Join the
founding team
Over 10 million Zambians are active mobile money users — yet access to fair, flexible credit at the point of sale remains out of reach for most of them. We are building the infrastructure to close that gap, and we are looking for a co-founder who knows this market from the inside out.
See the roleWhy tupane?
Meaningful work
Build financial infrastructure that expands access for millions of Zambians who have been left out of traditional credit.
Ownership & speed
We're pre-launch and growing fast. Your work ships quickly, reaches real users, and directly shapes the product and company.
Small, tight team
No bureaucracy. Collaborative decision-making, direct access to founders, and a culture of respect and transparency.
Shared ownership
This is a co-founder role. You will own a meaningful equity stake and share in what we build together.
Open position
Co-Founder — Business & Operations
Tupane Payments Ltd · Lusaka, Zambia
About Tupane
Tupane is a Buy Now, Pay Later platform built for every Zambian — zero-interest credit at the point of sale, funded by the merchant, with no gatekeeping by credit score. Our platform is live, the company is registered, and we are entering our first merchant growth phase.
The opportunity
Our founding team is strong in product and technology — a platform that works, a brand that resonates, and a go-to-market thesis grounded in real user insight. We move fast, we make decisions with conviction, and we hold ourselves to a high bar.
We are opening one seat on this founding team. It belongs to someone who brings deep business and operations expertise to sit alongside what we have built — someone who can take this from a live product to a business with real scale. This is not a hire. This is a partnership.
What you will own
As co-founder, you will have real ownership — not a title, but actual accountability for outcomes that matter. Here is what that looks like in practice:
- Merchant growth: building and leading our merchant acquisition strategy — identifying the right businesses, earning their trust, and getting them live on Tupane.
- Banking and regulatory relationships: deepening our partnerships with financial institutions and navigating the Bank of Zambia landscape with confidence.
- Credit operations: owning the credit operations model — from repayment to collections — and building the discipline that keeps the portfolio healthy.
- Strategic partnerships: connecting Tupane to the trade networks, associations, and distribution channels that accelerate reach across Zambia.
Who we’re looking for
You have spent real time in Zambian financial services, trade, or SME sales — not reading about it, but working in it. Your background likely includes loan origination or collections at a bank or MFI, field operations at a mobile money provider, merchant acquisition in FMCG or financial services, or building a business that served small retailers and market traders directly.
You are an operator at your core. You can design a collections process from scratch, walk into a wholesale market and close three merchants in a day, and hold your own in a room with a BoZ official. The lack of a defined playbook is not a deterrent — it is the point. You want to be the person who writes it.
This is probably not for you if
- You are looking for a stable salary and a defined set of responsibilities from day one.
- You have never worked directly with small business owners, traders, or the informal economy in Zambia.
- You prefer to join once the hard early work has already been done.
- You see this as a stepping stone rather than a company you want to help build for the long term.
Equity, not salary.This is a co-founder position with a meaningful ownership stake in what we build together. Zambia’s financial services market is expanding fast, and we are positioning Tupane to lead the access layer. We are building for the long game — and the upside reflects that. If you are ready to bet on yourself and on this market, we want to hear from you.