Head of Operations at Wave in Dakar

Job description

Our mission 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 2017, we launched a mobile app in Senegal for cash deposit, withdrawal, and peer-to-peer and business payments. Now, we have millions of users across 9 countries 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 Head of Operations to drive operational excellence across Wave Senegal. You’ll lead key functions spanning agent operations, liquidity, cash security, agent quality, and training, while identifying innovative ways to strengthen our agent network and improve how we operate. You will be in charge of maintaining a high-quality, reliable network, improving operational efficiency, and optimizing costs while ensuring our operations remain efficient, reliable, and customer-focused. In this role, you'll; Oversee daily business operations in Senegal, working from first principles to understand the problems blocking the business' growth and taking ownership of resolving those problems. Work closely with Wave's Executive Team to determine key objectives and operationalize strategies. Provide direct management of key functional managers within the business. Own key projects for Wave Senegal, including developing the strategy and executing what is needed to achieve them. Lead by living Wave's values and ensuring they're deeply ingrained within the team. Be an advocate for your team within the company more broadly. Work with our People Team to identify and hire local talent. Help to develop Wave's global strategy by sharing insights and learnings from Senegal. Key details Location: Senegal Work authorization in Senegal is required. This is a permanent position. Our salaries are competitive and calculated using a transparent formula. We offer generous health insurance for yourself and your dependents. We support working parents - we offer generous parental leave policies (26 weeks for mothers and 4 weeks for fathers) and subsidized childcare when you return to work. We help you live your fullest life now! We subsidize gym memberships and fitness classes. Airtime reimbursement. Free food and a beautiful office space. Requirements Have 10+ years of experience either in mobile money, finance, fintech, telecoms, or technology sectors as a senior leader or executive managing cross-functional teams. Hold a bachelor's degree or higher in business administration. Have 8+ years of experience building and leading strong teams in achieving results. Possess a track record in managing stakeholders through strategic reporting for external partners. Strong track record in building country-level and multi-country partnerships in Africa. Work authorization in Senegal. Fluency in English and, ideally, in a local language. You might be a good fit if you Demonstrate very strong communication and stakeholder management skills, communicating effectively and often, both in writing and in person, to the point of over-communication. Can adjust quickly to changing priorities and conditions and cope effectively with complexity and change. 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 mea