About Us:

Wasoko is transforming communities across Africa by revolutionizing access to essential goods and services. By connecting small brick & mortar retail merchants to the digital economy, we fix inefficient supply chains and provide services previously unavailable to informal businesses. Wasoko aims to provide everything a merchant needs, with no wholesalers or banks necessary.

Thousands of retailers across East and West Africa use Wasoko's mobile ordering and delivery platform to receive the goods they need quickly and cheaply while also accessing growth financing for the first time. We’re looking to grow our team with highly talented and motivated employees who are excited to work in a fast-paced and dynamic startup environment.

Role: Product Manager - Logistics Management System

Reporting to: Senior Product Manager - Operation Excellence

Seeking a data-driven professional with 4+ years of experience managing last mile product life cycles with the heavy use of tools and algorithms to maximize Wasoko’s investments into transport activities by supporting the improvement of the current transport processes and cost.

Location:

• Nairobi, Kenya (HQ)
• Fumba, Zanzibar (Innovation Hub)

Duties & Responsibilities:

• Create and own the product roadmap planning processes for Wasoko last mile operations e.g. Logistics optimization, route planning, delivery process execution, returns management
• Formulate and execute a rolling product roadmap in support of portfolio plans. Identify, marshal and organize resources to meet required goals
• Lead new product introduction efforts within specific goals for team leadership, customer delivery processes and designs, schedule, cost, quality, availability and order cycle time goals
• Engage with internal vendor partners to create, implement and maintain product change management processes within the logistic systems
• Align matrices with team members from across all functions to develop new product plans and sustain change management processes. Typical functions include Planning, technical project management, reducing transport cost per order, optimizing the current product, Reporting etc.
• Represent delivery product and design team. Use production expertise to influence and negotiate for last-mile operations.
• Communicate project status updates to various project stakeholders, including team members and executives. Synthesize a multitude of issues into a clear, concise and focused message. Present with confidence and brevity.
• Always push the leading edge of innovation, excellence, and program management practices.
• Stay abreast of the latest advancements in technology, competition, industry developments, and regulatory environment.
• Help implement best industry standards and best practices in the last leg of supply chain processes and systems

Requirements:

• 4 - 8 years of experience working with logistics and/or field force for multi-location teams
• General manager/owner mentality, entrepreneurial drive, and proven ability to take ownership and influence others
• Proven ability to drive cohesion and collaboration among many different people & functions
• Confidence, presence, and credibility to command the respect of colleagues and senior stakeholders, especially within Sales, Operations and Engineering
• Extensive knowledge of product lifecycle management, product strategies, product requirements and roadmap planning, and product requirements decision making
• Exceptional communication skills which include clear written and verbal communication as well as the ability to listen effectively
• Excellent creative thinking skills with an emphasis on developing innovative solutions to solve complex problems that may not have one clear answer
• Demonstrable capability to negotiate requirements and decisions effectively across a diverse range of teams and to lead through influence
• Ability to create, formalize, and implement, a product portfolio strategy
• Ability to influence cross-culturally across a range of global stakeholders in the engineering, operations, and marketing organizations
• Proven ability to execute in all phases of the product development life cycle, resulting in high-quality software or IoT hardware products, delivered on time
• Demonstrated ability to work in a self-directed manner, seeking out areas that need attention, rather than being asked to look at specific problem areas
• Outstanding technical problem-solving skills and a passion to solve hard problems

• Strong program management skill set with the ability to lead cross-functional teams