Business Development Manager - Commercial Merchant Growth

Position Summary

• The Business Development Manager is responsible for driving revenue growth through new business acquisition, strategic partnerships, merchant growth, and market expansion for the Company's payment and software solutions.
• The role owns the commercial lifecycle from lead generation and deal closure through merchant onboarding, activation, transaction growth, and retention, while providing direction and support to Business Development Executives.
• The ideal candidate is an experienced fintech/payments business developer with strong commercial relationships, an active professional network, and a proven ability to originate and close business.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and execute business development strategies aligned with the Company's revenue, growth, and market expansion objectives. 
• Own and deliver monthly and quarterly revenue targets for assigned products, markets, and accounts.
• Generate and convert new business through networking, referrals, partnerships, prospecting, market research, and other outbound channels.
• Build and maintain relationships with merchants, corporates, banks, fintechs, SACCOs, remittance companies, and other strategic partners.
• Manage the full sales cycle from prospecting and qualification through proposal, negotiation, contracting, onboarding, and activation.
• Identify and close strategic partnerships that create measurable revenue or transaction opportunities.
• Grow the performance of acquired merchants by driving activation, transaction volumes, retention, and reactivation of inactive merchants.
• Maintain a healthy and accurate sales pipeline and ensure all opportunities and activities are properly recorded in the CRM.
• Work closely with Operations, Compliance, Finance, and Technical teams to ensure smooth and compliant onboarding and implementation.
• Provide coaching and commercial direction to Business Development Executives and support achievement of team targets.
• Monitor sales and merchant performance, identify gaps, and take corrective action where targets are not being met.
• Provide weekly reports on pipeline, revenue, new business, merchant activation, transaction performance, and key risks.
• Ensure all business development activities comply with Company policies, regulatory requirements, and approved commercial processes.
• Perform any other duties reasonably assigned by management that are consistent with the role and the Company's business objectives

Key Performance Indicators

• Revenue & New Business: Revenue achieved against target and value of new business generated.
• Merchant Acquisition & Growth: New merchants acquired, activation, transaction growth, retention, and reactivation.
• Sales Effectiveness: Qualified self-sourced opportunities and lead-to-deal conversion.
• Pipeline Management: Pipeline value, quality, and CRM accuracy.
• Strategic Partnerships: Partnerships and opportunities contributing to revenue or transaction growth.

Requirements

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Finance, Economics, or a related field.
• 5+ years' experience in business development, sales, partnerships, or commercial roles.
• Proven experience in fintech, payments, banking, financial services, SaaS, or related technology businesses.
• Demonstrated track record of achieving or exceeding revenue and business development targets.
• Strong professional network and demonstrated ability to generate business through relationships, referrals, and networking.
• Existing relationships within the fintech, payments, banking, SACCO, remittance, telecommunications, or corporate sectors will be an advantage.
• Strong understanding of payment solutions, merchant acquisition, sales processes, and client onboarding.
• Excellent negotiation, presentation, communication, and relationship management skills.
• Experience mentoring or supervising sales/business development staff.
• Proficiency in CRM and sales management tools.

Key Competencies

• Business Development & Hunter Mentality: Proactive ability to identify, pursue, and close new business opportunities.
• Networking & Relationship Building: Ability to build and leverage professional relationships to generate business and strengthen client partnerships.
• Commercial Acumen: Strong understanding of customer value, pricing, revenue drivers, and commercial negotiations.
• Fintech & Payments Knowledge: Practical understanding of fintech, payment solutions, merchant ecosystems, and industry dynamics.
• Execution & Accountability: Takes ownership of targets, pipeline, deals, merchant performance, and follows through to achieve results.