About this role
At Safaricom Ethiopia, we are a purpose-led technology company dedicated to transforming lives through digital connectivity and inclusive financial services. In under four years, we have grown to serve over 10 million customers, with our network now reaching 55% of Ethiopia’s population – a testament to our bold vision and trusted partnerships.
Guided by core values such as customer obsession, innovation, integrity, and get it done together, we are building a workplace that is dynamic, inclusive, and empowering. We believe our greatest strength lies in our people. That’s why, for two consecutive years, we have proudly get earned the Top Employer Award – in recognition for our unwavering commitment to fostering a supportive, innovative, and inclusive environment to people.
Join Safaricom Ethiopia and be part of a team that is shaping the digital future of Ethiopia. Here, your work has meaning, your voice matters, and your growth is our priority. Together, we are transforming lives for a digital future.
Role purpose:
The Merchant Credit & Savings Product Manager is responsible for the end-to-end strategy, design, delivery, and lifecycle management of M-PESA merchant and agent digital credit and savings products. The role focuses on enabling working capital, liquidity, and float management solutions that support merchant growth, transaction velocity, and ecosystem sustainability, while ensuring products are commercially viable, customer-centric, compliant, and scalable. The role works closely with portfolio, risk, analytics, technology, operations, and bank partners to deliver responsible growth and strong portfolio outcomes.
Insights, Research and Analysis
Lead continuous research on merchant and agent transaction behavior, float usage, sales cycles, repayment patterns, and liquidity needs to inform product design and evolution.
Synthesize insights from merchant data, ecosystem performance, market trends, competitor offerings, and regulatory developments to shape merchant credit and savings strategy.
Partner with Portfolio Management and Data Science teams to translate merchant and portfolio insights into eligibility rules, pricing logic, limit frameworks, tenure models, and repayment structures.
Evaluate embedded finance opportunities, value-chain data sources, and ecosystem partnerships to enhance merchant credit and savings propositions.
Product Planning & Lifecycle Management
Own the merchant credit and savings product roadmap, covering ideation, design, build, launch, scale, optimization, and retirement.
Define product requirements, use cases, pricing constructs, merchant journeys, and go-to-market strategies for merchant and agent credit and savings products.
Work with risk and portfolio teams to ensure product rules align with approved risk appetite, scoring models, limit management strategies, and pricing policies.
Collaborate with technology teams to deliver scalable, resilient, and secure merchant credit solutions, integrated into merchant tills, agent platforms, mini-apps, USSD, and backend systems.
Drive structured experimentation (limits, pricing, tenure, repayment mechanisms) in collaboration with portfolio teams, ensuring controlled pilots and evidence-based scaling.
Portfolio & Performance Accountability
Track and interpret product-level performance metrics, including disbursements, utilization, repayment behavior, delinquency trends, merchant repeat usage, and revenue contribution.
Support portfolio and finance teams in developing and maintaining product business cases, unit economics, funding models, and profitability assessments.
Use performance insights to continuously refine product features, pricing transparency, merchant education, and repayment and collection journeys.
Customer and End-User Support
Champion merchant-centric product design, embedding clear communication, transparent pricing, and responsible borrowing cues within merchant credit and savings journeys.
Work with operations, field teams, and customer care to address recurring merchant and agent issues related to limits, float availability, repayments, and product understanding.
Support the design of self-service and automated merchant support mechanisms (SMS, IVR, app messaging, USSD) to improve repayment outcomes and reduce operational friction.
Post Launch governance
Establish post-launch monitoring frameworks to ensure merchant credit and savings products perform in line with approved business, risk, and customer outcome objectives.
Ensure compliance with internal policies, bank partner agreements, and regulatory requirements throughout the product lifecycle.
Participate in regular product, portfolio, and partner reviews, supporting escalation and remediation where performance deviates from plan.
Key performance indicators:
Adherence to set Credit and savings business OKRs and commitments.
Successful roll out of new merchant credit & savings products and services in time, and most efficient manner
Driving achievement of Mission budget for products in Merchant Credit and Savings
Optimization of existing Merchant Credit and Savings products and services.
Delivery schedule of all Merchant Credit and Savings products based on their priority.
Growth and retention of set Merchant Credit and Savings customers
Provide guidelines and processes for the implementation of reward and recognition activities.
Delivery of relevant target digitization projects/Initiatives.
Compliance with all relevant regulations and internal policies and procedures. KPIs could include regulatory compliance metrics, audit results, and risk management metrics.
Agile Maturity rating, Employee Engagement (eNPS) and Productivity.
Core competencies, knowledge and experience:
Customer Obsession
Champion merchant education and financial literacy to support responsible use of credit and savings for business growth.
Maintain a strong connection to merchants, agents, and distribution communities, ensuring insights guide product decisions.
Build trusted relationships with merchants, partners, and internal stakeholders to drive adoption and engagement.
Make customer-centric product decisions and take clear ownership for outcomes across the product lifecycle.
Simplify processes through digitalization and deliver seamless, digital-first merchant experiences.
Focus on key priorities, make effective trade-offs, and execute with excellence.
Purpose
Define and communicate a compelling product vision for merchant credit and savings that drives strategy and performance.
Demonstrate ambition and courage, empowering teams to challenge constraints and deliver beyond plan.
Challenge the status quo and encourage innovative thinking in merchant finance and ecosystem design.
Stimulate new ideas by consistently asking “what if” to improve customer and commercial outcomes.
Use insights from customers, partners, competitors, and the regulatory environment
to identify and execute growth opportunities at pace.
Innovation
Champion innovation in merchant credit and savings through data-driven experimentation across product design, pricing, risk, and collections.
Learn from both successes and failures, applying insights to continuously improve product and portfolio outcomes.
Share insights and performance learnings to strengthen capability and alignment across teams.
Use merchant behaviour and digital adoption insights to drive simplicity, scale, efficiency, and automation.
Collaboration
Clearly define how the merchant credit and savings team delivers the digital credit strategy, aligning priorities and resources to current and future needs.
Collaborate closely with bank partners and cross-functional teams to drive portfolio quality and improve repayment and recovery outcomes.
Promote end-to-end ownership, accountability, and data-driven execution across teams.
Lead with integrity by fostering an inclusive environment and consistently living the organization’s purpose and values.
Must have technical / professional qualifications:
At least Five (5) years’ knowledge and experience in a relevant field with at least three (3) in product management, product development, sales or business development
- Experience in Credit and Savings Products within financial services.
- Relevant Business or IT Undergraduate Degree or relevant field along with professional qualifications, or equivalent qualification(s) from a recognized institution of higher learning.
- MBA or relevant Master’s degree is an added advantage.
- Member in good standing of a recognized professional body.
- Superior business understanding, with the ability to leverage technology to solve business and technical issues.
- Strong stakeholder and strategic partners acquisition skills.
- Possess high professional and ethical standards.
- Be a strategic thinker with an analytical mind.
How to Apply. If you feel that you are up to the challenge and possess the necessary qualification and experience, kindly proceed to create/ update your candidate profile on the recruitment portal and then Click on the apply button. Remember to attach your resume.