Director, Handset Affordability

Director, Handset Affordability

Location: London or Nairobi

Position type: Fixed Term Contract until Dec 2027

What the hiring manager says

“This role is a unique opportunity to help drive digital inclusion of the unconnected in low-and middle-income countries, and of women in particular. As the Director of Handset Affordability, you will lead a team to support mobile operators and others in the mobile ecosystem design and implement innovative commercial approaches to increase handset ownership, which can have a profound impact on billions of lives.”

Melle Tiel Groenestege, Senior Director

About the Team

GSMA Mobile for Development (M4D) is a global team within the GSMA, which brings together our mobile operator members, tech innovators, the development community and governments, to realise the impact of mobile in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

This role sits within the GSMA’s Connected Women and Connected Society programmes. GSMA’s Connected Women programme works with mobile operators and their partners to address the barriers to women accessing and using mobile internet and mobile money services. The GSMA’s Connected Society Programme works with the mobile industry and key stakeholders to increase access to and adoption of the mobile internet, focusing on underserved population groups in developing markets.

About the Role

The Director Handset Affordability will lead a project focused on improving affordability and ownership of internet-enabled handsets for women. Key roles and responsibilities include:

• Develop and execute a strategy to accelerate handset ownership and use, especially of women, across primarily Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Create a pipeline of mobile operators and other partners committed to work with us on the design, implementation and scaling of handset ownership initiatives.
• Lead action-oriented research to fill key knowledge gaps related to women’s access to handset-financing.
• Lead the development or updating of new or existing materials (e.g. toolkit, workshops, case studies) to implement, test or advise on handset ownership initiatives.
• Broker partnerships between different players in the mobile ecosystem that will help advance handset ownership.
• Lead the development of a dissemination strategy of insights and learnings on successful approaches to increasing handset ownership.
• Collaborate effectively across the GSMA at global and regional level.
• Manage a team to deliver the above.

About You

The right candidate will have strong experience and understanding of how to drive digital inclusion or underserved populations in low-and middle-income countries at scale. You will have:

• Strong commercial experience ideally within (or for) the telecoms, digital or fintech industry.
• Strong strategic and research capabilities in developing and assessing new business models.
• Experience working in emerging market contexts.
• Knowledge of key issues and barriers facing underserved populations, especially women.
• Experience establishing, managing and inspiring productive relationships across stakeholders.
• Strong written communication and presentation skills in English; French is a bonus.
• Experience managing a team, ideally across cultures.
• First-rate project management skills.
• Conscientious and creative with a can-do attitude.

Contract type

Fixed Term Contract (Fixed Term)

Worker type

Employee

What We Offer

Working at the GSMA offers you unparalleled access to the mobile industry. We provide a chance to shape the direction of mobile and work on global solutions. Our benefits include fantastic learning & development opportunities, generous holiday allowances, and additional days off for professional development.

We care deeply about diversity, equity and inclusivity. Your well-being and work/life balance are important, so flexi-time and remote working are available to all staff. We encourage applications from all demographics.

GSMA Values

Our values drive our culture and shape how we work. We are passionately driven, insightful leaders, and stronger together.

About Us

The GSMA is a global organisation unifying the mobile ecosystem to discover, develop and deliver innovation foundational to positive business environments and societal change.