Chief Wholesale Officer Wholesale and Carrier Services at MTN, Johannesburg, South Africa

•To provide strategic and operational leadership to the Wholesale business unit. The Wholesale Business Unit provides a broad range of wholesale services to the SA and international market, including Carrier Services (Voice, roaming, messaging) managed infrastructure (transmission, towers) and strategic managed network service contracts with other SA based MNO’s

• To ensure operational performance of the business unit by developing and delivering strategy, appropriately resourcing, and leading the Wholesale team, whilst pursuing and negotiating complex network outsource deals

• To provide the SA interface and leverage SA assets for the benefit of the broader group Global Connect strategy

Responsibilities

Financial Perspective (20%)

•Develop and manage the Wholesale budget in line with business objectives . Assess resource requirements for the unit and regularly monitor resources ensuring they are allocated and utilized in a cost effective and financially disciplined manner and in line with budget provisions

•Develop and manage project initiative budgets in line with business objectives of approximately R10bn

•Negotiate infrastructure deals in excess of R10b value

•Oversee the negotiation of commercial terms for complex strategic network deals and ensure this is in line with MTN Group and SA strategy

•Oversee pricing strategy for brand product range

•Ensure that the Opex intensity and Capex intensity of the broader SA Opco is optimised through strategic network deals

•Champion/Sponsor review of Business Processes (headcount, process optimization, business optimization etc), to drive efficiency gains to ensure at least 5% reduction in Divisional budget year-on-year

•Champion Contract negotiations to reduce cost and drive MTNSA Value Creation Philosophy

•Identify viable business opportunities and trends with strong supporting business case imperative to outputs, strategic business and industry-related research and analysis

Customer Perspective (15%)

•Manage all projects and initiatives .Review key risks, issues and dependencies and set mitigation actions. Sign-off / make decisions regarding tactical changes

•Manage and resolve issues that will result in severe time, scope, productivity and cost or resource impact. Resolve and provide guidance to issues escalated

•Develop strategies and champion customer centric culture across the organization and develop/reform relationships with MTNSA’s internal and external customers to transform the MTNSA’s revenue

•Drive planned strategy for the successful delivery of MTN Group and MTNSA transformation initiatives focusing on Customer centricity, including Perfect 10 Project

Stakeholder Perspective (20%)

•Manage and build appropriate, strategic stakeholder relationships with other licensed operators

•Ensure relationships with partners are maintained and contracts are adhered to

•Identify and engage a diverse range of influential contacts within stakeholder and community groups, and partner organisations

•Oversee the building of alliances to establish mutually beneficial working arrangements with partners

•Oversee the development of a dedicated team managing commercial relationships across the telecoms industry, both in SA and internationally

Internal Perspective (20%)

•Develop managed network services strategy and opportunities to ensure delivery on revenue, cost improvement, economies of scale and business enabling targets, aligned to industry best practice, MTN Group and MTN SA

•Hold strategic meetings, ensure relevant participation and provide guidance and support in the various discussions

•Drive adequate risk mitigation and controls, and elicit inputs from relevant parties

•Monitor performance against business plans (i.e., business plan tracking) as well as alignment with MTN global strategy and industry best practices

•Review performance of MNS products and services portfolio and contracts against forecasts and agreed key performance indicators (KPI’s) and review service level agreements

•Identify and evaluate MNS business opportunities and provide necessary support to drive performance against business plan targets

People (Learning & Growth) Perspective (15%)

•Provide leadership and direction in Wholesale, leading the team to deliver on respective business targets and improve the overall performance of the department

•Continuously seek self-professional development to sharpen skills and capabilities in a versatile and evolving digital landscape

•Coach and mentor the Wholesale team to ensure understanding of the objectives and goals of the department, awareness of all related job requirements and accountabilities and leverage human resources career development programs for staff career development

•Identify, evaluate and track the development needs and performance of staff within the department, providing opportunities for staff to build on the company’s investment in their training and improve productivity

•Review the performance of individual team members and complete appraisals in accordance with the employee performance appraisal procedures and time schedules

•Develop and focus the Wholesale team and build a workable succession plan and talent pipeline in line with business strategic objectives

•Ensure open communication channels with staff and implement change management interventions where necessary

•Ensure knowledge transfer through the implementation of a knowledge transfer plan and drive continuous improvement philosophy through the knowledge transfer plan

Qualifications

Education

•Minimum 4 year Engineering Technology or business-related degree

•MBA or Masters in relevant field of study (Preferred)

Experience

Min 15 years of relevant work experience in the telecoms market, with specific experience of wholesale (carrier services), mobile infrastructure or related field

•Experience of mobile network infrastructure, commercial arrangements, and complex negotiations

•Experience of regulatory and spectrum related issues

•Experience in design and deployment of network sharing technologies

•Chief leadership track record of 5 years or more, with at least 3 years in relevant sector / industry

•Experience in Global Managed Network Services technology and market trends