Senior Manager - Retail & Logistics

Role Summary

You have built operational excellence, optimized systems, and managed complexity. Now, you have the opportunity to build operations that directly unlock economic opportunity for millions across Africa.

M-KOPA has grown from 5 million to 7 million customers in the past year, unlocking over $2 billion in credit. 86% of customers report improved quality of life, 70% use products for income generation, and for 55% it is their first access to smartphones, solar systems, or financing.

Behind these numbers is a massive operational machine: 2,300+ employees, 35,000 agents, 2 million smartphones assembled in Kenya, and 4,000+ e-motorbikes saving riders $5.62 daily. The company has contributed $45 million in taxes and is building the infrastructure for Africa's digital economy.

We are now scaling to 10 million customers. This role is not about filling gaps but building the operational infrastructure for our next growth phase in Uganda, a critical growth market.

What Makes This Role Different

Most retail and logistics roles maintain existing operations. This role designs the retail network enabling financial inclusion at scale, builds logistics systems for markets without traditional infrastructure, and creates customer service operations that turn first-time smartphone users into economically empowered entrepreneurs.

You will architect the physical and operational backbone that enables 86% customer satisfaction in some of Africa's most challenging operating environments.

Your Impact

You will own end-to-end retail and logistics operations across Uganda, managing warehouse operations, service center excellence, and phone repair turnaround times.

Oversee inventory management for thousands of devices across multiple retail outlets, ensuring stock visibility accurate enough to support daily sales allocations.

Coordinate with OEM and third-party repair partners globally to reduce phone servicing turnaround times, directly impacting customer experience for people dependent on these devices for their livelihoods.

Analyze Fresh Desk ticket backlogs and implement training programs that help shop attendants troubleshoot device issues faster and more accurately, reducing no-fault-found returns.

Build systems for future growth: evaluate which retail outlets should expand, determine new location openings, scale logistics operations to support geographic growth, and optimize the retail network as integrated sales and customer support hubs.

Manage budgets, coordinate third-party partnerships, ensure branding execution, conduct field audits, and continuously improve processes that directly enable customer satisfaction and revenue growth.

What You Need to Succeed

Extensive progressive experience in operational management with demonstrable success building and scaling retail, logistics, or service operations in complex, multi-location environments. You have managed inventory systems, reverse logistics, service center operations, and third-party partnerships.

Proven leadership experience managing both field-based operational teams and desk-based resources, with a track record of driving coordination, prioritization, and effectiveness across distributed retail functions. You balance strategic planning with hands-on execution.

Strong analytical foundation with proficiency in data visualization systems such as Looker or similar. Demonstrated ability to use data for cost-effective decision-making, ROI analysis, KPI monitoring, and trend interpretation that drives operational improvements.

The Reality Check

This role is demanding. You will build systems while running operations, manage budgets, people, partners, and processes simultaneously. You must think strategically about scaling to 10 million customers while solving today's operational challenges.

You will coordinate across functions, working closely with sales, marketing, device teams, and global OEM partners. If you have been optimizing someone else's operations and thinking you could build better from the ground up, this is your opportunity.

What Success Looks Like

In six months: reduced phone servicing turnaround times, improved stock visibility accuracy, and implemented training programs that measurably improve diagnostic accuracy.

In one year: scaled retail operations to support new geographic expansion while maintaining operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.

In two years: built the operational infrastructure that enables Uganda to double its customer base, directly enabling financial inclusion for people who have never had access before.