Marketing Lead - Wave Mobile Money

In 2017, nearly 60% of adults 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.

How we’re solving it: We’re building financial services to work as they should: no account fees, instantly available and accepted everywhere. In places where electricity, water and roads don’t always function, we’re creating financial infrastructure that “just works.” In November 2017, we launched a mobile app in Senegal for cash deposit, withdrawal, and peer-to-peer and business payments and in August 2019, we expanded to Cote d’Ivoire. Our goal is to make Africa the first cashless continent, starting with Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire. That’s where you come in…

How you’ll help us achieve it

To date, we have over 1 million active users across Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire and want to scale as fast as possible across many new countries in the next two years. We are looking for an energetic and experienced Marketing Lead who can lead our marketing teams and build on our approaches to acquiring users effectively at scale. You will report to Wave’s CEO and co-founder.

In this role, you’ll:

• Oversee all functions of marketing in each country: above the line, below the line, in-person distribution, social media and PR
• Direct all marketing strategies and activities, including awareness, lead generation, events, communications, product marketing, field distribution, and channel and partner marketing
• Deeply understand Wave’s product and story to creatively develop approaches to acquire new users
• Lead marketing and field distribution teams who are responsible for growing our user base across Wave’s countries
• Align PR and marketing approaches in shaping Wave’s response to policy and operational issues
• Provide strategic marketing guidance to our executive team in addressing our key business priorities
• Be metric driven in decision-making and assessing the impact of marketing efforts on Wave’s growth
• Work at a fast pace and take on new complex marketing challenges

Key details

• Location: Remote
• Travel: We expect ~2 weeks of travel every two months
• You can work remotely from anywhere (between UTC -8 and +4) with reliable Internet access in the following countries: US, Canada, Belgium, Germany, UK, Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire, Kenya, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Uganda or Senegal.
• Our salaries are competitive and are calculated using a transparent formula. For this role, we are offering a salary of $128,000- -$148,900 depending on your level and location
• Opened to possible short-time relocation

Requirements

• Language: Excellent English and French written and verbal skills
• Previous Experience:
• Leading marketing activities at a rapidly scaling organization
• 8+ years in managing marketing strategies at a multi-national or start-up company

You might be a good fit if you

• Have developed and implemented B2C marketing strategies at a fast-growth organization
• Have a strong track record in user acquisition through digital or in-person marketing strategies
• Are a creative storyteller with strategic vision and great attention to detail in implementation
• Are intellectually curious and creative in the way you go about tackling problems
• Excel at managing large cross-cultural teams with changing priorities and and cope effectively with complexity and change
• Demonstrate tenacity and a willingness to go the distance to get something done
• Are a strong communicator and are comfortable defaulting to overreaching when it comes to coordination

bonus points if you

• Have experience working in West Africa
• Have led marketing for an organization with 5+ million users
• Are familiar with paid social media

Our team

• We’re a team of 200+ Senegalese, 60+ Ivorian and 60+ remote people who are deeply passionate about our mission of bringing great financial services to the people who need them most. What is more? We are looking at future upcoming markets.
• We foster autonomy for our employees – you’ll learn to own your own projects at every stage, from understanding the project to monitoring your solution in production.
• We prize focus: we try to cut out all non-essential distractions so that you can spend as much time in the zone as possible. Aside from two weekly meetings—an all-hands and a one-on-one with your manager—your schedule is yours.
• We’re backed by world-class investors including Khosla Ventures, Founders Fund, Y Combinator, and the cofounders of PayPal.