Manager - SME Acquiring

About the Role
This role is focused on building the SME acquiring business, known as Business-in-a-Box, and managing its Profit & Loss (P&L). The Manager will lead a team of 10–11 Sales Executives and oversee the Outsourced Sales Partners channel, with the goal of signing, onboarding, and growing micro and small merchants across the UAE. This position involves revamping the onboarding process to ensure that signed merchants are operational within days, rather than weeks. The Manager acts as a key resource for insights into the SME market, providing crucial information on competitor activities, pricing, and market trends back to senior management.

Key Responsibilities

1. P&L and Targets

   • Own the SME acquiring P&L: track merchants signed and live, Total Processing Value (TPV), revenue, cost of sale, and contribution after team costs.
   • Set monthly performance targets for each Sales Executive and Outsourced Sales Partner, monitoring progress weekly.
   • Collaborate with Finance and Business Intelligence to prepare the SME budget and forecasting, and explain any variances.
   • Increase revenue per merchant through cross-selling the complete product bundle, including POS, SoftPOS, online checkout, Pay by Link, business wallet, WPS payroll, and cards.

2. Sales Team Leadership

   • Lead, coach, and manage a team of 10–11 Sales Executives: manage territories, daily activities, pipeline reviews, and performance.
   • Recruit and onboard new Sales Executives according to the hiring plan, ensuring the team operates at full productivity.
   • Develop a sales playbook detailing target segments, prospect lists, pitches, objection handling, and strategies for converting existing government-fee payers.
   • Execute sales campaigns through free zones, typing centers, business centers, accountants, and associations.

3. Incentive Policy

   • Design the sales incentive plan for the SME team and Outsourced Sales Partners in collaboration with HR and Finance, for approval by senior management.
   • Tie incentives to metrics such as merchants going live and transacting, TPV, and revenue, rather than solely focusing on merchants signed.
   • Review the incentive plan annually and monitor its financial impact against the revenue generated.

4. Outsourced Sales Partners

   • Select, onboard, and manage Outsourced Sales Partners: define contracts, set targets, establish commission terms, and ensure service level agreements are met.
   • Train partner staff on company products, pricing, Know Your Business (KYB) requirements, and the onboarding process.
   • Evaluate partner productivity and the quality of merchants monthly, replacing underperforming partners as needed.

5. Merchant Onboarding Revamp

   • Analyze the current SME onboarding journey from application to first transaction, identifying and eliminating delays.
   • Redesign the onboarding process in collaboration with Operations, Risk and Compliance, and Product teams: implementing simpler KYB, digital applications, e-signatures, risk-based checks, and automated Merchant ID (MID) and terminal setups.
   • Establish and track onboarding turnaround times, aiming for merchant activation within two days of a complete application.
   • Ensure that expedited onboarding processes comply with risk, scheme, and regulatory standards.

6. Merchant Activation and Retention

   • Ensure that signed merchants begin transacting promptly, tracking activation within 30 days of going live.
   • Monitor metrics related to inactive and declining merchants, initiating reactivation and retention strategies.
   • Collect and respond to merchant feedback regarding products and services in coordination with Product and Operations teams.

7. Market and Competitor Intelligence

   • Monitor competitor offerings, pricing, and promotions in the SME market, including banks, Payment Service Providers (PSPs), fintechs, and POS providers.
   • Report monthly on competitor and market insights to senior management, supported by Business Intelligence.
   • Recommend adjustments to SME pricing, product offerings, and bundles based on market trends and team observations.

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Engineering, or a related field.
• An MBA is advantageous.

Experience

• 8–12 years in SME or merchant acquiring sales with a bank, acquirer, PSP, or fintech in the UAE.
• A minimum of 3 years in a leadership role for a field sales team of 8 or more, demonstrating success in meeting merchant acquisition targets.
• Experience managing third-party or outsourced sales agents, including familiarity with their commission structures.
• Proven ability to design or execute a sales incentive plan.
• History of improving onboarding, sales, or operations processes with quantifiable success.

Technical and Payments Knowledge

• Familiarity with SME acquiring products: POS, SoftPOS, payment gateway, Pay by Link, and QR payments.
• Knowledge of merchant onboarding requirements including KYB, documentation, risk checks, Merchant Category Code (MCC), and MID setup.
• Understanding of SME pricing structures such as Merchant Discount Rate (MDR), fixed fees, bundles, and terminal economics.
• Knowledge of adjacent SME services, including business accounts, wallets, WPS payroll, and business cards is a plus.
• Proficient in CRM and sales dashboard usage.

Skills

• Strong sales leadership: establishes clear goals, provides daily coaching, and enforces accountability.
• Process-oriented thinker: identifies bottlenecks in the customer journey and collaborates to resolve them.
• Capable of building robust relationships with partners, merchants, and internal stakeholders.
• Possesses commercial acumen: understands which deals are profitable.
• Fluent in English; proficiency in Arabic is a plus for engaging with the UAE SME market.