Product Manager

Organization
DreamStart Labs
Location
Remote
Job Type
Contract
Deadline for Applications
07/15/2023
How to Apply
Email expression of interest and CV
Where to Apply
jennie@dreamstartlabs.com
Tags
Remote

DreamSave Product Manager

DreamStart Labs (DSL) is seeking a contractor to oversee product management services for the DreamSave App, DreamSave Insights, and select special projects and partnerships. This person will be responsible for prioritizing and guiding the development of these products, collaborating with remote design and development teams, and coordinating the feedback and suggestions from multiple stakeholders including DSL leadership, our field support team, DreamSave users, and NGO partners. This role will also include responsibility for supporting and managing key NGO partners across multiple countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

This is an exciting opportunity for someone passionate about the role innovative technology can play to help people in the developing world achieve their dreams of a better life. The ideal candidate will be an individual with direct experience working in international development projects, especially with women’s savings groups. A technical degree is not required, but the role will require working with technical products and people, so any technology experience will be a significant plus.

ABOUT DREAMSTART LABS
DreamStart Labs is a social impact technology startup with the mission to help people in developing countries realize their dreams of a better life. We deliver world-class mobile and cloud solutions that help these amazing dreamers break the cycle of poverty through entrepreneurship, financial inclusion, and smart investments. DreamStart Labs is a member of the Inclusive Fintech 50, designating the Top 50 startups bringing financial inclusion to 3 billion unbanked people around the world. Our technology has won many awards for excellence including “Most Empowering Digital Banking Technology” from the Worldwide Finance Awards, and “Best Developing World Technology” and “Best Finance App” from the World Changing Ideas awards hosted by Fast Company.

ABOUT DREAMSAVE PRODUCTS
Our flagship product is an award-winning mobile app called DreamSave. DreamSave is designed for the 3 billion unbanked people around the world who have limited access to formal financial services. About 85 percent of our users are women living in rural villages across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

DreamSave helps these individuals create informal community banks often referred to as savings groups, Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs), or village banks. Each week, members meet and use DreamSave to save money, taking loans from the group to help their small businesses. Interest on these loans is shared by the group, so when one member’s business grows, everyone benefits. DreamSave acts as a “digital ledger” for these groups, replacing paper recordkeeping. It runs on a single shared smartphone per group, and is used by bookkeepers of savings groups to manage every aspect of a group. Individual group members can also use the DreamSave app to view their savings groups and see their balances at any time. As groups use DreamSave, the app builds digital credit scores that help them qualify for additional financial services such as microloans and microinsurance.

DreamSave Insights is an accompanying web-based data analytics product that our partners use to monitor and support savings groups in the field. Many of our partners are international NGOs which support savings groups as part of economic development projects. They use Insights to track how many groups they support, their demographic composition, cumulative savings and other financial information. We also have banking partners that use data from Insights to see credit scores and make loans to qualifying groups.

DreamStart Labs is also working on premium features and strategic partnerships to help scale the product and increase our impact in financial inclusion. To that end, other projects this role may oversee or contribute to include further research and development on credit scores, insurance, micro-equity, and mobile money integration.

ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategy & Leadership
– Collaborate with CEO, CTO and the Head of Engineering to develop a product vision which is aligned with customer needs and business goals
– Assess new product features to measure their potential value; identify competitors and conduct capability analyses
– Own the product roadmap and timeline; balance user feedback, business goals, and resources
– Provide guidance to engineering and design teams to implement the product vision
– Translate product roadmap into projects and tasks in the product backlog
– Manage priorities, help organize product development “sprints”
– Stay up to date on the latest industry trends and technology including bringing curiosity and research around how new innovations like generative AI can support our work

Product Development
– Analyze customer needs, collect feedback from end users, and translate them into requirements. Ensure requirements are fully understood and that implementation plans match expectations.
– Assist software development and design teams to identify issues or problems and proactively address them; solicit teams’ feedback on products and prioritize along with customer feedback. Anticipate and mitigate technical risks.
– Ensure comprehensive and well-maintained product and project documentation
– Constantly seek ways to improve efficiency of design, development, and release processes

Customer Support
– Support sales and customer relations by providing product information and demos to partners around the world
– Assist in working with potential new partners around the world who might be interested in bringing DreamSave to their country
– Communicate product features and improvements to the global Customer Success team via Slack, remote meetings/trainings, product videos, and other methods
– Answer incoming questions about the product and its capabilities

CHARACTERISTICS & QUALIFICATIONS
– Two plus years working in the international development field
– Two plus years progressive project (or product) management experience
– Background in savings group implementation, preferably with field experience
– Highly organized individual experienced managing complex projects with multiple stakeholders
– Strong analytical and problem solving skills including the ability to juggle multiple priorities
– Strong verbal and written communication skills to work with several internal teams and clients
– High level of comfort with technology and interest in the technology development process with a passion to build expertise in technology and innovation
– Bonus: previous product-related experience in FinTech, especially digital financial services like mobile money, e-wallets
– Bonus: experience with user experience (UX) design, supervising/collaborating with design teams
– Bonus: experience in software development and web technologies and projects

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE
The ideal candidate will have direct, hands-on experience working with NGOs and other international development agencies operating in poor rural communities. Experience with women’s savings groups is a huge plus as a deep understanding of how they operate will be essential to understanding the needs of our market. Since bringing digital technology to these savings groups is relatively new, we are not expecting candidates to have previous experience as technical product managers in this area, but experience managing complex projects with multiple stakeholders will be key. The ideal candidate will be a great communicator, with the ability to represent the company in strategic discussions with NGO partners, product planning with software developers, and engagement with our field support team.

This exciting opportunity is perfect for someone in the international development sector who is ready to step up to a new challenge focused on innovation, technology, and shaping new products that help unbanked women in emerging markets achieve their dreams of a better life.