Onboarding Manager

Rondebosch, South Africa Posted on 01/16/2026

We are a proudly South African-based company that provides fast and secure payment processing solutions to businesses and financial institutions across 17 countries in Africa. As a one-stop, omnichannel payment solutions partner, Ecentric brings businesses the very best payment processing software & services for in-person payments, online payments, as well as for efficient back-office administration and reconciliation.

Launched in 1998, Ecentric is characterised by innovation and a strong culture of excellence. Twenty-five years ago, the founders identified the need for a payments partner that serves more than one retailer, across more than one payment channel. Fast forward to today, Ecentric now processes 20% of South Africa's card transactions (trusted by two thirds of South Africa's leading retailers), we bring credibility built on quality and serves as a payments partner to 65% of JSE-listed retailers - serving their in-store, online, mobile and omnichannel payments requirements.

Job Description To ensure your application is successfully received and that you can smoothly complete the screening process, we encourage you to apply through our Career Portal: .

We look forward to reviewing your submission!

Introduction:

Our team offers comprehensive experience and expertise across the South African (and beyond) payment gateways landscape. To guarantee the best service, we handle all the one-to-many payment relationships on behalf of our clients so they may focus their energy on growing their business.

As leaders in payment compliance and security, our clients can have the peace of mind that their payment processing needs are met efficiently with absolute security.

Position Overview:

The Onboarding Manager is responsible for ensuring a seamless, efficient, accurate and engaging onboarding experience for all new merchants. This role is key to establishing strong first impressions, building confidence in our services, and ensuring adherence to internal processes, compliance requirements, and best practices. The Onboarding Manager will oversee the respective onboarding teams and collaborate closely with cross-functional teams including Sales, Operations, Product, and Customer Success to deliver a consistent, high-quality onboarding experience.

Roles and Responsibilities:

• Manage End-to-End Onboarding
• Oversee the entire onboarding process for all new customers across the product lines.
• Oversee account setup, integration steps, and ensuring all KYC steps are completed for each client where required.
• Manage team to work "at scale and pace" to onboard customers within agreed/prescribed service levels while maintaining full compliance and quality standards.
• Manage any onboarding projects or parts thereof during periods of staff absences or resource shortages.
• Provide guidance for exceptions and resolve all escalations, both internally and externally.
• Improve and Standardise Process
• Develop, refine, and unify the onboarding processes for different products into repeatable frameworks for each product.
• Identify inefficiencies or inconsistencies in current onboarding workflows and create new processes or enhancements to deliver a faster, smoother, and more compliant onboarding experience.
• Document clear standard operating procedures so that every customer goes through a consistently excellent onboarding journey.
• Strategy and Tools
• Design and implement a comprehensive onboarding strategy and playbook that leverages onboarding best practices.
• Craft a clear step-by-step journey for new customers - from initial kick-off through to first successful use of the product - incorporating elements like account setup checklists, interactive product tutorials, training modules, and milestone tracking.
• Develop and apply modern onboarding methodologies (e.g. personalised welcome emails, product guidance, and automated task management), ensuring maximum product adoption and value realisation for customers.
• Maintain onboarding materials (guides, knowledge base articles, video tutorials, etc.) to educate customers on product features and best practices.
• Work closely with cross-functional teams to ensure a seamless onboarding experience. Coordinate with Sales and Account Management teams for a smooth handoff from sales to onboarding, aligning on client expectations and any promises made during the sales process.
• Partner with Product teams to understand technical requirements (for example, API integration steps) and to provide feedback on any product issues or customer needs identified during onboarding.
• liaise with Compliance/Risk teams to handle KYC verifications and with Customer Support/Success teams to transition clients to ongoing support after the onboarding period.
• Ensure all parties are aligned and the customer's journey from contract signing to fully live is seamless.
• liaise with finance to ensure that client billing commences timeously.
• Monitor, track and report key onboarding metrics to gauge success and identify improvement areas. Metrics include time-to-value, onboarding completion time vs. targets, customer engagement during onboarding, and initial customer satisfaction.
• Analyse onboarding metrics, along with direct customer feedback, to pinpoint bottlenecks or pain points in the onboarding process.
• Convert metric insights to drive continuous improvement - by refining training approaches, adjusting process steps, or introducing new tools/automation to address recurring issues.
• Develop action plans to make onboarding faster, easier, and more effective on an ongoing basis.
• Team Leadership and Development
• Lead and mentor the onboarding team, fostering a culture of excellence and customer-centricity.
• Set clear OKR's for team and members and provide regular coaching and feedback to help the team meet and exceed those goals.
• Oversee day-to-day team operations, ensuring that each onboarding specialist is effectively managing their customer assignments and following the defined processes.
• Drive recruitment and training of new team members as the function grows, building a high-performance onboarding team through motivation, skill development, and by sharing best practices.
• Stakeholder Communication
• Act as an advocate for the onboarding function within the organization. Provide regular updates to senior management (including the COO) on onboarding status, including reporting on volumes, timelines, and outcomes of recent onboardings.
• Highlight achievements, such as reductions in onboarding time or improvements in customer satisfaction, and present plans for further enhancements.
• Communicate with commercial teams about onboarding best practices - for instance, advising Sales on the ideal client profile or preparation needed to ensure quicker onboarding.
• Set clear expectations internally and with customers, ensure that smooth onboarding is recognized as a critical component of success.

Requirements We encourage all applicants to carefully review the required skills, competencies, and education levels outlined in the job description. This ensures that we can focus on candidates with the right qualifications, leading to a more efficient and accurate evaluation of your application.
To ensure your application can be fully considered, it is essential to complete the SAPIA assessment, which will be emailed to you immediately after submitting your application. We kindly request that you complete the assessment within the next 3 days to proceed with the short-listing process.
We appreciate your prompt attention to this and look forward to reviewing your complete application!

Education and Experience

• Diploma or Degree preferred;
• 3+ years in an onboarding role or similar
• Experience in the Payments Industry and familiarity with the product or service
• Experience in using onboarding platforms and CRM systems.
• Leadership or team management experience

Skills and Behavioural Competencies

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills;
• Customer Service Orientation, with a focus on building positive relationships;
• High attention to detail and commitment to deliver high-quality onboarding experiences;
• Strong project management and organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple onboarding processes simultaneously;
• Problem solving and analytical skills;
• Ability to work collaboratively across multiple teams.

Our Culture & Philosophy
We go beyond being just an employer - we are a long-term career growth partner in South Africa's payments industry. Here, we unleash our employees' potential, embrace innovation, and shape the future of the payments industry.

As such, we are committed to providing a comprehensive and competitive benefits package designed to support our employee's well-being, foster personal and professional growth, and enhance theiroverall quality of life. Our employee benefits program is tailored to meet the diverse needs of our workforce, recognizing that each individual plays a vital role in driving our company forward.

From retirement planning to professional development and work-life balance initiatives, Ecentric is dedicated to empoweringour employees to thrive both inside and outside the workplace. Weunderstand that happy, healthy employees are the key to a thriving organization . click apply for full job details