Senior Marketing Manager

Our mission

We're making Africa the first cashless continent.

In 2017, over half the population in Sub-Saharan Africa had no bank account. That's for good reason-the fees are too high, the closest branch can be miles away, and nobody takes cards. Without access to financial institutions, people are forced to keep their savings under the mattress. Small business owners rely on lenders who charge extortionate rates. Parents spend hours waiting in line to pay school fees in cash.

We're solving this by building financial services that just work: no account fees, instantly available, and accepted everywhere. In places where electricity, water and roads don't always work, you can still send money with Wave. In 2017, we launched a mobile app in Senegal for cash deposit, withdrawal, and peer-to-peer and business payments. Now, we have millions of users across 9 countries and are growing fast.

Our goal is to make Africa the first cashless continent and that's where you come in...

How you'll help us achieve it

As Wave continues to grow in Côte d’Ivoire, we’re looking for a Senior Marketing Manager who can turn a deep understanding of the market into meaningful action. You’ll be at the intersection of insight and influence: understanding what consumers, competitors, and the market are telling us, while building the partnerships and sponsorships that strengthen Wave’s presence and relevance in Côte d’Ivoire.

Reporting to the Head of Marketing, Côte d’Ivoire, this is an individual contributor role with ownership of two complementary pillars: Market Intelligence & Consumer Insights and Sponsoring & Brand Partnerships. You’ll bring analytical rigour, strategic thinking, and strong execution to both, using insights to guide where we invest and partnerships to make Wave matter in the moments that count.

In this role, you'll; 

Market Intelligence & Consumer Insights

• Own the market intelligence agenda for Côte d'Ivoire: design and manage local research initiatives - consumer surveys, usage and attitude studies, competitor tracking, and category analyses - working with external research agencies and vendors to produce insights that are actionable, not just informative.
• Synthesise data from multiple sources (internal dashboards, market data, field findings, qualitative research) into clear, structured recommendations that help the team make sharper decisions about where and how Wave invests its marketing effort in CI.
• Be the team's go-to person on consumer behaviour and business dynamics in Côte d'Ivoire: track trends, flag market shifts, and proactively surface insights that could shape our positioning, messaging, or activation choices - before someone asks.
• Build a working knowledge of our marketing performance data: comfortable navigating BI tools and dashboards, able to extract and analyse data independently, and translate numbers into narratives that inform strategy.
• Brief and manage research suppliers rigorously: write clear research briefs, evaluate methodologies, challenge findings where needed, and ensure the quality of outputs meets Wave's standards.

Sponsoring & Brand Partnerships

• Develop and execute Wave's sponsoring strategy for Côte d'Ivoire: identify the right properties (sports, culture, community, trade events), assess strategic fit against market intelligence, and lead negotiations and contract management end-to-end.
• Maximise the impact of every sponsorship: ensure each property delivers both above-the-line (ATL) visibility - broadcast, outdoor, media mentions - and meaningful below-the-line (BTL) activation on the ground, so Wave's presence is seen, felt, and remembered.
• Build and manage a portfolio of brand partnerships aligned with Wave's positioning in CI, tracking performance and ROI with the same rigour applied to the intelligence pillar.
• Work hand-in-hand with global brand, growth, and in-country commercial teams to ensure sponsorships and partnerships are integrated into Wave's broader presence in the market - without duplicating remits.
• Drive complex cross-functional initiatives by building structured action plans, coordinating internal and external stakeholders, tracking progress, removing blockers, and ensuring timely execution against business objectives.

Key details

• Location: Abidjan
• Work authorization in Côte d'Ivoire is required. 
• This is a permanent position.
• Our salaries are competitive and calculated using a transparent formula. 
• We offer generous health insurance for yourself and your dependents. 
• We support working parents - we offer generous parental leave policies (26 weeks for mothers and 4 weeks for fathers) and subsidized childcare when you return to work.
• We help you live your fullest life now! We subsidize gym memberships and fitness classes.
• Airtime reimbursement.
• Free food and a beautiful office space.

Requirements

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Marketing, Business, Statistics, Economics, or a related field.
• At least 8+ years of relevant marketing experience, with a track record that spans both analytical and strategic work.
• Strong data and analytical skills: able to work with BI tools and dashboards, extract and interpret marketing data independently, and build clear, evidence-based recommendations. Comfortable with numbers - this is non-negotiable.
• Proven experience managing market research initiatives: able to design research briefs, select and manage external agencies, and synthesise findings into strategic insights.
• Experience building and managing sponsorship or brand partnership portfolios - from identifying opportunities and negotiating terms to activating and measuring impact.
• Clear understanding of how to extract ATL and BTL value from sponsorships: media visibility, on-ground activation, audience engagement.
• Ability to work cross-functionally in a complex organisation - confident collaborating with global and local teams and clear about where own remit begins and ends.
• Excellent project management skills: able to handle multiple workstreams simultaneously with rigour and reliability.
• Strong communication and storytelling skills: able to present data and insights in a way that is clear, compelling, and drives decisions.
• Experience working with external agencies and research suppliers.
• Fluent in French and English.

You might be a good fit if you

• Are genuinely excited by data and treat it as the starting point for every decision, not an afterthought.
• Have deep knowledge of Côte d'Ivoire's consumer landscape, market dynamics, and media ecosystem.
• Are equally strong in a spreadsheet and in a partnership negotiation, you don't see those as separate worlds.
• Know how to commission and challenge research: you don't just accept what an agency delivers, you push for rigour and relevance.
• Are comfortable owning your scope as an individual contributor , you don't need a team below you to deliver impact.
• Have experience in mobile money, fintech, telecom, FMCG, or a strategy/research consultancy with a strong West Africa practice.
• Are organised, precise, and thrive in an environment that moves fast and values evidence over instinct.
• Are a collaborative partner who knows how to work with global teams while staying grounded in local realities.

Our team

• We have a rapidly growing in-country team in Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Uganda, Niger, Sierra Leone, and Cameroon plus remote team members spread across the world.
• We're deeply passionate about our mission of bringing radically affordable financial services to the people who need them most.
• We foster autonomy for our employees. You'll own your projects at every stage, from understanding the problem to monitoring your solution in production.
• We raised the largest Series A in Africa in 2021. Our world-class investors, include Founders Fund, Sequoia Heritage, Stripe, Ribbit Capital, Y Combinator, and Partech Africa.
• We are on  Y Combinator's top companies by revenue.

How to apply

Fill out the form below, and upload a resume in English and a cover letter describing your interest in Wave and the role.

We review applications frequently and recommend that you apply to the role that most closely aligns with your skills, experience and career goals.

Wave is an equal-opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.