Fractional COO for TelCo scale-up

Job Description

Talk360 is the world’s easiest app for affordable & reliable calls to any phone number in the world. The crucial difference with free solutions like WhatsApp is that the receiver does not need an online connection nor an app.

Why is this proposition important? 

• A large part of the world is still unconnected – a forgotten challenge by most.
• Most people nowadays in developed markets use WhatsApp or other free alternatives. But what do you do if the person you want to call does not have Internet?
• In Africa, 66% of the population do not have access to reliable internet connection as it is too expensive, or the coverage is limited to certain areas.
• Why is reliable & affordable international calling still relevant in Africa in 5+ years?
• Although 90% of Africa will have a SIM connection in 2025, only 65% will have a smartphone. That leaves over 400m people who will use featured phones & landlines.
• Large groups cannot afford (mobile) internet, or only parts of the day/week. So also within the audience of smartphone users, continuous access to internet will stay challenging.
• International and pre-paid local calls via traditional providers remain expensive. Operators across the globe invest in internet bandwidth instead of internet coverage.

Why do we need a fractional COO at Talk360? 

• In 2022, Talk360 grew fast from start-up to scale-up and tripled in #fte to 60 (of which 25 in South Africa, 25 in NL and 10 from other African countries).
• Currently Talk360 is led by 3 founders, and the goal of a fractional COO is to advice the founders on how to transform the company into an efficient and lean growth machine & address current challenges such as cadence, accountability, cross functional planning and prioritization in achieving goals efficiently.

Why fractional COO instead of immediately going for the fulltime role? 

• Experiment: It is a big step for Talk360 to change from founders-only led. With the fractional and very experienced leader, we expect to clarify unknowns and create the sharpest possible profile.
• Speed: The missing cadence / structured planning is challenge right now. We do not want to wait for 6 months until we find a full time COO.
• Outside in: We challenge ourselves and can make a big leap as a business if an experienced scale-up leader spends more time with us to quickly analyze blockers and get more objective view on our performance as a company, team and individually.

Outcome:

• Improve cadence of the business.
• Improve holistic planning & interdependencies and implement this with the help of Chief of Staff, CFO and other LT members.
• Lead the management team through this change process in a clear, effective, and pleasant way.
• Get clear how the COO fulltime role & leadership in 2024 should look like and assist in the profile and selecting in Q4 2023 with the founders and Supervisory board.

We are looking for:

• Very experienced in high performing scale-ups. Track record of multiple successfully navigating similar challenges at startups and scale-ups.
• Have experience in overcoming obstacles in previous similar companies.
• Hands-on and practical individual who can direct the implementation of effective strategies.
• Strong coaching skills to support and develop the existing leadership teams.
• Strong in analysis, change management and creating high preforming companies.
• Highly enthusiastic to bring this knowledge/experience to companies in our phase.
• Ideally starting July / August.
• Flexible in days/hours. TBC: first month intense, then reducing to 1-3 days per week over next 4-8 months.