General Manager - Business Development, Digital Services at MTN Nigeria

MTN Nigeria is part of the MTN Group, Africa\'s leading cellular telecommunications company. On May 16, 2001, MTN became the first GSM network to make a call following the globally lauded Nigerian GSM auction conducted by the Nigerian Communications Commission earlier in the year. Thereafter the company launched full commercial operations beginning with Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. MTN paid $285m for one of four GSM licenses in Nigeria in January 2001. To date, in excess of US$1.8 billion has been invested building mobile telecommunications infrastructure in Nigeria. Since launch in August 2001, MTN has steadily deployed its services across Nigeria. It now provides services in 223 cities and towns, more than 10,000 villages and communities and a growing number of highways across the country, spanning the 36 states of the Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Many of these villages and communities are being connected to the world of telecommunications for the first time ever. The company\'s digital microwave transmission backbone, the 3,400 Kilometre Y\'elloBahn was commissioned by President Olusegun Obasanjo in January 2003 and is reputed to be the most extensive digital microwave transmission infrastructure in all of Africa. The Y\'elloBahn has significantly helped to enhance call quality on MTN network.

Job Identification: 5269

Mission

• Define and monitor the implementation of Digital Services’ ecosystem, partnership, product, and service development strategies to acquire customers and grow revenues in alignment with MTNN’s business strategy and market requirements.

Description

• In alignment with MTNN's business objectives and market demands, use old and new technologies to design, build, manage, and develop a compelling and innovative digital services ecosystem (apps (gaming, music, video, podcasts), partners, platforms, products, services, and systems) that will allow MTNN to acquire customers, grow revenues, and lead the market across multiple customer and market segments.
• Establish the short, medium, and long-term road map for MTNN’s application, ecosystem, partner, platform, product, and service technology in alignment with MTNN’s business strategy.
• Develop and monitor the implementation of tactical plans – including but not limited to enhanced/new business models, business requirements, features, functionalities, partnerships, products, and services.
• Negotiate and manage partnerships with OEMs and platform providers with the objective of driving revenue growth and profitability.
• Collaborate closely with the Digital Business Growth team to define, drive, and monitor the design, documentation, development, implementation, testing, launch, management, review, and ongoing support of applications, ecosystem elements, partnerships, platforms, products, and services for multiple customer segments.
• Oversee the end-to-end telco, mobile and web applications development lifecycle, from ideation to deployment, ensuring that all features and processes are optimized for efficiency and quality.
• Define relevant metrics and measures to routinely monitor progress against targets and take appropriate managerial action to ensure targets are met or exceeded.
• Identify business risks and critical issues and determine appropriate risk mitigation plans covering a short- to long-term timeline
• Develop a framework to understand competition(s) and provide solutions to react to competitive threats while monitoring the local and international environment to identify new applications, ecosystem elements, partnerships, platforms, products, and service opportunities.
• Monitor and review resources to ensure that they are allocated and utilized in a cost-effective and financially disciplined manner in line with Digital Services’ budget provisions
• Interrogate and understand customer (expectations, needs, and priorities), product/service features, growth areas, markets, and trends about existing digital platforms, products, and services to identify new business opportunities.
• Integrate into a telecom ecosystem and optimise a wide variety of rich media services, including various applications, video streaming, mobile and console gaming, music streaming, lotteries, and betting to drive customer engagement and revenue.
• Lead the design, development, launch and ongoing management of digital apps, products, and services, ensuring intuitive and seamless customer experiences and adherence to industry best practices
• Define the technology strategy and roadmap for Digital Services in line with MTNN’s overarching business goals
• Regularly review the technology strategy and roadmap to ensure its alignment with the changing dynamics of the internal and external ecosystem by providing direction, structure, frameworks, models, plans, and roadmaps.
• Develop consistent, efficient, relevant, and standard policies, processes, and procedures for implementing and optimizing Digital Services partnerships, platforms, products and services.
• Champion the review of business processes (headcount, process optimization, business optimization etc.) to drive efficiency gains to ensure at least a 5% reduction in MTNN’s budget year-on-year.
• Identify and fulfil the expectations, needs, and priorities of key internal stakeholders, e.g., CEX, CRX, CSS, EB, Finance, Foundation, HR, IT, Marketing, Networks, Risk & Compliance, and S&D from partnerships, platforms, products, and services perspective.
• Develop an intra-divisional Internal Stakeholder Engagement Strategy which includes but is not limited to the rationale for regular engagements (cross-functional meetings, sessions, and workshops), engagement format, communication plan, implementation plan, monitoring and review plan, performance metrics.
• Ensure that the Digital Business Development team provides accurate, current, data-driven, relevant, and understandable analysis, FAQs, information, and reports – including but not limited to competitive intelligence, impacting trends, KPI performance indicators and data, the status of crucial departmental activities and resources, and weekly performance reports – as may be required to guide management decisions and support the business planning process.
• Work with the General Manager, Business Growth to develop and monitor the implementation of:
  • Application, partnership, platform, product, and service strategies that exceed identified/evolving customer expectations, needs, and priorities
  • Strategic and tactical growth plans, including new business models, applications, partnerships, content, and services.
  • Application/product/service withdrawal, ensuring that alternative solutions are available to customers, properly planning a migration path to alternative services, and communicating changes effectively with a limited impact on revenues and subscriptions
  • Updated product and service technology roadmap for Digital Services
• Monitor and improve MTNN’s NPS related to applications, partnerships, platforms, products, and services
• Promote a customer-focused culture in Digital Services
• Drive differentiation through better customer experiences and digital channel transformation to create new routes to market and ensure that services/products are easily accessible to customers
• Evaluate and refine product and ecosystem development policies, processes and procedures to enhance productivity, reduce bottlenecks, and ensure the delivery of high-quality telco-based apps, content, and services
• Nurture and manage relationships with external and internal ecosystem partners (including but not limited to content creators, device manufacturers, suppliers, technology providers, and vendors), negotiate agreements, optimise partnerships, improve products, and identify opportunities for collaboration and growth
• Champion external and internal stakeholder engagement strategies, including but not limited to the rationale for regular engagements (cross-functional meetings, sessions, and workshops), engagement format, communication plan, implementation plan, monitoring and review plan, and performance metrics
• Enhance/expand MTNN's role in the larger national macro-environment by representing the division and the company at industry events and with key stakeholders and contributing to/participating in CSR projects, NGOs, recognised professional institutions, think tanks, etc
• Collaborate with external and internal stakeholders to improve their processes, in turn, improve the efficiency of MTNN's operations and accelerate MTNN's leadership in the Nigerian ICT/Digital industry
• Drive MTNN’s Cultural Operating System and refreshed values required to improve business performance
• Continuously seek self-professional development to sharpen skills and capabilities in a versatile and evolving digital landscape
• Identify, evaluate, and track the development needs and performance of staff, providing opportunities for staff to build on the company’s investment in their training and improve productivity
• Contribute to the growth, satisfaction, and well-being of the team and the development of a team culture focused on growth, innovation, and stakeholder management
• Stay abreast of and share information about new and existing regulatory policies, digital, industry, marketplace, and platform trends with the team
• Develop and implement a knowledge transfer plan for Digital Services to drive continuous improvement.

Requirements
Education:

• A First Degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or any related discipline
• MSC/MBA qualification in a related field
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint, and Word)
• Certifications in digital ecosystems, emerging technologies and product ownership/development are advantages
• Fluent in English.

Experience:
A minimum of twelve (12) years in a global/multinational enterprise, and an understanding of emerging markets which should include:

• 5 years in a strategic role within a large organization 
• At least 2 years of digital products development experience 
• Experience at the senior management level in Information Technology, OTT, or telecommunications will be an advantage.
• Experience in product development, product life cycle management, and product performance evaluation.
• Some experience in customer service and partner/relationship management will be useful.
• A detailed understanding of the digital ecosystem, players, business models and industry-related best practices with experience working in a digital environment.
• A track record of developing a communication strategy, building relationships across teams and key stakeholders to achieve goals.
• Excellent communication, interpersonal, and writing skills; Advanced ability to build strong working relationships across the organization, influence stakeholders, and work as part of a cross-functional team.

Method of Application