Merchant Opening Territory Lead

About Wave

Wave’s mission is to help make Africa the first continent where cash is no longer needed. In many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, traditional banking has been out of reach because costs are high, branches are far away, and card payments are often not accepted. Wave is addressing these barriers with financial services that are simple, low-cost, immediately accessible, and widely usable. The company began in Senegal in 2017 with a mobile app for cash deposits, cash withdrawals, and person-to-person as well as business payments, and has since expanded to millions of users across nine countries.

Role overview

Wave is hiring a Merchant Opening Territory Lead to strengthen merchant growth and improve the experience of existing businesses. Reporting to the Merchant Opening Regional Lead, this position is responsible for managing merchant product rollout and leading a field-based merchant opening team within an assigned zone in The Gambia. The work involves close planning, strong coordination, and consistent execution of merchant onboarding and support practices.

What you'll do

• Lead and oversee a team of merchant openers working in the field.
• Execute the merchant growth plan for designated locations in The Gambia, keeping activities aligned with quarterly business targets.
• Coach, organize, and support merchant openers on a daily basis.
• Track individual performance and help prepare team performance reports.
• Support the onboarding of selected large partners.
• Coordinate follow-up on inbound cases coming from the support team in the assigned area.
• Collect and share field feedback from merchants and prospects on their needs, challenges, and any technical issues with the merchant product.
• Share observations from daily openings and below-the-line activities in the relevant locations.

Location and employment details

This is a permanent field position based in Kotu, with travel to other locations across the country as needed. Candidates must have authorization to work in The Gambia.

Compensation and benefits

Wave states that compensation is competitive and determined through a transparent formula. Benefits include health insurance for employees and their dependents, parental leave of 26 weeks for mothers and 4 weeks for fathers, subsidized childcare after returning to work, support for gym memberships, fitness classes and workout equipment, airtime reimbursement, free meals, and access to a pleasant office environment.

Requirements

Applicants should bring at least 3 years of relevant experience, including work managing a network in The Gambia and at least 1 year leading field teams of more than 50 people. Strong English fluency is required, along with solid knowledge of local languages. Candidates must also have experience overseeing merchant network activities in The Gambia.

Preferred profile

The ideal candidate communicates clearly and frequently, pays close attention to detail, takes initiative, works well independently, knows when to escalate issues, builds strong teams, approaches problems creatively, learns quickly from setbacks, adapts easily to change, keeps the user perspective in mind, and is comfortable using Excel and learning new tools.

Team culture

Wave’s team includes employees across Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Uganda, Niger, Sierra Leone, and Cameroon, along with remote colleagues around the world. The company emphasizes autonomy, ownership from problem discovery through production monitoring, and a mission-driven culture focused on making financial services more affordable and accessible. Wave also notes that it raised the largest Series A in Africa in 2021 and is backed by investors including Founders Fund, Sequoia Heritage, Stripe, Ribbit Capital, Y Combinator, and Partech Africa. It is also among Y Combinator’s top companies by revenue.

Application instructions

To apply, candidates must submit the application form, a resume in English, and a cover letter explaining their interest in Wave and in this role. Wave reviews applications regularly and recommends applying to the position that best matches your skills, experience, and career goals. The company is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity and inclusion.