Position Title: Operational Manager
Employer: Arifpay Financial Technologies S.C
Employment: Full-Time | Permanent
Place of Work: Addis Ababa - Ethiopia
Posted date: 8 months ago
Deadline: Submission date is over
Job Summary
We are seeking a high-performing Operations Manager with a strong background in fintech, financial operations, and merchant onboarding to lead and scale operations, merchant acquisition, support, and settlement processes. The ideal candidate will be responsible for developing and executing strategies to drive merchant growth, streamline operations, reduce support cases, and ensure seamless transactions. This role requires a dynamic leader who can oversee cross-functional teams, drive KPI achievement, and recruit merchants across diverse industry segments while ensuring compliance, efficiency, and operational excellence.
Key Responsibilities
1. Lead Operations & Merchant Growth Strategy
- Develop and execute merchant acquisition strategies, ensuring expansion across retail, hospitality, e-commerce, financial services, and other key industry segments.
- Lead, manage, and mentor the operations team, fostering a high-performance culture focused on scalability and efficiency.
- Design and implement merchant onboarding processes that minimize turnaround time and increase activation rates.
- Collaborate with Sales, Product, Compliance, and Technical teams to optimize merchant experience and increase transaction adoption.
- Establish and monitor KPIs for merchant acquisition, activation, and retention, ensuring data-driven decision-making.
2. Drive Transaction Growth & Performance Optimization
- Implement strategies to increase transaction volumes, ensuring smooth and secure payment processing.
- Monitor and analyze transaction trends, identifying opportunities to increase merchant adoption and customer engagement.
- Collaborate with the Product and Engineering teams to improve payment processing speed, reliability, and security.
- Develop campaigns and incentives to encourage merchants to increase their transaction volume through Arifpay’s ecosystem.
3. Build & Scale Merchant Support and Issue Resolution
- Develop a high-performing merchant support team, ensuring quick resolution of issues and excellent service delivery.
- Implement automated solutions and self-service tools to reduce support case volumes.
- Establish SLAs for issue resolution, ensuring high customer satisfaction and minimal downtime.
- Work with the Technical and Compliance teams to resolve merchant disputes, failed transactions, and settlement issues.
4. Settlement & Reconciliation Management
- Oversee the merchant settlement process, ensuring accurate and timely payments.
- Implement automated reconciliation workflows, reducing manual errors and improving efficiency.
- Ensure all settlement transactions align with banking and regulatory standards.
- Monitor and optimize financial workflows, ensuring a seamless experience for merchants.
5. Compliance, Risk Management & Regulatory Alignment
- Ensure full compliance with fintech regulations, AML/CFT requirements, and risk management policies.
- Work closely with legal and compliance teams to ensure all merchant operations meet regulatory guidelines.
- Implement fraud detection and risk mitigation strategies to secure transactions.
6. Recruiting & Expanding Across Industry Segments
- Develop and execute strategic merchant recruitment plans, ensuring penetration into key industries such as retail, food & beverage, logistics, travel, financial services, and government sectors.
- Collaborate with the Business Development and Marketing teams to create sector-specific campaigns that drive merchant interest and conversion.
- Establish partnerships with merchant aggregators, industry associations, and financial institutions to accelerate onboarding.
- Drive merchant engagement programs that increase retention and long-term adoption.
7. Team Leadership & Process Optimization
- Lead, train, and mentor the operations team, ensuring alignment with organizational goals.
- Continuously refine and improve SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) to optimize efficiency.
- Identify automation opportunities to streamline merchant onboarding, settlement, and support.
Required Qualifications & Experience
1. Education & Experience
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Business Administration, Finance, Operations Management, or a related field.7+ years of experience in fintech, banking, payments, or merchant services operations.
- Strong experience in merchant onboarding, financial settlement, and scaling fintech solutions.
- Expertise in building and leading teams focused on merchant growth and transaction processing.
- Experience in developing and executing strategies to meet business KPIs.
- Deep understanding of payment processing, digital wallets, and POS systems.
2. Technical & Industry Skills
- Strong knowledge of payment processing infrastructure, reconciliation tools, and merchant support platforms.
- Familiarity with API-based payment solutions, payment gateways, and acquiring banking partnerships.
- Proficiency in CRM, ERP, and fintech operations platforms.
- Strong analytical skills with experience in data-driven decision-making.
