Public Policy and Advocacy Manager, Mobile Money

Department: Mobile for Development

Team: Mobile Money

Location: Nairobi

Position type: Permanant

About the Team

The GSMA Mobile Money Programme works with mobile money providers to accelerate the availability of digital payment services to the underserved in developing countries. Through its work, the GSMA has supported the development of an industry that reaches 2.1 billion registered mobile money accounts and, in 2024, processed more than $1.68 trillion in transactions, providing much-needed digital financial services to underserved and marginalised communities where before there were none, underpinning poverty reduction, job creation, gender equality and the attainment of broader development goals

What the hiring manager says

As the Policy and Advocacy Manager, you'll join a dynamic and multi-talented global team spanning Africa, Europe, Asia, MENA, APAC, and Latin America. You'll be at the forefront of exciting debates that shape public policy in the financial sector. In this role, you’ll provide thought leadership in a fast-paced, rapidly evolving environment, working on innovative global solutions that create socio-economic impact for the underserved. Working with the GSMA offers you unparalleled access to the mobile industry and other key players in the digital financial ecosystem. We offer an exceptional opportunity to influence the future of mobile and digital financial services. At the GSMA, you'll engage with fascinating, industry-changing projects in a stimulating and dynamic environment, designed to help you thrive and succeed.

About the Role

• Developing and implementing creative, bold, and targeted policy engagement strategies to advance GSMA positions.
• Building and managing relationships with mobile money providers, financial regulators and other key stakeholders in order to identify strategic opportunities to provide support and develop initiatives that align with the programme’s core objectives.
• Coordinating closely with a large range of actors such as policy and advocacy managers, regional experts, and data analysts, both inside and outside of the GSMA.
• Participating in GSMA and partner events to share insights, promote resources, and reinforce GSMA’s position as a trusted thought leader.
• Convening and facilitating multi-stakeholder workshops or public-private dialogues.
• Identifying gaps in the capacity of mobile money providers to address regulatory barriers for the development of mobile money services and make recommendations for enabling reforms.
• Writing, reviewing and editing mobile money policy publications on a wide variety of subjects.
• Shaping GSMA’s Mobile Money advocacy efforts with relevant internal and external stakeholders.

About You

• Strong policy and/or government relations experience.
• Regulatory knowledge relevant to digital financial services.
• Track record of stakeholder coordination and advocacy across public and private sectors.
• Experience analysing the commercial implication of policies and designing advocacy campaigns.
• Strong strategic skillset for scaling digital financial services.
• Excellent stakeholder relationship management skills at an executive level.
• Ability to work in a matrixed structure, influence peers, and support cross-functional collaboration.
• Excellent cultural awareness for working with globally dispersed teams.
• Strong grasp of English for expressing complex issues in plain language.
• Charismatic public speaker, able to inspire and build relationships.
• Ability to handle pressing deadlines and ambiguity, innovate, and prioritise.
• Willingness to travel internationally.

Desirable

• Experience engaging with financial regulators.
• Experience working with mobile network operators.
• Fluency in French (oral and written).
• Understanding of legislative drafting and policy formulation.
• Experience in emerging markets.
• Knowledge of mobile money and financial services for the underserved.
• Familiarity with relevant policy contexts in key markets.

Contract type

Worker type

What We Offer

Working at the GSMA offers you unparalleled access to the mobile industry. We offer a chance to truly shape the direction of mobile, whatever your role. By joining the GSMA, you will be exposed to a fast-paced rapidly evolving environment, working on global solutions, genuinely fascinating and industry-changing projects and a stimulating and dynamic environment designed to enable you to flourish.

In addition to architect-designed offices and competitive compensation, our benefits include fantastic learning & development opportunities, generous holiday allowances, four additional days off for professional development and many others.

To learn more about the GSMA, visit our career site, our LinkedIn page and our Twitter page.

Being You at the GSMA

We care deeply about diversity, equity and inclusivity and aspire to be the best at it. Your well-being and work/life balance is important, so flexi-time and remote working is available to all staff. We're keen to ensure everyone is equal, represented and connected so we particularly encourage applications from all demographics. The sucess of the GSMA year on year will continue to be contributed by people from all walks of life.

GSMA Values

Our values not only drive our culture – they shape how we work and interact inside and outside our global organisation.

Passionately driven

We approach everything we do with unparalleled capability, tenacity and commitment, knowing that the challenging scale, pace and complexity of our work is what leads to its world-changing impact.

Insightful leaders

We continually develop and engage our expertise, insight and creativity so that we’re always ready to respond to the changing landscape with authority, agility and nuance.

Stronger together

We lean on each other so the industry can lean on us, embracing our diversity by actively seeking out perspectives and skill sets beyond our own, fuelling each other’s successes and constantly asking how we can help.

Underpinning our values is our collective mindset to show up purposefully as good human beings every day, in every situation. When we’re at our best – we are collaborative, considerate and compassionate to others, and we create a safe space for one another to thrive, assuming positive intent in our colleagues. And if we aren’t at our best and the pressure is on – we feel free to be ourselves but still remain curious, lean into the tough stuff and we are always respectful to others and accountable for the part we play.