Digital Commerce Consultant at BFA Global

About our work in Digital Commerce

Fintech has transformed e-commerce, and digital commerce more broadly, into a thriving and more inclusive marketplace. Fintech companies led by China, have introduced innovative tools, business models, and payment platforms, which have helped consumers around the world make more transactions online and engage further into the digital economy. In emerging markets, building on the ubiquity of mobile money and mobile connectivity, homegrown and global digital commerce platforms are successfully targeting and extending the convenience, better value, and broader market access of online shopping and digital payments to underserved communities and overcoming challenges such as lack of customer trust, low digital literacy, and high overhead and operational costs. Digital platforms: Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, are widely used in emerging markets, not only for consuming content, but as livelihoods for informal merchants who sell and buy online in non-traditional ways. In parallel, platforms for shopping, e-hailing, freelancing, rentals, and courier/transport services have brought income-earning opportunities and digitization for the self-employed and workers in the informal sector, which already operates effectively as a “gig economy.”

Our excitement for digital commerce lies in its potential for driving inclusion, digital and financial, and for creating pathways to decent and meaningful livelihoods for low-income people. Nevertheless, fintech and digital commerce are still nascent in emerging markets and significant barriers remain to domestic and international growth. Growth of digital commerce therefore will require continued innovation, critical ecosystem investment, and coordination between the private sector, investors, funders, and policymakers. Our programmatic work seeks to engage strategic partners to demonstrate proofs of concept, build the knowledge base, and accelerate impact to attract more actors and funders to the digital commerce space in emerging markets. Learn more about BFA Global’s work about digital platforms and livelihoods by visiting: https://bfaglobal.com/livelihoods-and-microenterprise/

Our requirements for the Digital Commerce Consultant

The applicant will report to project directors who will manage and oversee the programs, with the applicant expected to lead the day-to-day execution and support the strategy of several programs to digitally onboard micro and small enterprises (MSEs) and workers in the informal sector into digital commerce to accelerate growth of the ecosystem.

We are looking for a seasoned digital commerce consultant who has worked in the e-commerce sector and brings the attendant product, tech, and data-driven experience in launching and scaling e-commerce businesses and managing e-commerce operations and strategy in Africa and India. The candidate will have experience developing and launching digital platform products and services to advise the BFA Global team and design, implement and successfully oversee several of our digital commerce projects and programs in our portfolio. Particularly to support our work in India, the candidate should have a clear understanding of the functioning of community institutions and their federations such as self-help groups (SHG), Women’s Empowerment Collectives (WEC) and State Rural Livelihood Missions (SRLMs) to support the BFA Global team in strategizing and creating pathways for grassroots producers and collectives to access international and domestic markets through digital commerce. 

The candidate brings an established network of relevant companies, entrepreneurs, investors, and partners in e-commerce, fintech, digital payments, logistics, transport, and regulation to accelerate collaboration, program execution, and innovation. 

The consultant’s responsibilities will focus on these three core areas, which are likely to develop and evolve over time:

1. Program leadership: manage and lead project strategy of digital commerce interventions to digitally onboard MSEs in the informal sector to accelerate growth of digital e-commerce and create livelihoods for young men and women, working with set of diverse stakeholders from the fintech field, the financial inclusion community, financial regulators, platform companies, mobile network operators, and development organizations and NGOs in training, education, and livelihoods.
2. Digital commerce expertise in emerging markets: apply expertise in e-commerce at the last mile through financial and digital inclusion strategies, and partnering with digital commerce value chain actors to develop partnerships with financial institutions, government, platforms, payments providers, logistics companies, mobile network operators, and capacity building entities to scale e-commerce offerings, drive adoption, and innovate product offering for low-income customers and informal MSEs and workers. The candidate brings emerging market experience to bear to formulate solutions and approaches that support and deliver solutions promoting accessible, appropriate, and affordable products and solutions and upholding principles of consumer protection and financial health.
3. Drive digital and financial inclusion with focus on youth and gender: foster digital approaches to digital and financial inclusion targeting impact on livelihoods for young adults, and in particular for women, such that digital commerce accelerates the participation, benefits to, and inclusion of vulnerable workers and MSEs populations.

Qualifications & Requirements:

• 8+ years of work experience in the digital commerce sector in Africa and India, ideally at key e-commerce companies in the region.
• Strategic and operational experience in overseeing and growing e-commerce operations is required. 
• Experience of working with community institutions and their federations in assessing, strategizing and developing digital market access linkages for producer groups in India.            
• Experience in designing and managing training and capacity building programs, such as an accelerator or other initiative working with microentrepreneurs, small enterprises, microfinance institutions, SHGs, and WECs in emerging markets.
• Experience in customer research, product design and development, business strategy, scaling, in emerging markets is preferred.
• Experience in the fintech ecosystem, working with fintech startups, financial institutions (banks, digital lenders, investment firms), donors, and regulators and knowledge of financial services regulation and compliance are an advantage.
• Experience working with low-income, rural communities with a good understanding of market access challenges for rural entrepreneurs and producer collective enterprises.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills to synthesize insights and communicate effectively with distributed teams and programs located in several countries.
• A self-starter and team player with lots of energy to juggle multiple responsibilities, strong organizational and managerial skills, and demonstrates excellent communication, punctuality and professionalism.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, startup environment, with strong attention to detail for all tasks.
• Strong project management experience and ability to deliver projects on time and within budget.
• Excellent networking skills to engage stakeholders and ecosystem and build partnerships.
• Fluency in English, any other local language will be an advantage.

Personal competencies:

Applicants need to bring a combination of technical or financial skills but also need to employ a combination of soft skills to achieve long-term success at BFA Global, such as:

• People Skills of Emotional intelligence, Communication & Empathy. A strong ability to collaborate effectively with others and work in teams, build relationships and people, listen and manage conflict with respect for others. Ability to manage clients and navigate different organizational cultures.
• Creativity & Problem-Solving Skills. Analytical and critical thinking skills to find creative solutions to problems.
• Adaptability & Flexibility. An agile and adaptable approach to effectively deal with the rapid changes (organizational, financial and technological) occurring in the industry and while working in a dynamic organization.
• Anticipated Start Date: September 30, 2020
• Compensation will be commensurate with experience.
• Only shortlisted candidates who provide the required information and are a match for our qualifications will be contacted for follow-up.
• BFA will not sponsor for work permits nor pay for relocation expenses.

At BFA, we are committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and teammates without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, pregnancy (including childbirth, lactation, and related medical conditions), national origin, age, physical and mental disability, marital status, sexual orientation, military, and veteran status, and any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

BFA believes that diversity and inclusion among our teammates is critical to our success as a global company, and we seek to recruit, develop and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool and to best carry out the inclusion work we undertake.