About the Role
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This is an exciting opportunity to join the company as the General Manager in Kuwait, leading the local launch of our operations in the market. As a foundational role, you will be instrumental in establishing the company Kuwait as a fully operating, regulated business while ensuring the growth and development of local teams and initiatives. You will be the key representative for the company to the Central Bank of Kuwait and local stakeholders, driving merchant acquisition, customer growth, and overall financial performance.
Key Responsibilities
- Own the Central Bank of Kuwait relationship end to end, including registration and licensing, correspondence, inspections, and ongoing supervisory dialogue as the named accountable executive.
- Establish the company Payments K.S.C.C. as a fully operating local entity, including building its team, compliance framework, operations, and governance.
- Take full commercial ownership of the Kuwait market, encompassing merchant acquisition and retention, bank and payments partnerships, local marketing, and customer growth strategies.
- Manage the local P&L and ensure market-level economics align with group frameworks for product, credit, risk, treasury, and legal while influencing these functions to meet local needs.
- Build and lead the local team, creating a hiring plan and managing the local cost base while starting lean.
- Define and sequence the product roadmap for the market in collaboration with the group product team, bringing the company's broader product offerings to Kuwait as licensing and infrastructure allow.
- Represent the company externally as the senior leader in the market, engaging with banks, merchants, partners, and the regulator.
Skills, Knowledge and Expertise
- 10+ years of experience, including at least 3 years in a general management or senior commercial role with full P&L accountability.
- Proven experience in launching or scaling a regulated financial services, payments, or fintech business in a GCC market.
- Direct experience as the named accountable executive in a relationship with a financial regulator, specifically regarding licensing, submissions, examinations, or remediation.
- Domain expertise in fintech, consumer lending/BNPL, payments, and e-money, or retail banking and cards, including knowledge of financial regulation and licensing in the GCC (experience with the Central Bank of Kuwait is highly valued).
- A successful track record in developing a merchant or B2B commercial strategy, showcasing the ability to build a strong partner base from the ground up.
- Comfort in navigating ambiguity while working with a small team, demonstrating a builder mindset rather than solely managing established processes.
- Solid understanding of P&L management, unit economics, regulatory compliance and AML frameworks, and commercial contracting and partnership negotiation.
- Proficiency in both Professional Arabic and English, with the ability to handle Arabic regulatory correspondence effectively.
Nice to Have:
- Existing relationships with the Central Bank of Kuwait.
- Experience in a high-growth start-up or fintech environment.
- Familiarity with local funding or bank facility relationships.
