Compliance Operations Specialist

Paystack’s mission is to accelerate digital payments on the continent of Africa. Over 200K of some of the most renowned businesses in Nigeria, as well as a growing number of merchants in South Africa, Ghana, and Kenya use Paystack’s modern payments gateway. They include the likes of MTN, Burger King, UPS, AXA Mansard Insurance, FairMoney, PiggyVest, FilmHouse Cinemas, Smile Communications, Air Peace Airlines, Crocs, Under Armour, Richemont Lifestyle Group (RLG), and many others.

In the almost 10 years our growing team has introduced a steady cadence of innovation within the online payments landscape, such as automated recurring payments, the ability for customers to pay directly from their bank accounts, automated chargebacks, and much more. We’ve been acquired by Stripe and are doubling down on the mission to help build out Africa’s payments infrastructure.

We’re obsessed about building the best place to work on the continent while accelerating digital commerce across Africa and we need your help!

About the Compliance Operations Specialist

Paystack processes payments for thousands of businesses across Africa, each interacting with a wide range of customers. As we grow, it’s essential that we adhere to robust Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing or Terrorism (AML/CFT) regulations to keep our platform safe and secure.

The Compliance Operations Specialist plays a crucial role in verifying the identity of customers, monitoring transactions for suspicious activity, and ensuring our internal processes meet regulatory standards. In this role, you’ll work closely with merchants, law enforcement, and our internal Product and Engineering teams to maintain a compliant environment while providing a seamless experience for our users.

At Paystack, we view the onboarding process and compliance checks as core components of our Customer Success function. By aligning these activities with our broader mission of empowering merchants, we ensure that merchants receive the necessary tools and resources to begin collecting payments efficiently and compliantly.

We’re looking for someone passionate about compliance, deeply curious, and dedicated to safeguarding our platform. If you thrive in a high-growth environment and enjoy the challenge of ensuring trust and safety, this role is for you.

Scope of your responsibilities

We are seeking an organized and detail-oriented User Operations Specialist to join our Compliance Reviews team. In this role, you’ll play a critical part in verifying that merchants meet Paystack’s eligibility requirements, as well as vetting their access to high-risk features. Your work will help ensure a seamless and compliant onboarding experience for these merchants to set them up for success, while protecting Paystack and its users from risk.

Your primary objective is to ensure that merchants enjoy a seamless experience when getting started with Paystack, while also making sure we collect the right information to properly assess their businesses. You’ll regularly review and refine the data we request, ensuring it stays relevant to our needs and remains obtainable for merchants.

You’ll actively engage with and advocate for merchants to help them onboard and grow with Paystack. This means developing a deep understanding of their business models and guiding them toward the best ways to use Paystack in a compliant manner.

Beyond onboarding, you’ll track and share insights on growth trends and challenges merchants encounter, collaborating with Product teams to address these issues. Your goal is to maintain effective processes that let us carry out assessments of these businesses with minimal disruptions to their operations.

Finally, you’ll educate merchants through our self-serve Help Center, webinars, and direct interactions. By helping them follow best practices and fully experience Paystack’s value, you’ll play a key role in their ongoing success.

This is a remote-friendly, full-time role, reporting directly to the Customer Success Manager for User Operations (Reviews). This role is only available to candidates located in South Africa.

We'll trust you to

• Oversee KYC Processes: Conduct thorough reviews of new and existing users by verifying submitted documentation and ensuring compliance with relevant regulations. You’ll also ensure that high-risk businesses are escalated for enhanced due diligence.
• Investigate and Escalate: Monitor transactions for suspicious activity, collaborate with legal and regulatory bodies when flagged, and document findings accurately.
• Optimise Internal Tools: Partner with Product, Engineering, and other cross-functional teams to refine verification processes and strengthen compliance frameworks.
• Collaborate with Partners: Coordinate with external parties, including financial institutions and law enforcement, to respond promptly to inquiries and share relevant KYC insights when needed.
• Educate and Empower: Guide merchants on best practices for collecting identity data and help them navigate evolving regulations, both through direct engagement and self-serve resources.
• Identify Trends: Leverage data tools (e.g., Excel, Metabase, SQL) to analyze KYC performance metrics, spot emerging patterns, and propose solutions to mitigate potential risks.
• Collaborate Cross-Functionally: Work with Sales and other relevant teams to ensure a smooth and efficient onboarding process for all merchants.

You’ll thrive as Paystack’s Compliance Operations Specialist if you

• Have 2+ years of experience in a compliance, KYC, and AML/CFT-focused role.
• Demonstrate excellent knowledge of regulatory guidelines, including AML/CFT and KYC best practices.
• Communicate complex ideas clearly and effectively in both writing and speaking.
• Exhibit strong problem-solving skills, curiosity, and meticulous attention to detail.
• Are passionate about protecting customers and merchants while driving business growth.
• Embody the principle of servant leadership: you have genuine empathy for business owners, and you’re happy to go the extra mile to help them succeed.
• Are able to take complex problems and simplify them into simple processes that others can follow to find a solution.
• Are proactively able to identify problem areas or opportunities for improvement and are able to implement them, either independently or in collaboration with your team.
• Are proactive, able to take initiative and seek solutions to recurring issues rather than managing the status quo.

Nice to have

• Are familiar with the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, the Protection of Personal Information Act, and the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act.
• Have previous experience working in a financial or fintech sector.

Application Instructions (Read carefully)

• Click the Apply Now button to go to the application form, and answer the application question.
• In your cover letter, please take care to explain how your professional and personal experiences have set you up to thrive in this role. This is important. We find that while unsuccessful applicants tend to simply summarize their CV, successful applicants are able to clearly articulate how their background makes them uniquely suited for this role.

Paystack is an Equal Opportunity Employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind. We’re committed to providing employees with a work environment that is progressive and open-minded. Our employment philosophy is to hire the best people and empower them to do the best work of their lives. Employment decisions are based on business needs and individual merit without regard to race, color, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, nationality, marital status, gender or age.

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