Strategy and Operations (Cross Switch)

Job Description

VENTURE FOR AFRICA

Venture for Africa is an immersion program and talent community designed to enable experienced local and global non-tech talent to transition into the African startup ecosystem.

We enable experienced talent who might be new to the startup space or the particular market or industry they’re looking to enter, to soft-land and gain context while working with a startup or venture fund that's hiring.

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HOW IT WORKS

• Get Matched: Apply and get matched with a VFA startup partner in your area of interest.

• Get Immersed:
  

  • Part-time: De-risk your potential transition by spending an initial 3 months in this role, part-time. During this time, you will have the opportunity to work closely with the team, experience the company culture, and evaluate whether it makes sense as a potential long-term option.

  • Full-time: For those actively looking for a role, who are ready to dive right in, you can skip ahead to the next step.

• Get Hired: VFA startup partners have the opportunity to make full-time offers to candidates directly after the matching process or after VFA's trial-to-hire model.

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Startup Partner:Cross Switch

Cross Switch is a fast-growing fintech company based in Luxembourg, founded in 2021. We are at the centre of the constantly evolving fintech industry, reinventing payments, banking solutions, and money. Our focus is on our Africa rollout, and we combine two synergistic strategies:

• Cross Switch Payments : a specialist provider of local and cross-border payment solutions for digital merchants and customers in Africa or those looking to access high-growth African markets.
• Cross Switch Technology : providing technology solutions to financial institutions and payments companies in Africa.

Engagement Description

Cross Switch is looking for an experienced payments professional to head up Cross Switch’s commercial activities as its Chief Commercial Officer on the African continent.

Responsibilities:

• Participating in the executive team and reporting directly to the CEO and Regional CEOs.
• Developing and implementing commercial strategies, including sales and marketing plans, to support the growth of the Group across the Region.
• Identifying market opportunities, assessing and prioritizing geographic and market segments.
• Identifying key customer and partner relationships within the Group, leveraging them in other Cross-Switch countries.
• Developing a commercial roadmap, compiling and reviewing competitor products, sales, and marketing activities, and constantly evaluating strategic priorities.
• Building commercialization infrastructure, including structuring and growing the organization to drive market adoption of the Group's products.
• Leading the development of a B2B marketing strategy to increase market penetration and sales growth.
• Assisting the CEO and Regional CEOs in identifying and evaluating partnerships, acquisition targets, and organic growth opportunities, and helping the team take startup companies/offices through regulation and into operations.
• Assisting the Regional CEOs and local commercial heads and teams in evaluating business opportunities with local merchant, acquirer, and partner relationships, pricing, and business terms.
• Assisting the team with Cross Switch engineers and the product team in optimizing and improving the performance of local payment methods.
• Maintaining ongoing and proactive contact with international, national, and local media to maintain a strong global network of known media contacts.
• Working with the CEO, Regional CEO, and CFO to grow and maintain relationships with investment institutions and strategic investors, participating in the Group's capital and/or debt-raising activities and investment activities, as required.
• Assisting local commercial and operations teams in ensuring effective and efficient local customer service teams, with consistent policies and processes across the Region.
• Helping all members of the team with proof of concept and pilot engagements to ensure appropriate commercial input and direction are provided.
• Representing the Group at conferences and networking events, building, alongside the leadership team, a top-performing organization, sustaining motivation through rapid growth, and leading by example.
• Motivating and developing departmental staff and working with the Group's HR department and senior management to ensure appropriate employee review, incentivization, and retention policies.

Reports to: CEO, Cross Switch Ghana