Head, Merchant Services at Unified Payment Services Limited

Job Objective

• As the Head, Merchant Services, you will lead cross-functional teams and collaborate with technology, product, and compliance units to ensure a seamless and value-driven merchant experience while advancing the company’s market positioning as a leading fintech provider of payment and commerce solutions.
• The ideal candidate will be responsible for driving the vision, strategy, operations, and growth of our merchant acquiring and servicing business.
• This includes expanding merchant acquisition, enhancing onboarding and retention processes, and optimizing product offerings across retail, SME, and enterprise segments.

Duties & Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership & Planning:

• Define and execute the department’s short and long-term strategies to drive merchant acquisition, activation, and revenue growth.
• Develop strategic partnerships with key players in retail, hospitality, e-commerce, logistics, and other high-volume transaction sectors.
• Expand the merchant base through direct sales, channel partnerships, aggregators, and digital acquisition tools.

Business Development & Client Engagement:

• Ensure consistent delivery of high-quality service and support to existing merchants.

Operations & Performance Management:

• Collaborate with product and engineering teams to tailor payment solutions (POS, online payments, QR, SoftPOS, etc.) that meet diverse merchant needs.

Team Leadership & Development:

• Build and lead a high-performing Merchant Services team, including sales, account management, support, and field operations.
• Set performance targets and KPIs, manage departmental budgets, and provide coaching for team development.

Regulatory & Risk Compliance:

• Ensure adherence to regulatory, legal, and internal compliance standards across merchant onboarding and transaction processes. Oversee due diligence processes in line with KYC, AML, and CBN guidelines

Requirements
Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Finance, Marketing, Economics, or a related field (MBA or advanced degree is a plus).

Experience:

• Minimum 10 years of relevant experience in fintech, banking, or payments—with at least 3 years in a senior or departmental leadership role. Post NYSC experience.

Key Competency Requirements:
Knowledge/Experience:

• Demonstrated success in merchant acquisition, channel development, or payment processing strategy.
• Strong understanding of POS, online payments, settlement processes, and merchant APIs.
• Proven ability to drive commercial performance and manage complex stakeholder relationships.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and negotiation skills.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, CRM platforms (e.g., Salesforce), and reporting/analytics tools.
• Prior work experience with a PSP, acquiring bank, aggregator, or digital payments platform.
• Familiarity with Nigerian merchant ecosystem (SMEs, retail, e-commerce).
• Experience with emerging payment technologies such as SoftPOS, QR payments, tap-to-pay, etc.