Director of Operations

We’re making Africa the first cashless continent

In 2017, over half the population in Sub-Saharan Africa had no bank account. That’s for good reason—the fees are too high, the closest branch can be miles away, and nobody takes cards. Without access to financial institutions, people are forced to keep their savings under the mattress. Small business owners rely on lenders who charge extortionate rates. Parents spend hours waiting in line to pay school fees in cash.

We’re solving this by building financial services that just work: no account fees, instantly available, and accepted everywhere. In places where electricity, water and roads don’t always work, you can still send money with Wave. In November 2017, we launched a mobile app in Senegal for cash deposit, withdrawal, and peer-to-peer and business payments. In 2019, we expanded to Cote d’Ivoire. Now, we have millions of users and are growing fast. Our goal is to make Africa the first cashless continent. And that’s where you come in….

How you’ll help us achieve it

We’re looking for a Director of Operations who is deeply metrics-driven, resourceful, and driven by the desire to manage large teams. You’ll be responsible for overseeing our operations in Uganda as we rapidly scale our business there. To be successful in this role, you should be a thoughtful leader and a confident decision-maker with a strong network. Reporting to the CEO, the Director of Operations will;

• Oversee daily operations of the business in Uganda working from first principles to understand the problems blocking the business’ growth and taking ownership over resolving those problems.
• Work closely with Wave’s Executive Team to operationalise strategies for Wave Uganda that ensure operational efficiency and a fast growth trajectory
• Provide direct management of key operational managers within the business specifically within agent network management, distribution, and marketing.
• Own key projects for Wave Uganda, including developing the strategy and executing what is needed to achieve them
• Lead by living Wave’s values, and ensure they’re deeply ingrained within the team.
• Help to develop Wave’s global strategy by sharing insights and learnings from Uganda

Requirements

• 8+ years of experience in developing and executing operational strategies
• A Bachelor’s degree in a business-related course
• 5+ years of experience in leading large teams preferably in banking or mobile money operations. You have built and led large teams in achieving key results.
• Are very metrics-driven in your approach to decision-making.
• Solid communication and stakeholder management skills
• An MBA will be an added advantage
• A deep understanding of mobile money and/our agent networks will be an added advantage

You might be a good fit if you

• Are a hands-on approach manager
• Are deeply passionate about our mission of bringing financial services to the people who need them the most.
• Are intellectually curious, creative in the way you go about tackling problems, and embrace failure as a means to spark innovation and growth.
• Possess a bias toward action and testing, and are analytical in your approach.
• Demonstrate tenacity and a willingness to go the distance to get something done.
• Are a strong communicator, both in writing and in-person, to the point of over communication.
• Enjoy owning projects – you’re autonomous yet know when to escalate problems.
• Adjust quickly to changing priorities and conditions and cope effectively with complexity and change.
• Can effectively prioritize for yourself and for large teams – you know how to triage problems to make the most impact on the business

Our team

• We have a rapidly growing in-country team in Senegal, Côte D’Ivoire, Mali, and Uganda, plus remote team members spread across the world. We’re deeply passionate about our mission of bringing radically affordable financial services to the people who need them most.
• We foster autonomy for our employees. You’ll own your own projects at every stage, from understanding the problem to monitoring your solution in production.
• We’re backed by world-class investors including Founders Fund, Sequoia Heritage, Stripe, Ribbit Capital, Y Combinator and Partech Africa.