Merchant Acquisition Manager

The Merchant Acquisition Manager is responsible for acquiring large, strategic merchants for our Indonesian payment gateway across industries namely, financial services, transportation, education, e-commerce, marketplace, retail and tourism. The role requires the full end-to-end sales capacity as a hunter and a nurturing function — starting from seeking for new leads, approaching, prospecting and closing the deal with a creative deal origination through commercial negotiation, and handling the following paperwork inside the sales cycle — and is expected to navigate complex merchant organisations, build executive relationships mainly to Top Level officials, and consistently close large enterprise-scale deals in a fast-paced environment.

Reports to: Senior Merchant Acquisition Manager, under the Chief Commercial Officer.

Responsibilities:

1. Pipeline Strategy: Build and execute a target pipeline list across the following industries (financial services, transportation, education, e-commerce, marketplace, retail and tourism — other industries may also be pursued) by prioritising large merchants with material payment volume and developing a tailored acquisition plan for each.

2. Deal Origination: Creatively identify and open sales opportunities with large merchants through outbound prospecting, executive networking, industry events, partner referrals, and competitive displacement — not relying on inbound leads.

3. Commercial Negotiation: Lead complex, multi-stakeholder commercial negotiations — pricing (MDR), commercial terms, SLAs, and contract structure — to close large-merchant deals preserving profitability and long-term value for the company.

4. Stakeholder Navigation: Map and engage decision-makers and influencers across complex merchant organisations namely finance, product, technology, operations, and C-level to build consensus and drive deals to close.

5. Cross-functional Collaboration: Work closely with product, marketing, integration, and account management teams to scope solutions, address merchant requirements during the sales cycle, and ensure smooth handover post-signing.

6. Executive Engagement: Build and maintain trusted relationships with C-levels and senior decision-makers at target merchants throughout the sales cycle, positioning the company as a strategic payments partner.

7. Portfolio Diversification: Acquire new large merchants to diversify the company's merchant base and reduce dependency on current top merchants to below 40% of total payment volume, measured by signed merchants, processed payment volume, and net new revenue.

Qualifications:

1. Educational Background: A bachelor's degree in business, marketing, communications, or a related field is typically required. An MBA or advanced degree is a plus.

2. Experience: Minimum 7+ years in B2B enterprise sales or merchant acquisition, with a demonstrable track record of closing large and complex deals in payments, fintech, banking, or SaaS sold to enterprises in Indonesia.

3. Market & Industry Knowledge: Deep understanding of the Indonesian payments landscape and existing networks in at least two of the following verticals: fintech, financial services, transportation, education, or tourism.

4. Technical Skills: Strong working knowledge of payment gateway products, payment methods used in Indonesia (QRIS, virtual accounts, e-wallets, cards), and the ability to discuss API-based integration approaches credibly with merchant technical teams.

5. Location: Based in Jakarta with a hybrid working arrangement; willing and able to travel outside Jakarta when required for meetings.

6. Language: Fluent in Bahasa Indonesia and English (spoken and written). Working proficiency in Mandarin (spoken and written) is a plus.

Skills

Successful Merchant Acquisition Managers demonstrate a blend of commercial and interpersonal skills, including:

1. Communication: Excellent verbal and written communication skills to effectively convey ideas, negotiate terms, and build relationships with merchants and internal teams.

2. Creative Selling: Ability to find non-obvious paths into target accounts — unconventional outreach, partnership angles, deal structures, and value propositions tailored to each merchant's business to find win-win solutions for each party.

3. Resilience & Drive: Self-motivated, proactive & resourceful, possesses strong analytical and problem-solving skills, comfortable working at a fast pace under pressure, and able to stay focused on closing through long sales cycles, rejection, and stalled deals.

4. Negotiation: Skilled in negotiating terms and conditions that align with both merchant expectations and company objectives.

5. Pipeline Discipline: Strong organisational skills to manage 20+ active enterprise opportunities at different stages simultaneously, with rigorous CRM hygiene and accurate forecasting.

6. Interpersonal Skills: Strong interpersonal skills to build rapport, gain trust, and maintain positive relationships with merchants and colleagues.

7. Vertical Agility: Ability to quickly learn the business models, pain points, and buying processes of different industries and tailor the pitch accordingly.

8. Commercial Acumen: Strong grasp of merchant economics, payment unit economics, and pricing structures — able to construct deals that win without giving away margin.