipline, and sales playbooks.
- Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to frame trade‑offs and decisions clearly for both internal and external audiences.
- Deep alignment with our clients mission and values, and a track record of leading teams in a way that reflects those values in day‑to‑day decisions.
Nice to Have
- Direct experience with payment gateways, merchant acquiring, or developer‑focused fintech products.
- Existing senior‑level relationships across South African enterprises in our clients relevant verticals.
- Familiarity with modern sales methodologies (e.g., MEDDIC, Challenger) and revenue operations best practices.
Core Competencies for Success in this Role
- The ideal candidate consistently demonstrates the following:
- Scope & Impact: Acts as the accountable leader for enterprise revenue in South Africa; decisions on business‑critical commercial matters are trusted and often final. Influences strategy and execution across multiple teams and leads other managers to deliver outcomes.
- Decision Making: Owns complex team and cross‑functional dynamics, makes clear calls in ambiguous situations, and stands behind those decisions while incorporating feedback.
- Communication & Collaboration: Communicates complex and evolving company strategy simply and persuasively. Aligns teams around priorities and frequently leads cross‑functional groups through challenging problems.
- Managerial Skills: Leads complex, multi‑disciplinary teams and managers. Invests meaningfully in coaching, performance management, and succession planning.
- Pipeline Management: Plans and executes over a full fiscal year, with robust account and territory plans and reasonably accurate forecasts several quarters ahead. Hits targets consistently.
- Product Knowledge & Technical Competence: Understands the business and technical drivers of customer requirements, engages credibly at senior levels, and reliably finds win‑win deal opportunities for customers and our client.
- Sales Process Execution: Manages and reviews the sales process end‑to‑end, combining strong process discipline with an intuitive grasp of the levers that move deals. Shares knowledge proactively and is regarded internally as a subject matter expert.
Responsibilities
Lead the SA BD & Account Management function
- Define the strategy, operating model, and targets for winning, growing, and retaining South Africa’s most important customers. Translate company strategy into clear, actionable priorities and metrics for your team.
Build and lead a high‑performing team
- Hire, develop, and manage BD and Account Management managers and their teams. Set expectations, coach through complex deals, and create a culture of ownership, collaboration, and continuous learning.
Own enterprise pipeline and forecast
- Devise annual plans with clear segment, territory, and vertical focus. Maintain an accurate pipeline and forecast multiple quarters ahead, consistently hitting targets and earning trusted‑advisor status with customers and leadership.
Guide complex deal and account strategy
- Support managers on high‑stakes opportunities: multi‑product, multi‑stakeholder, and multi‑year deals. Help teams manage the sales cycle artfully, understanding which levers to pull to move deals forward while protecting our client’s long‑term interests.
Drive executive‑level customer engagement
- Build and maintain relationships with C‑level executives (CFO, CTO, COO, CEO) at key accounts. Understand their business drivers deeply, shape mutually beneficial deal structures, and ensure our client is seen as a strategic partner.
Champion product & technical excellence in the field
- Maintain strong product and technical fluency (APIs, integrations, payments architecture) and ensure your team does the same. Use this knowledge to articulate customer requirements internally and to co‑create solutions with Product and Engineering.
Lead cross‑functional execution
- Frequently lead cross‑functional groups (Product, Engineering, Risk, Support, Legal, Finance) through difficult decisions and trade‑offs to unlock customer value, while upholding our client’s risk and compliance standards.
Model our client’s mission and values
- Use our client’s goals and values to guide decisions and communicate the “why” behind them. Help your org do the same, and motivate teams to deliver against our mission to accelerate commerce across Africa.
Why Join our client
- High impact: You will shape the strategy, team, and playbook that defines how our client wins the South African enterprise market
- Leadership scope: Lead managers and teams across BD and Account Management, with significant influence on product and go‑to‑market decisions.
- Strong backing: Operate with the agility of a growth‑stage African fintech and the resources and network.
- Growth and learning: Work alongside top‑tier colleagues across Africa and globally, with meaningful opportunities for regional and global leadership.
- Competitive total rewards: Market‑leading base compensation, performance‑based variable pay, equity, and comprehensive benefits.