Chief Technology Officer at Payzeep

ROLE SUMMARY

• The Chief Technology Officer (CTO) is responsible for defining and executing PayZeep technology vision, strategy, architecture, and innovation roadmap. The CTO leads the engineering, infrastructure, cybersecurity, data, and technology operations functions to deliver secure, scalable, resilient, and high-performing digital financial solutions. The role ensures that technology capabilities support business growth, regulatory compliance, operational excellence, and exceptional customer experiences while maintaining the highest standards of security and availability.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Define and own the technology strategy, architecture roadmap and build-vs-buy decisions across payments, core banking integrations and channels.
• Lead and scale the engineering organization (backend, mobile, DevOps, infrastructure, QA, data), including hiring, mentoring and performance management.
• Ensure platform reliability, uptime, scalability and disaster-recovery readiness for mission-critical payment rails.
• Own technology risk management in partnership with the CISO, including secure SDLC, code review standards and vulnerability management.
• Evaluate and manage relationships with core banking, switching, NIBSS/NQR and other payment-infrastructure partners and vendors.
• Set engineering budgets, tooling and cloud-infrastructure strategy, and report technology KPIs to the Board.
• Champion a culture of engineering excellence, documentation and continuous delivery.
• Present technology performance, risks, and strategic initiatives to the Executive Leadership Team and Board of Directors.
• Lead software engineering teams responsible for backend systems, frontend applications, mobile platforms, APIs, and integrations.
• Ensure successful delivery of scalable and customer-centric fintech products and technology solutions.
• Implement quality assurance frameworks to ensure product reliability and performance.
• Oversee cloud infrastructure, networks, databases, storage systems, and production environments.
• Ensure high availability, scalability, resilience, and disaster recovery readiness of all critical systems.
• Optimize infrastructure costs, performance, and operational efficiency.
• Establish monitoring, incident management, and service reliability practices.
• Ensure secure software development, security-by-design principles, and cybersecurity best practices.
• Oversee vulnerability management, penetration testing, and remediation activities
• Manage technology risks and ensure business continuity across all technology platforms.
• Provide strategic oversight for enterprise data platforms and analytics capabilities.
• Promote data-driven decision-making through business intelligence and reporting frameworks
• Ensure effective management, governance, and protection of organizational data assets
• Evaluate, select, and manage technology vendors, service providers, and strategic partners.
• Negotiate enterprise contracts, technology licensing agreements, and service-level commitments.
• Build, mentor, and retain high-performing technology teams.
• Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, accountability, and continuous learning
• Implement succession planning and leadership development programs within the technology function.

EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field (required).
• Master's degree in a relevant technical discipline is an advantage.
• Relevant cloud/architecture certifications (e.g. AWS/Azure Solutions Architect) are an advantage.

EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS

Total Relevant Experience: 10–15 years

Fintech / Financial Services Experience: 10+ years building or scaling payments, banking or financial-technology platforms

Leadership / People-Management Experience: 7+ years leading engineering teams or technology functions, including at least 3 years managing engineering managers or multiple squads, with demonstrated evidence of building engineering teams and platforms from early stage

SKILLS & COMPETENCIES

• Deep expertise in distributed systems, API design and payment-processing architectures
• Strong understanding of PCI-DSS, secure coding practices and cloud security
• Experience with high-availability, high-throughput transaction systems
• Strong people leadership, hiring and engineering-culture building
• Vendor and integration-partner management (processors, core banking, NIBSS)
• Cloud Computing (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud)
• Platform Reliability Engineering
• Cybersecurity & Secure Development
• Digital Payments Infrastructure
• Strategic Planning & Execution
• Budget Management & Financial Acumen
• Decision-Making & Problem-Solving
• Communication & Influencing Skills

REGULATORY CONSIDERATIONS (NIGERIA)

• Ensures technology architecture and controls meet CBN IT standards and the CBN Risk-Based Cybersecurity Framework for payment service providers.
• Owns technical compliance with PCI-DSS for any card and payment-data handling systems.
• Ensures systems and data flows comply with the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA) 2023, including data localization and data-subject rights by design.
• Partners with CISO and Chief Risk & Internal Control Officer on technology-risk reporting for regulatory examinations.
• Support regulatory audits, examinations, and compliance reporting activities.