Copia Global

Chief Marketing Officer

Nairobi, Kenya

OUR COMPANY

Copia Global is a for-profit,catalog order and delivery service for the peri-urban and rural populations of the developing world. By making accessible a wide range of trusted, reliable consumer goods - from rice to motorcycles, from mattresses to hammers, from soap to solar lights - Copia improves the quality of life for consumers at the economic Base of the Pyramid.

Just as the Sears catalog revolutionized life in the pioneer days of the United States, Fedex revolutionized distribution and Amazon revolutionized life in the internet age, Copia is similarly creating a whole new medium to reach low income consumers.

With $5T of annual income, the peri-urban and rural populations of the developing world represent a huge untapped market opportunity. These populations remain underserved with no trusted, affordable access to reliable, basic necessities. Using mobile technologies and the internet, Copia Globalcan connect hundreds of millions of the world’s population with the global economy, thereby enhancing their lives.

Copia was founded in 2012 by social entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and started its first operation in Kenya. The Company now has a network of 80 Copia Agents who are small shopkeepers in villages surrounding Nairobi. They share the Copiae-catalog with their customers, place customer orders via mobile phone and receive a commission on every sale.Copia'sfleet of trucks deliver customer orders to the agents' shops for customer pick up within 48 hours.

Please see to learn more.

THE POSITION

Got early stage entrepreneurial energy? Ready for a muddy boots experience? Want to build the next Amazon on the new frontier?Based in Nairobi, Kenya and reporting to Copia’s CEO, the Chief Marketing Officer willbe responsible for the top line growth of the business by leading the company’s Merchandising, Marketing and Sales efforts. You will work alongside the CEO and COO to build the Company’s long-term vision. You will be directly responsible for creating and leading a high performing Merchandising, Marketing and Sales team that drivesgrowth of this early stage company.

PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The ideal candidate has extensive experience in: buying, sourcing, negotiating, merchandising, consumer marketing, sales management and team management.

Specific responsibilities include the following:

  • Building, leading and motivating a high performing Merchandising, Marketing and Sales staff to enable short and long term growth.
  • Work closely with CEO and COO to create and execute againstCopia’s long-term vision
  • Become the world expert on Base of the Pyramid consumer behavior
  • Understand, analyze and anticipate competitive landscapeand potential impacts on Copia
  • Create a profitable merchandising strategy with accountability for product selection and planning
  • Oversee Merchandising P&L by managing day-to-day operations and lead all merchandising functions including assortment planning, inventory management and manufacture partnerships and negotiations.
  • Create and implementa comprehensive marketing and communications strategy to facilitate growth in a multi-channel environment.
  • Manage sales by ensuringCopia agents (Point of Sales partners) are maximizing their financial performance
  • Develop and execute Copia Agent growth strategies:identify andleadsuccessful roll-out to new markets.

QUALIFICATIONS

This position requires excellent communication, interpersonal and organizational skills as well as strong relevant experiences in general management. It is essential you are results driven, have a good business sense and can work in an unstructured environment. You should not only possess the strategic leadership of a business professional but the creative problem solving abilities of an entrepreneur, and the desire to roll up your sleeves in the start-up stage of a company’s development.

The ideal candidate is a transformational merchandising or marketing executive with the necessary experience to strengthen the market position and brand recognition of the Company through innovative merchandising and marketing tactics.The CMOhas a track record of brand development, product promotion, product planning, pricing, and team management.S/he will provide leadership on new opportunities to grow the business and be flexible in the fast changing environment of a start-up business in a developing country context.

In addition, the CMO should demonstrate the following expertise:

Building and Leading Teams

Proven track record of assessing, recruiting, managing, motivating and developing teams that are able to deliver superior results. Align the team to execute in the most efficient manner of successfully executing strategy. Approach team management through inspiring communication, empowered delegation and individual accountability. Manage team performance against focused business objectives and setting attractive incentives. Make difficult talent decisions to improve team performance.

Determining Purpose & Vision

Ability to work with the board, CEO, COO and staff to seta clear and compelling vision. Additionally, s/he must have a track record of creating a clear mission that determines how the vision will be achieved.

Driving Results

Possess an extensive and distinctive record of setting and then exceeding compelling and aggressive goals. Successful candidates must have experience setting growth goals for sales, margin and brand development and have lead teams to exceed those goals. The CMO must have far reaching ambitions for the enterprise.

COMPENSATION

Compensation will be in the form of a base salary commensurate with experience, significant equity and a performance-based bonus.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Please submit your resume along with a cover letter in the form of a detailed email explaining your interest in the position toTracey Turner (.)