Market Engagement Manager, Mobile For Humanitarian Innovation at GSM Association (GSMA)

About the Team

Mobile for Development (M4D) is a dedicated global team within the GSMA, bringing together our mobile operator members, tech innovators, the development community and governments to prove the power of mobile in emerging markets. We identify opportunities and deliver innovations with socio-economic impact on over 30 million lives across 49 countries.

M4D’S Mobile for Humanitarian Innovation (M4H) programme works to accelerate the delivery and impact of digital humanitarian assistance. It focuses on the use of mobile-enabled solutions in humanitarian contexts across five focus areas:

• Digital identity
• Food security, adaption and resilience to climate change
• Inclusivity
• Mobile-enabled utilities
• Mobile financial services

Through building bridges between the mobile industry and humanitarian sector, catalysing innovative solutions, developing insights and tools and investing in new partnerships and services, the M4H team aims to help shape an inclusive, impactful digital humanitarian future

About the Role

• As a Market Engagement Manager (MEM), you will have the following responsibilities:
• Build and manage relationships with mobile network operators in prioritised countries in the SSA region in order to identify and catalyse strategic opportunities to develop and support initiatives that align with the programme’s core objectives;
• Build and execute a pipeline of multi-stakeholder projects that help understand new opportunity areas and/or demonstrate impact, including project design, partnership brokering and management, business case and business model development and operational support
• On-going management of in-country projects. This may include organising and facilitating multi-stakeholder workshops, conducting desk-based landscaping research, assisting with project management and managing relationships across a range of stakeholders (e.g. mobile operators, development partners, start-ups and third-party solution providers).
• Support and convene the GSMA Humanitarian Connectivity Charter (HCC) signatories in the region.
• Provide support to grantees from the Innovation Fund in the region, and support wider Innovation Fund processes including identification of potential applicants, proposal review and due diligence.
• Contribute to the M4D learning agenda by supporting the production of high-quality and professional publications, toolkits and blogs which capture lessons and insights regarding business models, grantee learnings, trends, relevant in-market convenings and developments from in-market engagement.
• Ensure appropriate coordination of the programme’s regional efforts with relevant internal and external partners.
• Support the Market Engagement team on the overall strategic partnership and engagement plan for the M4H programme to ensure relationships with key stakeholders (MNO members, relevant private sector actors, UN/humanitarian agencies and NGOs) are established, well-defined and maintained
• Proactively communicate relevant topical developments from across the region to the M4H and wider M4D teams;

About You

• Previous experience within the mobile industry, preferably in the Sub-Saharan Africa region;
• Experience managing multi-stakeholder relationships and delivering multi-stakeholder projects with some direction and supervision;
• Solid commercial acumen with an ability to clearly communicate strategic opportunities, develop a compelling business case, value proposition and business models
• Familiarity with the humanitarian sector, including an active interest in the potential of mobile and digital solutions to improve humanitarian response
• Comfortable managing relationships with various internal and external stakeholders, including C-level executives and dedicated entrepreneurs
• Experience in business development, project management and product development
• Experience working with donors, international development community or multi-lateral organisations an asset
• Able to quickly grasp new concepts and ideas (given the level of innovation in our sector and the wider industry) and proactively communicate and work as part of a global team.
• Naturally curious, able to think beyond business-as-usual scenarios, and dream big.
• Process-oriented individual, that takes ownership and responsibly without unnecessary management from above
• Excellent team-work abilities to effectively and proactively work with the whole M4H team and the wider GSMA in order to achieve collective programme and industry goals
• Excellent communicator: able to express complex technical or commercial issues in plain language, without losing the important points
• Fluent and compelling written and oral communications skills in English. This includes the ability to draft blogs, discussion documents, concept notes, and reports with minimal review and supervision required
• French competency is a plus
• Should be able to work from the GSMA Nairobi office and have the right to work in Kenya
• Ability and willingness to travel in the region frequently