Our business
Our business consists of three main areas – Commercial, Technology & IT and Support Functions. Depending on the current opportunities available and your personal preference, you may be suited to a career in one of these business functions.
Here is a little more information about each of our business functions:
Commercial
The commercial function is the ‘front end’ of our business – the engine of growth.
While products and services are generic to most telecommunication service providers, Expresso differentiates itself by taking a customer perspective in all the markets in which we operate. We seek to truly understand what challenges and opportunities face these economies, and translate this into creative ideas and solutions for customers in our markets.
There are three distinct teams of people in our commercial function:
- Marketing
The marketing team are focused on the customer and are responsible for all the material that is seen, read and heard. By understanding and talking to customers, they are responsible for making sure we get to know them personally!
From designing our SIM cards, packaging, television and radio advertisements to organising community events, they make sure we are all on the same page with effective and cohesive communication plans.
The products and proposition team are the brains behind all of our new products and services. Their job is to bring new and exciting ways for people to connect with each other and the world around them. It is their job to develop products and services to make our customers lives better.
Market insights are critical to our marketing function. We have a small team that constantly analyses customer trends and usage data; they try to work out what people want and how we can deliver more. Their insights form the basis of lots of decisions we make at Expresso. - Sales & distribution
The sales and distribution people have the closest interaction with our customers. They are ones who sell all of our products and services, from our SIM cards and mobile phones to our dongles that deliver data services.
We either deliver our great products and services directly to our customers through our own shops and agencies, or through our network of distribution partners. But of course, we would always like to be distributing more of our wonderful products and services. - Customer care
Quite simply, our customer care teams look after our customers. Customer care teams help our customers find the right product or service, create new accounts or help our customers with a problem they may be experiencing with our service. Whatever it may be, our values come into play every time our people come into contact with our customers, whether that’s face-to-face or over the phone.
Commitment to serving our customers promptly and effectively is key – we want to be known as a responsive service provider. We also want to be known as a provider which is transparent; constantly doing everything we can to earn our customers’ trust and loyalty.
We recognise that great customer service builds customer loyalty and hence a long-term, sustainable business. Maintaining and enhancing the customer experience is a core focus for Expresso.
If you’re commercially minded, have a flair for communication, are passionate about building a brand, dedicated to serving and engaging customers, and endlessly curious about what makes people buy our products and services, then you may want to join our commercial function.
Technology & IT
Technology & IT is the nerve centre of Expresso – delivering technology development, systems support and telecoms operations. They provide our business the technology and IT support and thought leadership to compete in our markets.
The biggest challenge facing the Technology & IT function is harnessing the awesome power of technology to Expresso’s need for innovation. We recognise and embrace it, creating an environment that bridges commercial opportunities with the latest research and academic insights.
There are effectively two teams within this function:
- Networks
If you love talking about transmission, switching, radio planning, microwaves and satellites, or want to manage large infrastructure projects, then this team is the right place for you.
Our engineers work with our strategic partners to design, build and operate our high performing networks. We have tremendous experience in rolling out and launching CDMA and 3G networks in our markets. We are in a unique position where we actually manage both CDMA and 3G networks in two of our key markets – Senegal and Mauritania.
It goes without saying that this team is at the heart of technical expertise and innovation. With recent discussions around the introduction of LTE (4G) technology, landing of submarine cables in some of our key markets, this area of our organisation is entering its most exciting phase yet.
You must possess an ability to anticipate changes in technology and the way people may want to use it to be successful in this team. - IT
The IT team provides everyone at Expresso with the tools they need to do a fantastic job. They are responsible for ensuring that everything works: our computers and laptops, the servers, our email and our phones.
They will often work with the network team to ensure new services are delivered in an integrated manner or develop billing systems that makes it easier for our customers to pay their bills or top-up their accounts.
The IT team is also responsible for developing systems that allow us to do business better and keep us ahead of the competition – this is central to our corporate strategy.
The market insight team works very closely with the IT team, they are dependent on the IT team to provide all of the data they need to analyse customer trends and usage – a critical link with the commercial function.
If you love everything IT related and are a great project manager, then you may want to consider joining this team. You will need loads of motivation and because things change so quickly, you need to be flexible about what you do.
Support functions
Without strong foundations, the best structure would soon collapse. Our support functions are the glue that holds Expresso together. Support functions underpin our operations with infrastructure that is critical to our strategic objectives.
You can access a wealth of fascinating careers in which to specialise; each demands the highest personal integrity, strategic thinking and the ability to create synergies on which strong relationships can depend.
Here is a brief summary of the different areas within our operational infrastructure:
- Finance
Our organisation and external stakeholders depend on the Finance team to prepare timely, accurate information and insightful, strategic business analysis.
The Finance team acts with integrity and ensures effective control of the Group’s balance sheet and profit and loss account through independent assessment of budgets, financial reports, system development and product accounting.
Our forward-looking analysis also supports the development of business strategy and investment decisions.
To succeed in our Finance team, you should share our desire to influence the company’s financial outcomes. You should possess strong numeracy, analytical and communication skills. You should also be a strategic thinker with a strong sense of responsibility, discipline and teamwork. - Strategy & Business Transformation
Strategy and business transformation is where the future direction of Expresso is set and executed.
Our strategy team identifies organic and inorganic growth opportunities, develops investment plans and the roadmap to achieve our strategic intent.
The business transformation team makes it happen. Our business transformation methodology is underpinned by the principles of building best in class business capabilities within people, processes and technology at Group level and helping to deploy these capabilities on the ground to generate superior value for our customers.
If you have the talent to make things happen by translating strategies into actionable plans and you are passionate about building consensus, and leading organisational change, you will thoroughly enjoy the ride on our transformation journey. - Human Resources
HR plays a pivotal role in helping Expresso achieve its strategic ambitions. It is focused on driving business performance by enabling individuals to make a difference and teams to win. We encourage and expect high performance.
HR delivers the biggest competitive advantage on which Expresso depends: our people. It attracts, nurtures and enables our talented people to create sustained high performance through engagement, structured learning and development and mentoring.
Expresso is set to grow at an unprecedented rate over the next five years, and HR will play a critical role in that growth – advising, preparing and helping the business to shape the future. You will be a part of creating simple, scalable and sustainable HR solutions to meet the growing needs of our business.
If you’re a strategic thinker with lots of motivation, focused on getting the job done, and want to use your talent in a function that is central to business performance, consider a role in HR. - Legal & compliance
Expresso is a dynamic and complex international telecommunications service provider: we operate in countries with their own regulatory and legal framework.
The Legal & compliance team plays a critical role in ensuring we comply with all of the laws and regulations, which in turn ensures that we keep our telecommunication licences.
To be an innovative and responsive partner to our customers, we must be exceptional in understanding, managing and navigating the compliance requirements of the countries in which we operate. Our Legal & compliance team is at the heart of this approach.
The Legal & compliance team is also the driving force behind the ethics of our organisation. Our aim is to promote ethical behaviour so that we are known in our markets as a company that does business with honesty and integrity.
You should have a relentless willingness to learn, be a very good communicator and be a team player. Above all you must represent Expresso’s core values – responsive, transparent, inclusive, evolving and connecting. - Corporate Affairs
One of our most valuable assets is our reputation. If customers, investors, employees and other stakeholders do not trust us, we cannot achieve our aim of being a top brand in Africa.
The Corporate Affairs function is the custodian of Expresso’s reputation. This team is responsible for ensuring we communicate clearly, truthfully and consistently across our markets and stakeholders. They manage the relationships with the media, investors, employees, governments and regulators. It is also responsible for Expresso’s brand and corporate social responsibility activities.
No day is ever the same. You could be writing a speech for the CEO, promoting sponsorship programmes, working on a communication for an acquisition, drafting a policy on ethical matters, or responding to an unexpected event.
This is an exciting and demanding role that requires exceptional communication skills to present complex issues clearly and concisely, and often to very strict deadlines. It requires you to be highly organised, focused and disciplined.
