Country Manager

Job Description

About the role

• We’re looking for an executor with a brilliant mind and strong communication skills to expand Wise’s product offering in South Africa.

• This is a unique opportunity to play a pioneering role in growing Wise in one of Africa’s most important financial markets, helping millions more potential customers save money by using our services.

• You’ll be responsible for overseeing local operations, defining our market expansion strategy, executing on it, and being the face of Wise in South Africa.

• Our banking relationships determine the quality of our product and a large part of its economics. Our relationships with regulators, governments and payment systems are crucial too.

Key aspects of this role will include:

• Expanding Wise’s regulatory presence in South Africa.

• Building and improving relationships with banks, payment partners and other financial institutions.

• Helping Product teams build better, faster and more cost-effective products for customers.

• Driving Wise’s market expansion strategy from a payments infrastructure, regulatory and operational partnerships point of view.

What will you be doing?

• Working with Product teams — Product Managers, Analysts and Engineers — you will help define the opportunities for Wise’s products in South Africa and, where relevant, other markets in Southern Africa. You’ll collaborate across teams and inspire others so that we deliver the best solution for our customers.

Your mission will be to:

• Own and expand Wise’s regulatory presence in South Africa

• Identify the most appropriate way to grow Wise in South Africa and, where relevant, other countries in the region.

• Manage the regulatory and licensing process end-to-end, including understanding the regulatory landscape, preparing and coordinating applications, submitting materials, securing regulatory buy-in, and supporting the fulfilment of local requirements.

• Build strong, constructive relationships with relevant regulators and public-sector stakeholders, including the South African Reserve Bank, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority, the Financial Intelligence Centre and other relevant bodies.

• Understand existing and new regulations, and figure out the best ways our product can comply with them.

• Translate regulatory requirements into product implementations together with our Compliance teams.

• Be one of the Product team’s go-to people for regulatory knowledge. We see regulation as an opportunity.

Shape the product opportunity in South Africa

• Identify opportunities to offer the best product in the market by taking advantage of our existing and future authorisations.

• Contribute to defining the opportunities and direction for Wise’s products in South Africa.

• Work closely with Product Managers and Product Engineers to develop our vision and build better products and experiences for customers.

• Help Product teams understand local payments infrastructure, customer pain points, regulatory requirements and operational constraints.

• Work with global teams — Product, Finance, Treasury, Legal, Compliance and Operations — to ensure our customers and products are at the centre of our mission.

Build new relationships with financial institutions and payments partners

• Identify and open new relationships with relevant financial institutions, including banks, payment processors, card issuers, card processors, authorised dealers, authorised dealers with limited authority, clearing and settlement participants, system operators and other payments ecosystem partners.

• Manage the process end-to-end: find the right potential partners, pitch Wise as a client, negotiate commercial agreements and contracts, complete account opening forms, explain our compliance processes, pass due diligence, and do anything else needed to be ready for development.

• Build partnerships that improve our ability to offer faster, cheaper, more transparent and more reliable services to customers.

Improve existing banking and payments relationships

• Take ownership of improving existing relationships with transactional banking partners and other financial institutions.

• Lead commercial and relationship discussions with partners.

• Monitor our economics to ensure we offer the most sustainable and competitive service in the market.

• Create new opportunities within existing relationships with financial institutions in South Africa and the broader region.

• Continuously improve our product by increasing speed, reducing costs, improving reliability, adding visibility to transactions, and expanding access to local payment rails. 

Qualifications

Additional Information

A bit about you. This role would suit someone who is:

• Able to independently negotiate ideal terms with a clear product vision and strong commercial understanding.

• Able to figure out the right operational and commercial process with every new partner.

• Excellent at managing financial regulatory relationships and constantly creating opportunities to improve them.

• Able to get stuff done. You’re not afraid to get your hands dirty to deliver what is needed.

• Entrepreneurial, comfortable with ambiguity and excited by a fast-growing environment.

• Deeply familiar with how financial, payments and FX regulators work, including the different decision makers that need to be taken into account to make things happen.

• Comfortable working with financial, payments and FX regulation in a changing regulatory environment.

• Interested in AML, KYC, sanctions, exchange control and risk controls.

• Familiar with relevant financial licensing and regulatory frameworks in South Africa, including payments, money remittance, FX, exchange control, banking partnerships and financial services requirements.

• Familiar with the South African financial ecosystem, including the South African Reserve Bank, Financial Surveillance Department, National Payment System Department, Prudential Authority, Financial Sector Conduct Authority, Financial Intelligence Centre, Payments Association of South Africa, BankservAfrica, authorised dealers and authorised dealers with limited authority.

• Familiar with how corporate banks and financial institutions work, who the key decision makers are, and how to manage those relationships effectively.

• Fluent in English.

• Happy to work independently and flexibly within a fast-moving environment.

• Passionate about transforming the financial industry for good.

It would be ideal, but not essential, if you:

• Have strong relationships and experience with regulators and payment ecosystem stakeholders in South Africa, especially the South African Reserve Bank.

• Have experience obtaining licences, authorisations or regulatory approvals in South Africa or comparable markets.

• Understand South Africa’s payments infrastructure and are well-versed in the nuances of the FX, remittance and cross-border payments market.

• Understand financial regulation in the broader Southern African region

• Have experience working with or around the National Payment System, BankservAfrica, local EFT rails, card payments, real-time payments, cross-border payments, or regional settlement infrastructure.

For everyone, everywhere. We're people building money without borders  — without judgement or prejudice, too. We believe teams are strongest when they are diverse, equitable and inclusive.

We're proud to have a truly international team, and we celebrate our differences.
Inclusive teams help us live our values and make sure every Wiser feels respected, empowered to contribute towards our mission and able to progress in their careers.

If you want to find out more about what it's like to work at Wise visit Wise.Jobs.

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