Subscribe to Job Alert
Join our happy subscribers
Never pay for any CBT, test or assessment as part of any recruitment process. When in doubt, contact us
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting nearly 800 operators with almost 300 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and internet companies, as well as organisations in adjacent industry sectors. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such...
Department: Mobile for Development
Department detail: AgriTech
Position type: Permanent
Reporting to: M4D Regional Head / AgriTech Director of Market Engagement
About the Team
Globally, 500 million households depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. Smallholder farmers produce and sell nearly 70 per cent of the food consumed worldwide but remain financially excluded and increasingly vulnerable to changing climate patterns affecting their yields. Digitisation of procurement from smallholders presents a significant opportunity to enable the transition from cash to digital payments and from paper to digital records - to enhance transparency in the agricultural value chain. Combining digital records and digital payments with information services on best agricultural practices, weather forecasts and climate smart advice will result in a radical shift in productivity and incomes for smallholders.
Funded by UK aid (the UK Department for International Development, DFID), the GSMA AgriTech programme targets the development of equitable and sustainable food chains that empower farmers and strengthen local communities. To fulfil this vision, the programme brings together and supports the mobile industry, agriculture sector stakeholders, innovators and investors in AgriTech space to launch, improve and scale impactful and commercially viable digital solutions for smallholder farmers in the developing world.
The GSMA Innovation Fund for Digitisation of Agricultural Value Chains
In June 2019, the AgriTech programme launched the GSMA Innovation Fund (“Fund”) for Digitisation of Agricultural Value Chains, which aims to scale digital solutions for the agricultural last mile and improve smallholders’ financial inclusion, livelihoods and climate resilience. The Fund prioritises enterprise services targeted at organisations (e.g. agribusiness, cooperatives, etc.) procuring from smallholders with the focus on those living on less than USD 2 per day. Up to eight grants of £220,000 each are available to support projects of 24 months duration. In addition, the GSMA will provide in-kind support and consultancy to assist the development of business plans, and service implementation through market research, user-centric design, business intelligence, user-testing with agribusiness staff and smallholders. Grants are available across two categories of application:
What the hiring manager says
“This is an exciting new role leading the team to fundamentally transform rural regions by enabling financial inclusion of farmers through digital data and tools. The successful candidate must bring substantially new skills, experiences and expertise to compliment those of an overachieving team and deliver even greater impact.”
About the Role
The GSMA AgriTech Programme seeks an accomplished Sr. Market Engagement Manager (MEM) experienced in both scaling mobile money services in rural areas and working with Financial Service Providers (FSPs) to extend services (credit, savings, insurance, etc.) via mobile channels. The MEM will work closely with the GSMA AgriTech team to support contracted Innovation Fund partners with the design, development, launch and scale of cutting-edge AgriTech products and services ranging from last mile agribusiness enterprise services (B2B2C) to financial services (B2C). This particular MEM will also need to focus on supporting Innovation Fund partners with key priorities in each of the two categories. In the Mobile Money Driven category, the MEM will need to focus on supporting the innovation fund partner with scaling mobile money networks (of the associated agribusiness enterprise services). In the Data Driven category, the focus will be on striking product development partnerships with FSPs to develop associated financial services.
It will be a complex and continuously changing environment across many cultures. The incumbent must possess a unique blend of business acumen with an understanding of the markets that they will be working in, a big-picture vision, and the drive to make that vision a reality. They should enjoy spending time in the market to understand needs and work proactively to find innovative solutions and own drive their implementation.
The role will encompass:
Project Consultancy Support (70%) – Work directly with contracted Innovation Fund partners (from both categories) and support them as their chief consultant to help strengthen their service and achieve key milestones and contracted KPIs. Your role as their consultant is to advise them on development and implementation of their service strategy, robust business and operational plans, share lessons learned in other markets, and troubleshoot key challenges. Ensure the agricultural service is designed and implemented to provide a high-quality of service and impact to farmers and agribusiness clients; and can be scalable and sustainable. Develop and manage key stakeholders relationships critical for the programme’s success, including mobile network operators, potential agribusiness clients, FSPs/Fin-techs, value added service providers, agriculture institutes and donor agencies. Key to this role is providing actionable recommendations to operators based on deep analysis of consumer insights and supporting them with implementing the recommendations resulting in continuous service evolution and improvements.
The Sr. MEM will also need to provide speciality support in the following three areas:
About You
Experienced in:
Expertise in
What We Offer
Working at the GSMA offers you unparalleled access to the mobile industry. We offer a chance to truly shape the direction of mobile, whatever your role. By joining the GSMA, you will be exposed to a fast-paced rapidly evolving environment, working on global solutions, genuinely fascinating and industry-changing projects and a stimulating and dynamic environment designed to enable you to flourish.
In addition to architect-designed offices and competitive compensation, our benefits include fantastic learning & development opportunities, generous holiday allowances, four additional days off for professional development and many others.
Build your CV for free. Download in different templates.
Join our happy subscribers