Business Development Manager - Anglophone Africa at LemFi (Formerly Lemonade Finance)

LemFi (YC S21) is building the neobank for African diaspora in North America & Europe. We provide our users with a multi-currency account that allows them to hold, send, and receive money from Africa in any currency for their business and personal banking needs. We are a fast-paced startup with entities in the UK, USA, Canada and Nigeria and you would be required to familiarize yourself with necessary statutory and regulatory requirements in these locations.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Business Development Manager - Anglophone Africa

Location: Lagos
Employment Type: Full time
Work mode: Hybrid
Department: Growth

Role Overview

• We are looking for a Senior Business Development Manager - Anglophone Africa to build and scale strategic partnerships across key markets.
• This role will focus on financial institutions, regulators, aggregators, and mobile money operators, playing a critical role in expanding corridors, improving unit economics, and ensuring regulatory alignment.
• You will work closely with Treasury, Compliance, Product, and Growth teams to enable sustainable expansion.

Key Responsibilities
Partnerships & Market Expansion:

• Build and manage strategic partnerships with banks, financial institutions, aggregators, and mobile money operators
• Identify and evaluate new partners to support corridor launches and volume growth
• Own partner onboarding from initial discussions through go-live

Commercial Negotiation:

• Lead commercial negotiations, including pricing, FX margins, settlement terms, SLAs, and volumes
• Renegotiate existing contracts to improve fees, limits, liquidity, and reliability
• Structure win-win partnerships aligned with LemFi’s growth objectives

Regulatory & Stakeholder Engagement:

• Engage with regulators and regulatory bodies in collaboration with Compliance and Legal teams
• Support licensing discussions, regulatory submissions, and partner due diligence
• Act as a trusted external representative of LemFi in strategic regulatory conversations

Cross-Functional Collaboration:

• Work closely with Treasury on funding models, liquidity planning, and settlement cycles
• Partner with Product & Engineering teams during integrations and technical rollouts
• Align with Growth and Operations to ensure partnerships support commercial goals

Performance & Optimization:

• Monitor partner performance (success rates, downtime, settlement delays)
• Identify risks and proactively manage escalation and resolution
• Continuously optimize partner mix for reliability, cost efficiency, and scalability

What We’re Looking For
Experience:

• 5+ years of experience in Business Development, Partnerships, or Commercial roles
• Fluent French Speaker
• Strong background in fintech, payments, remittances, mobile money, or banking
• Proven experience negotiating with aggregators, MNOs, or financial institutions
• Exposure to regulatory environments across multiple markets is a strong plus

Skills:

• Excellent commercial and negotiation skills
• Strong understanding of cross-border payments, FX, and settlement flows
• Ability to manage complex, multi-stakeholder relationships
• Comfortable working in fast-paced, high-growth environments
• Strong written and verbal communication skills

Traits:

• Strategic but execution-focused
• Comfortable with ambiguity and rapid change
• Relationship-driven with strong ownership mindset
• Detail-oriented with a strong sense of accountability

Why Join LemFi

• Work on high-impact, global payment corridors
• Direct exposure to regulators, banks, and major fintech partners
• Opportunity to shape partnerships that move millions in monthly volume
• Fast growth, strong ownership, and real decision-making responsibility

Application Closing Date
Not Specified.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online