Chief Marketing Officer - Fintech

Reports to: Chief Executive Officer

Location: Remote (with regular travel across Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and other African markets)

Team: Leads Marketing, Brand, Communications and Customer Experience across markets

Role type: Full-time, Executive Leadership Team member

The Role

The Chief Marketing Officer will own the brand and growth engine across every market we operate in. This is a rare opportunity to shape a category-defining consumer brand on the continent — building a loyalty platform that becomes a household name from Lagos to Johannesburg.

You will lead an integrated marketing function spanning digital, social media, brand, OOH, performance marketing, partner marketing, communications, PR and customer experience. You'll translate our mission into stories, campaigns and experiences that drive sign-ups, active usage and long-term loyalty — while helping our B2B partners see us as the most valuable loyalty network to join.

This role sits on the Executive Leadership Team, reports to the CEO, and works in close partnership with the Chief Sales Officer, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer to align brand, growth and product.

Key Responsibilities

Brand & Strategy
• Define and evolve the brand positioning, narrative and visual identity across a diverse pan-African footprint.
• Build a marketing playbook strongly incorporating digital, creating a brand that culturally resonates and speaks authentically to consumers in Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and future markets — while maintaining a unified pan-African identity.
• Own the marketing strategy and annual plan, aligned to ambitious targets for user acquisition, active users, points issued/redeemed and partner growth.
• Serve as the internal guardian of customer insight, using research, data and behavioural insights to shape brand, product and partner decisions.

Consumer Growth & Performance Marketing
• Drive app downloads, activation and retention across the consumer app through paid, organic, referral and partner-powered channels.
• Build a modern, data-driven performance marketing engine — CAC, LTV, ROAS, cohort retention — tailored for mobile-first African consumers and low-data environments.
• Lead CRM, lifecycle marketing and loyalty mechanics that turn first-time users into habitual earners and redeemers.
• Design and execute high-impact consumer campaigns around earning, redemption, seasonal moments and cultural tentpoles.

Partner & B2B Marketing
• Partner with the VP Partnerships to develop the narrative, collateral and campaigns that help us win and retain merchant, bank, telco and retail partners.
• Run co-marketing programmes with partners that deliver measurable value on both sides of the network.
• Position the company as the most credible loyalty and rewards partner on the continent through thought leadership, case studies and industry presence.

Communications, PR & Brand Ambassadors
• Lead corporate communications, PR and media relations across all markets, protecting and amplifying the brand.
• Manage and scale the brand ambassador programme, leveraging high-profile cultural voices to extend reach and credibility.
• Own crisis communications and reputation management across regulators, partners, press and customers.
• Build the company's executive voices — particularly the CEO — as category-shaping leaders in African loyalty and fintech.

Customer Experience
• Partner with the VP Marketing & Customer Experience to ensure every touchpoint — from onboarding to redemption to support — reflects our promise of value and simplicity.
• Use voice-of-customer insight to close the loop between marketing promises and lived user experience.

Team & Leadership
• Build, lead and mentor a multi-country marketing organisation, creating a culture of creativity, rigour and ownership.
• Manage agency and partner relationships (creative, media, PR, research) across markets.
• Own the marketing budget, allocate capital against highest-ROI opportunities, and report transparently to the CEO and Board.
• Contribute as a full member of the Executive Leadership Team to company strategy, fundraising narrative and investor communications.

What We're Looking For

Must-Have Experience
• 15+ years of progressive marketing leadership, including senior roles (VP/SVP/CMO) in a consumer-facing business, ideally loyalty, fintech, telco, e-commerce, FMCG or mobile-first tech.
• Proven track record of building and scaling a challenger or category-defining consumer brand — including meaningful experience in at least one African market (Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa or similar).
• Deep fluency in both brand building and performance marketing — equally comfortable defending a brand idea and debating a CAC/LTV model.
• Experience leading marketing for a two-sided network or platform business (B2B2C), balancing consumer and partner/merchant objectives.
• Strong commercial acumen: owned revenue, growth or P&L-linked targets, not just marketing vanity metrics.
• Experience building and leading multi-country teams, with cultural fluency across African markets.

Highly Desirable
• Background in loyalty, rewards or coalition programmes (e.g., Nectar, Scene+, DOTZ, Smart Shopper, eBucks, Avios or similar).
• Experience in fintech, mobile money, digital banking or telco marketing in an emerging market.
• Track record driving app-first growth at scale — millions of downloads, active users and measurable retention improvements.
• Experience working with boards, investors and in high-growth or venture-backed environments.

Leadership Profile
• Entrepreneurial and hands-on — as willing to shape a TikTok brief as to present to the board.
• Data-driven but creatively courageous; insists on both rigour and bold ideas.
• A natural collaborator who can partner closely with Sales, Product, Operations and Finance.
• Deeply curious about African consumers, culture and commerce — and committed to our mission of rewarding every African for their loyalty.
• High-integrity, people-first leader who builds teams that outlast them.

What Success Looks Like

First 90 days
• Immersed in each market, customer segment and partner category — spending real time with users, merchants, regulators and the team on the ground.
• Delivered a clear diagnostic of digital strategy, brand, growth and CX performance, with a prioritised set of bets for the next 12 months.
• Aligned the Executive Leadership Team and Board behind a refreshed marketing strategy and investment plan.

First 12 months
• Step-change in consumer acquisition, activation and retention metrics across core markets.
• A sharper, more distinctive brand with measurable lifts in awareness, consideration and trust.
• A scalable marketing operating model: the right team, agency roster, tech stack and measurement framework for pan-African growth.
• A marketing function widely regarded — internally and by partners — as a key driver of commercial success.

What We Offer
• A seat at the table on the Executive Leadership Team of one of Africa's most ambitious fintech companies.
• Competitive executive compensation, including meaningful equity participation.
• The chance to build a category-defining brand across the continent, alongside a world-class team of operators and advisors.
• A mission that matters: making everyday life more rewarding for millions of Africans.