Principal: Partnerships & Payment Methods

Cellulant

  • Nairobi
  • Permanent
  • Full-time
  • 17 days ago
About Cellulant:is Africa's leading payments company, providing seamless, secure and innovative solutions that empower businesses, banks, and global brands to thrive in a fast-changing global economy.With a presence in over 24 countries and 200+ payment methods across cards, bank transfer and mobile money, our single API payment platform, Tingg, simplifies collections, disbursements, and reconciliations. It processes over 1 million transactions daily for market leaders in various sectors, such as Airlines, Telecoms, E-commerce, Ride-Hailing, Retail, and Remittances.By simplifying how people pay and get paid, we drive trust, commerce and scale – and connect companies to their ambitions.Our Story:Across Africa, payments are more than transactions. They are gateways to prosperity, connecting people, businesses and communities to opportunities and growth.From enabling a logistics company in Lusaka to pay suppliers across borders, to enabling a hospitality brand in Lagos to scale effortlessly, to supporting an airline in Nairobi to reconcile payments from multiple platforms, Cellulant is the bridge that makes it all possible.Through trusted technology and customer-centric innovation, we build connections that inspire progress, strengthen economies and transform payments into a tool for progress.Since our founding in 2003, we've continuously adapted and grown, leveraging our experiences to simplify payments for businesses. We are driven by an unshakable belief that seamless people-centred payments are the key to unlocking prosperity.Today, Cellulant powers online and offline payment processing, allowing businesses to collect payments, send payouts, and accelerate business growth.Our Mission:To deliver seamless, secure and innovative payment solutions for businesses.Our Vision:To create a connected world where businesses move money as easily as they share ideas.Role Summary:As Principal: Payment Method Operations & Performance – Africa, you will drive operational excellence for our payment method ecosystem across all African markets. You will be accountable for SLA adherence, settlement and float reliability, incident response, and partner operational health in close collaboration with Country Managers, Treasury, Product, and Compliance teams. This is a high-impact role requiring ownership, resilience, and the ability to navigate complexity across markets, partners, and platforms.Key Responsibilities:Operational Performance & Uptime
  • Monitor and manage end-to-end operational health for active payment methods (mobile money, bank rails, wallets).
  • Track real-time performance dashboards; intervene proactively when SLAs are at risk.
  • Own operational SLAs related to settlement, reversals, refunds, and method availability.
Float Management & Settlement Execution
  • Oversee float utilization and thresholds across markets; ensure liquidity continuity.
  • Coordinate with Treasury and Finance to execute settlements and resolve payment exceptions.
  • Lead root cause analysis for settlement delays or float breaches.
Partner Engagement (with Country Managers)
  • Support Country Managers with partner onboarding, performance reviews, and escalations.
  • Track operational issues raised by partners and drive internal resolution loops.
  • Align in-country partner operations with global standards.
Incident & Risk Management
  • Lead incident triage and resolution coordination with Product and Engineering.
  • Own SLA communication and war-room escalation for high-impact events.
  • Conduct post-incident reviews and capture learnings into process enhancements.
Reporting & Analytics
  • Own reporting for SLA adherence, float sufficiency, settlement completion, and refund aging.
  • Partner with Data and Compliance to establish accurate, real-time operational intelligence.
  • Define KPIs that reflect the health and reliability of each payment method.
Governance & Continuous Improvement
  • Participate in Incident Review Boards, Quarterly Portfolio Reviews, and Product Ops forums.
  • Maintain and evolve the African Markets Playbook in partnership with Country Managers.
  • Flag systemic issues that require platform-level fixes or roadmap shifts.
Key Interfaces:
  • Product & Engineering – for incident triage, testing, and feature rollouts
  • Country Managers – for partner context, support, and ground-level issue resolution
  • Treasury – for float planning, funding assurance, and settlement validation
  • Compliance – for regulatory alignment and market-specific audit prep
  • Customer Success – to track customer-impacting failures and resolution performance
Success Metrics:
  • SLA Adherence (settlement, reversals, refunds)
  • Float Sufficiency (days within target threshold)
  • Settlement Completion Rate (% on-time)
  • Incident MTTR (mean time to resolution)
  • Partner Operational NPS (internal and external feedback)
  • Regulatory & Audit Issues Rate
Why Work For Us?At Cellulant, transforming payments in Africa isn't just a job; it is our mission. We believe by simplifying the way people pay and get paid; we are accelerating businesses, opening markets, bridging wealth gaps and connecting Africa to the global economy.Some exciting things about us...
  • We have an Extensive Footprint: We have an office presence in over 10 countries, and our products serve 35 countries across Africa with a global workforce of about 300 employees.
  • We believe that innovation is at the Heart of Fintech: Thousands of companies use our technology to deliver seamless payment experiences. Our customers range from various sectors such as Airlines, Telecoms, E-commerce, Ride-Hailing, Retail, to Remittances.
  • We Support a Diverse and Inclusive Workforce: We focus on the growth and development of our employees through well-developed, individualised career paths ensuring you reach your full potential in a supportive and delivery-oriented environment.
  • We Put our Employees First: We offer market-related compensation, generous personal time off and, markets permitting, medical and life insurance benefits.
  • We Seek Collaborative Builders: At Cellulant, we believe that great ideas happen when we come together. We, therefore, nurture a collaborative work environment that challenges, engages and empowers each person to contribute to the growth and success of the business.
  • We Solve for Africa's Digital Economy: We're solving payment challenges on the continent to create opportunities and accelerate economic growth for all of Africa.

Cellulant