Head of Commerce at Strivo Labs

Role Summary

• The Head of Commerce at Strivo Labs is a strategic and execution-driven leader responsible for building, scaling, and optimising all commerce, marketplace, and revenue-driving systems across the company.
• They will lead the commercial strategy for Strivo’s products—including e-commerce solutions, digital services, SaaS platforms (including OmniDial), fintech-style payment journeys, talent placement commerce, and B2B digital infrastructure.
• This role blends e-commerce leadership, commercial strategy, product growth, financial services understanding, and tech-driven business scaling.

Responsibilities
Commercial Leadership & Strategy:

• Develop and execute Strivo Labs’ overarching commerce strategy across digital products, e-commerce services, SaaS offerings, and partner channels.
• Build a long-term revenue roadmap aligned with the MD’s vision and the board’s targets.
• Lead pricing strategies, monetisation frameworks, and commercial models (subscriptions, transaction-based, marketplace fees, enterprise licensing).
• Identify new revenue verticals and business opportunities across Africa and the diaspora.

E-commerce & Marketplace Management:

• Oversee development and optimisation of client platform systems.
• Lead marketplace operations including vendor acquisition, onboarding, category management, pricing, logistics partnerships, and customer experience.
• Drive user growth, conversion optimisation, and repeat transactions.
• Implement marketplace KPIs such as GMV, AOV, LTV, CAC payback, and churn.

Tech-Driven Product Commercialisation:

• Work closely with Engineering, Product, and Operations to bring new commerce features to market (payments, checkout flows, vendor dashboards, subscription engines, etc.).
• Ensure efficient go-to-market for Strivo OmniDial, Strivo CRM, automation suites, business portals, talent platforms, and digital services.
• Collaborate with Product to align roadmaps with commercial opportunities and customer needs.

Financial Services & Payment Ecosystem:

• Oversee financial integrations including payment gateways, settlement flows, wallet systems, invoicing, credit/loan features, and billing automation.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements for financial transactions and data protection.
• Strengthen partnerships with banks, PSPs, credit scoring partners, and fintech APIs.
• Build risk management frameworks to reduce payment failures, fraud, chargebacks, and revenue leakages.

Growth, Sales & Business Development:

• Build and lead the sales pipeline for enterprise clients, SMEs, and digital partners.
• Drive B2B adoption of Strivo’s solutions (automation, digital transformation, CRM, omnichannel support, talent services).
• Develop key account management processes for high-value clients.
• Work with Marketing & Growth to create demand-generation strategies, funnels, and campaigns.

Partner Ecosystem & Integrations:

• Acquire and manage strategic partnerships with logistics providers, fintech APIs, telcos, data providers, and technology vendors.
• Oversee API-driven partnerships for commerce expansion (payment rails, identity verification, CRM integrations, etc.).
• Build channel partner programmes for resellers, consultants, and digital agencies.

Data & Performance Management:

• Build a robust data-driven decision-making framework.
• Lead reporting for revenue performance, forecasting, P&L, marketplace metrics, platform usage, and acquisition analytics.
• Implement dashboards to track commercial health across all Strivo divisions.

Team Leadership & Cross-Functional Collaboration:

• Recruit, lead, and coach a high-performing commerce team: sales, marketplace operations, onboarding, category managers, payment operations, acquisition managers.
• Build a culture of execution, speed, accountability, and customer obsession.
• Work cross-functionally with Tech, Product, People & Culture, Marketing, Talent, and Operations.

What Success will look like

• GMV growth across marketplaces.
• Revenue growth (monthly recurring and transaction-based).
• Vendor/merchant acquisition and retention.
• Successful rollout of commerce features across Strivo products.
• Reduced payment failures and improved settlement efficiency.
• Acquisition of strategic partnerships driving growth.
• Achievement of quarterly revenue profitability targets.
• Reduced churn and increased customer LTV.
• Strong team performance and operational efficiency.

Requirements
Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Economics, Engineering, Finance, Technology Management, or related field.
• MBA or additional certification in Product Management, Growth, or Digital Commerce (optional but valuable).

Experience:

• 7–12+ years in commerce leadership roles across e-commerce, fintech, SaaS, digital marketplaces, or technology businesses.
• Proven success scaling a marketplace or e-commerce platform in Africa (preferred).
• Experience launching or managing SaaS commercial functions (subscriptions, enterprise sales, product-led growth).
• Strong background in payments, digital billing, and financial services ecosystems.
• Experience with B2B and B2C commerce funnels, partner management, and multi-stakeholder tech environments.

Skills:

• Strong commercial acumen and strategic thinking.
• Deep understanding of marketplace economics, merchant onboarding, and commerce operations.
• Ability to design pricing models, revenue strategies, and monetisation systems.
• Strong data literacy (A/B testing, funnel optimisation, dashboards, metrics).
• Exceptional relationship-building, negotiation, and business development skills.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with engineering and product teams.
• Strong leadership, communication, and execution instincts.