Manager, Africa Fintech Accelerator at Visa Incorporated

Job Description

The Africa Fintech Accelerator Manager role supports the CEMEA Product, Partnerships & Solutions organization and sets out to facilitate the implementation and execution of the Africa Fintech Accelerator program. The successful candidate will be principally responsible for the execution of the Africa Fintech Accelerator program and supporting Visa’s presence and participation within the FinTech ecosystem in Africa.

The role will report to the Senior Director Fintech Accelerator Program CEMEA and will be engaging with key regional personnel to deliver success. Working closely with Visa’s Core Product and Digital Solutions org. as well as other stakeholders such as, Comms, Legal, Finance, Marketing, etc. teams, the role holder will execute partnership agreements and drive activation campaigns.

Responsibilities

Program Management:

• Develop customized program strategy, objectives and plans to implement and execute the Africa Accelerator program
• Align the cross-functional teams on proposals including representation from Legal, Marketing, Product, Operations, Market Research and Technology
• Prepare and share regular progress reports regarding the progress of the Visa Accelerator in Africa
• Support in the review of investment proposals and presentations

Execution:

• Ensure operational success of the full accelerator cycle from company sourcing through Demo Day
• Managing the program schedule, utilizing tools/developing processes to manage program data, building and scheduling the 3-month programming calendar, and organization and execution of Selection Day and Demo Day
• Manage the logistics of the application, screening, and onboarding process in partnership with the Program Manager team
• Take the lead in solving the problems that arise during the execution of programs with the Program Manager
• Creating and delivery of training sessions on Fintech topics or Visa specific products

Communication:

• Report to and interact with CEMEA leadership to indicate the status and progress of the different accelerator initiatives.
• Foster in-depth and productive relationships at all levels with the Program Manager and the Visa organization
• Maintain strong relationship with the startups in the program, acting as a resource and looking out for relevant partnership opportunities for Visa
• Implement network events to support start-ups, inform them about the different Visa initiatives, and connect them with the relevant stakeholders within Visa.
• Support relationship management with the Program Manager team and other partners

This is a hybrid position. Hybrid employees can alternate time between both remote and office. Employees in hybrid roles are expected to work from the office 2-3 set days a week (determined by leadership/site), with a general guidepost of being in the office 50% or more of the time based on business needs.

Qualifications

• Strong understanding of trends and themes in payments and commerce. Understanding of Visa business and organization strongly preferred
• 5+ years of work experience in payments, new product design, strategy or innovation consulting
• Payments industry/fintechs/digital tech experience or similar relevant experience a plus
• A genuine passion for technology and startups, an entrepreneurial mindset, and an insatiable desire to always be learning
• Extraordinary ability for self-learning and learning by doing, with a demonstrated ability of learning from available documentation and quickly applying it with little direction
• Proven experience in managing complex, cross-functional projects, with the agility and influential skills to work collaboratively with external and internal stakeholders across markets and functions
• Good capabilities to anticipate the needs and requests of multiple stakeholders
• Experience working in/with early-stage companies or other roles that demonstrate experience in above responsibilities
• Strong interest in the discourse around technology, startups, entrepreneurship, and venture capital
• Strong emotional intelligence, active listening skills, and high level of empathy
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Minimum of Bachelor’s degree. MBA or Master Degree highly desirable