Interim Country Manager

Role overview

We are looking for a high-impact interim leader to support our newly launched South African market. This is a hands-on fractional general manager role for someone who can take ownership of the country setup, remove operational roadblocks, and help scale the product in market.

You will have the authority and accountability of a Country Manager, while working with the flexibility of a consultancy arrangement. The role is centered on making our Earned Wage Access (EWA) offering succeed within the local business, payments, and regulatory environment.

Reporting structure and team

You will be part of the Market Expansion team and report to the VP, Market Expansion & Business Development. You will work closely with executive leadership based in GMT+8, while operating remotely from South Africa.

Core responsibilities

• Take ownership of South Africa market execution and act as the local lead on the ground.
• Work through payment and banking integration challenges, including identifying suitable local partners to resolve connectivity issues.
• Use local market knowledge and relationships to build partnerships and stay aligned with relevant fintech and lending regulations.
• Turn strategy into action by building local processes, assessing product performance, and creating clear workstreams for internal teams.
• Coordinate with internal engineering, product, and legal teams to remove localized friction and strengthen the wage access product.
• Own the end-to-end market journey with the VP of Expansion, including acquisition, collections performance, and weekly priority topics that affect profitable growth.

Ideal background

The role suits someone with senior leadership experience and a strong builder mindset. We are especially interested in people who combine strategic judgment with a willingness to roll up their sleeves.

Requirements

• Strong experience in South African fintech, especially in short-term lending or credit.
• Good understanding of the National Credit Act and local consumer behavior.
• Practical knowledge of payments and banking connectivity such as EFT, RTC, API banking, or screen-scraping approaches.
• Experience building products or businesses from the ground up, whether as a founder, product leader, or general manager in a fast-growing startup.
• An established network across South African financial institutions and regulatory stakeholders.
• Comfort working in a very hands-on capacity, regardless of whether your background spans 10 years or 40 years.

Engagement details

• Time commitment: 10 to 20 hours per week.
• Work mode: Remote, with the requirement that you are based in South Africa.
• Compensation: A competitive hourly rate or monthly retainer, aligned with GM-level experience.

Location

This position is remote but must be performed from South Africa. You will regularly interact with the executive team working in GMT+8.