Whilst working for a solar company we found that one group of potential customers, the miners, were unable to access these solar solutions due to unreliable payments and contracts. The irony of this struck us: the very miners who dig up the minerals to make clean energy solutions possible are not able to access them. Ultimately the unacceptable social cost of ‘clean’ energy was clear.
Investigating the problem further we realized that this situation exists because of a lack of trustworthy data in the supply chain. There are seven stages from mine to the manufacturer and by the time this information reaches the end-consumer they don’t trust the mineral origin data. With no data, there is no accountability and no progress. From speaking to electronics manufacturers, we found that with the introduction of electric cars the electronics and car companies are facing massive legal and consumer pressure to own this problem, regulation is closing in and companies can’t stay ahead to prove the origin of their minerals and prevent brand damage. The potential for impact is huge; one-in-eight people in Sub-Saharan Africa rely on small-scale mining, second only after farming.
Minexx was started to solve this problem and connect miners to the world and ensure they get their fair share of the benefits. Minexx provides a platform to formalize and improve small-scale mining operations by ensuring miners get a fair price through digital payments & IoT, connecting miners to services such as electricity and insurance and, providing equipment by using data in platform to de-risk loans by banks. By collecting data at the mine site Minexx then use blockchain technology to tokenize & certificate production to create trust and transparency in the supply chain.
We are now building this platform and forming a team to build it with us. There comes a time to confront the unacceptable social cost of electronics, that time is now.
Website:
http://www.minexx.co
Product Manager
Reports to: CEO & Founder
Location: Based in Kigali, Rwanda
Purpose: As a Product Manager your core focus is delivering the vision for Minexx’s MineSmart platform. From mapping the business processes and pain points on users in the field; deciding what gets built and when; to working on integrations with developers you will be tasked with creating our software product. You will work closely with the CEO (a former product manager) and the wider team to create the final product.
Responsibilities and Tasks
Understand commercial relationships
Quick come up to a speed of the stakeholder landscape
Form an educated opinion of user needs and product strategy
Understand commercial relationships and prioritize development accordingly
Map processes in mining cooperatives
Map the different roles and the processes and actions done
Map the different KPIs and incentives of each role
Gather user feedback, understand user need and design solutions
Create and test prototypes with users
Manage requirement backlog
Write user stories and full requirements
Manage the priority and value each feature can bring to the customer
Understand how requirements could get the built-in system and potential complexities
Make necessary requirements compromises
Dig into customers jobs to understand pain points
Manage development
Design user interfaces for Mobile, Web, and USSD
Develop basic requirements yourself in ‘low-tech’ platform
Manage the development of APIs with an external developer
Manage the development of Mobile Money integrations and USSD & Digital Wallet
Testing & Implementation
End-to-end testing of the solution
Train users and gather feedback
Person Specification
University degree, preferably Engineering or Science
4 years’ experience as Product Manager
Ideally key system experience with Zoho (or other ‘low code’ platforms), USSD, Mobile Money & Digital wallets and APIs between them.
Effective communicator in cross-cultural teams. Fluency in English. Kinyarwandan and French desirable.
Energy and Passion: Tackling these problems isn’t easy you’ll need to bring plenty of energy to do this and should be passionate about helping the miners get a better deal.
Women are strongly encouraged to apply
Benefits
Salary
Living in Kigali – a beautiful, safe, clean city in the heart of Africa
Experience working in a fast-paced startup – there is a large potential for growth in this position whilst making an impact on the millions of miners and their families
Potential for short term (6-month contract) if requested by the applicant
Send your C.V. and cover letter to marcus@minexx.co with ‘Product Manager in subject line
