General Manager (Telecoms)

About the role

The General Manager, Telecoms Business provides strategic commercial leadership across the organization's telecoms portfolio, protecting existing revenue, driving growth, diversifying revenue streams, commercializing new products and building strategic customer and partner relationships. The role covers Interconnect, International Direct Access (IDA), Value-Added Services (VAS) and other telecoms businesses, engaging MNOs, carriers, service providers, enterprise customers, regulators and other stakeholders.

Key responsibilities

• Develop and execute the commercial growth strategy, including three-year plans and annual targets, and protect and grow Interconnect, IDA and VAS revenue and relationships
• Originate, negotiate and close high-value B2B telecoms deals, manage the sales pipeline and lead major bids and negotiations
• Build senior-level relationships with MNOs, carriers, ISPs, aggregators and enterprise customers, and act as the commercial escalation point for strategic accounts
• Commercialize VAS and digital services such as A2P SMS, USSD, CPaaS, APIs, content and subscription services, leading go-to-market and launch activities
• Set pricing frameworks, deal approvals and minimum margins, and work with Finance on revenue assurance, billing accuracy, receivables and credit exposure
• Produce monthly revenue and pipeline forecasts, report to the Board and present corrective actions where performance falls short
• Build and lead a commercial team, set KPIs, coach staff and coordinate priorities across business lines

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Telecommunications, Computer Science, Business, Economics, Finance or a related discipline; MBA or recognized commercial/telecoms certification is an advantage
• At least 12 years' experience in telecommunications, digital infrastructure or related technology businesses, including at least 5 years in a senior commercial or business development leadership role
• Proven track record of closing complex B2B telecoms transactions and commercializing products with measurable results
• Experience across commercial, technical, finance, legal, regulatory and operations functions; experience with an MVNO, MNO or digital services platform is an advantage

Required skills

• Strong knowledge of telecoms economics, Interconnect, IDA, carrier services, traffic, routing, capacity, SLAs, settlement and the VAS ecosystem
• Pricing, margin analysis, business-case development and scenario modelling
• Proficiency in CRM systems, commercial dashboards, forecasting, proposal development and executive presentations