Head of Product, Merchant Solutions (SMME)

About the role

Safaricom is looking for a Head of Product, Merchant Solutions (SMME) to own the merchant product strategy and portfolio across micro, small and medium merchants. The role covers the full merchant stack, from acceptance channels to merchant apps, portals, reconciliation and business tools, and works closely with financial services, vendors and regulators.

Key responsibilities

• Define the merchant product vision, segmentation and multi-year roadmap, tied to commercial outcomes such as active merchants, usage, revenue and credit attach.
• Own the full merchant stack: acceptance (till, Buy Goods, Paybill, QR), merchant apps and portals, notifications, reconciliation, business tools and value-added services.
• Prioritise activation before build: get merchants using existing features first, then run structured experiments on onboarding, configuration and engagement.
• Partner with financial services to design merchant working-capital and credit journeys that use transaction data well, and fix where the funnel breaks.
• Drive a single merchant identity and a common data model across products, so every merchant has one view of their business.
• Set the evidence base: define core merchant metrics and denominators, instrument journeys and make roadmap decisions from data and merchant research.
• Lead product input into vendor selection and contracts, with attention to data rights, IP and reuse across markets, and manage delivery with internal engineering and external partners.
• Build and lead a high-performing product team and set the product operating rhythm (discovery, PRDs, release, post-launch review).

Required profile

• 10+ years in product management, with at least 4 years leading product teams or a product portfolio.
• Deep experience in mobile money, payments or fintech in Africa, ideally with merchant, SME or agent products at scale.
• Track record of launching and growing products in Kenya or comparable East African markets with measurable commercial results.
• Bachelor's degree in business, economics, engineering, computer science or a related field.
• Desirable: multi-market product experience across several African countries, exposure to SME lending or data-driven credit products, experience managing third-party vendors and contracts, knowledge of Central Bank of Kenya and regional payments and data protection regulation, and an MBA or relevant postgraduate qualification.

Required skills

• Strong grasp of merchant payments economics: acceptance, pricing, settlement, reconciliation and merchant lifecycle.
• Data fluency: defining metrics, working with analysts and SQL outputs, and designing experiments.
• Experience influencing stakeholders (operators, group functions, regulators, partners) without direct authority, and presenting to senior executives.