GSMA mFarmer initiative, Technical Programme Consultant
Based in London, UK or Nairobi, Kenya: Fixed Term Contract
GSMA -
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning 219 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies, and media and entertainment organisations. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Congress. GSMA Development Fund.
The GSMA Development Fund Exists to accelerate economic, social and environmental development through the use of mobile technology. We believe that providing tangible, accessible mobile services to people in developing countries is invaluable to society and can help improve people’s lives. The Development Fund leverages the industry expertise of the GSMA and its members, as well as the development expertise of international agencies and non-profit organisations to accelerate mobile services.
Together with our partners we incubate and replicate new mobile services in communities where they can make a positive difference.
GSMA mAgri Programme and mFarmer Initiative -
The GSMA Development Fund’s mAgri Programme works to catalyse the deployment of mobile solutions that benefit the agricultural sector. These solutions are designed to address the problems of low yield, income and the value chain inefficiencies that beset the world’s poorest farmers.
The mFarmer Initiative was launched in 2011 in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and USAID. The scope of the initiative is to facilitate the creation and scaling of modern agriculture solutions that bridge the information gap and increase the yield and income of rural small-holders. The mFarmer initiative achieves its aims by working closely with mobile network operators (GSMA members) and other public and private sector agriculture organisations who are implementing agricultural VAS. To foster innovation and accelerate deployments – the mFarmer initiative will award challenge funds, technical assistance and an electronic content database to circa 4-6 projects in Sub-Saharan Africa and India. The GSMA mAgri team will work closely on the ground with these projects to ensure their success. The mAgri team will also work to raise advocacy for agriculture VAS more broadly within the industry, by ensuring that key industry developments, learnings and best practices are appropriately packaged and shared; and convene the industry in order to better understand and resolve key issues facing agriculture VAS initiatives.
For more information, visit http://gsmworld.com/mfarmer
Responsibilities -
The GSMA mAgri Programme seeks an experienced technical programme consultant. The consultant will work closely with the Director and other key advisors to oversee and implement the mFarmer projects in line with donor and GSMA strategy. The incumbent is required to work across a number of projects and projects teams with multiple priorities. It will be a complex and continuously changing environment across many cultures. The incumbent will be expected to represent the mAgri team at relevant industry conferences and forums and interact with regulatory bodies where appropriate. The primary responsibility of the Technical Programme Consultant is to provide feasibility assessments and technical consultancy support for partner organisations developing technical solutions for agriculture VAS; ensuring the technical and commercial performance of the products/service delivers customer value and achieves the benefits of the programme. The Technical Programme Consultant is accountable and responsible for ensuring the quality and sustainability of the product/services from guiding the definition and shaping of the requirements and supporting the building of the business case through to service launch. The Technical Programme Consultant will guide the team that is responsible for the service making sure it contributes to the overall business goals for the service and advising on new product areas.
Using strong leadership and influencing skills the Technical Programme Consultant will forge relationships with MNOs, vendor chain and agriculture partners, key stakeholders and customers to drive the long-term sustainability of the product/services and ensure its integration within the business. The Technical Programme Consultant will support the development of the product plan that defines the market requirement, sizes the opportunity within given markets and customer segments, articulates the value proposition to the client and ratifies the commercial model and pricing strategy.
Through product and service development with the partners the Technical Programme Consultant will refine best case practices and tools for wider publication and use in future programme development. The Technical Programme Consultant will be the technical and product evangelist to the industry for the mAgri programme. The incumbent must possess a unique blend of technical and a business appreciation; a big-picture vision, and the drive to make that vision a reality. They must enjoy spending time in the market to understand their needs, and find innovative solutions for the broader market.
Main Accountabilities: • Engage in the product life cycle from strategic planning through to tactical activities • Understand and guide technical implementations of content management in the context of mobile technologies • Understand and guide technical implementations of customer relationship management systems • Ensure integration of the new product with the existing business • Advise on the technical aspects of the business processes • Advise on appropriate mobile technologies to aid the development of the services • Ability to define and enable appropriate technical architecture for the product/services • Assess and provide feedback on the objective analysis of a potential market opportunity to provide a basis for investment • Support the definition of product strategy and roadmap from which products can be designed, developed and deployed • Support delivery of product requirements and help with prioritizing features and corresponding justification • Work with third parties to assess partnerships and licensing requirements • Maintain close relationship with the market (customers, evaluators, and potentials) for awareness of products needs and perspectives • Check on operator forecasts and performance in line with the grant requirements • Ensure defined operational metrics are met by the product requirements • Proactively communicate with senior management and key stakeholders on the technical performance of the product • Analyzing potential partner relationships for the product. • Extracting product model better practices and support tools in the development of future programmes
Knowledge, Skills, Experience, Training, Education required:
• Extensive experience as a Product Manager or Technical Product Manager • Experience working in the mobile telecom industry
• Experience in mobile VAS product management • Understanding of content management systems and processes • Working with CRM systems and call centres • Experience of an analytic feedback cycle on the CRM and CMS data trends • Database management experience (SQL) • Demonstrated success defining and launching excellent products • Experience in a job dealing with the commercial aspects of mobile products • Excellent written and verbal communication skills • Graduate Bachelor's degree in computer science, software engineering or equivalent technical degree • Formal training/qualification or demonstrate able experience of new product and service development • Proven commercial acumen and business leadership qualities • Customer centric thinking and acting • Excellent relationship building skills with a good understanding of different cultures and empathy to a range of socio-demographic groups and how to work with them to deliver results to established local market businesses • Proven ability to influence cross-functional and cross-organisational teams without formal authority • Must be able to travel 30-40% of the time including global travel • Demonstrable track record of analyzing technical capabilities and market requirements • Excellent team player, able to work in fast-paced, deadline-driven environment
The GSMA is able to provide suitably motivated candidates with a first class working environment, access to all of the key decision makers in one of the planet’s largest and most progressive industry’s and the context to keep a curious mind engaged. Many of our alumni have now taken key roles in the development of the industry.
This position is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and the GSMA.
Please email your CV to rwilliams@gsm.org
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