DreamStart Labs is seeking a remote-based contractor to help us expand and scale up an exciting mobile app called DreamSave in the Kenya market. DreamSave, which targets village savings groups and informal community banks, is currently in production in multiple countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. This is an excellent opportunity for someone who wants to work for an exciting technology company helping millions of people around the world achieve their dreams of a better life.
About Dreamstart Labs
DreamStart Labs is a social impact technology startup
headquartered in the United States. Our mission is 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.
About Dreamsave
Our flagship product is an award-winning mobile app
called DreamSave. It runs on a smartphone and is used by bookkeepers of savings
groups to manage every aspect of a group. Today, groups use paper ledger books
to record savings and loan transactions for their group. DreamSave acts as a
“digital ledger”, replacing paper and ensuring accurate record keeping.
Individual members can also use DreamSave to view their savings groups and see
their balances at any time.
About Dreamsave In Kenya
To expand the use of DreamSave in Kenya, DreamStart
Lab is working closely with several partners, who support savings groups as
part of their mission to help underserved populations. This role will be based
in and primarily work in Kenya.
Role Description
As our Customer Success Representative, you will
serve as the primary presence of DreamStart Labs in the Kenya market. You will
report to our Head of Customer Success in Kigali, Rwanda, and will work closely
with our partner staff members and end-users using DreamSave in Kenya.
Responsibilities
- Training – You will
be the primary person responsible for training the local NGO staff on how
to use DreamSave, including setting up groups, running meetings, answering
questions, and troubleshooting problems.
- Support – The most
important aspect of this role will be supporting World Vision, other
potential partners, and their groups, with excellent service as
they use the DreamSave app. This will require being highly responsive when
questions arise and helping to resolve them quickly. Some of these
problems will require simple user education, while others will involve
troubleshooting technical issues, and working with the DreamStart Labs
team to ensure users get a resolution in a timely manner.
- Market Development – A
third area of responsibility will be working with other potential partners
to better understand future market potential for DreamSave in Kenya.
Potential partners may include large NGOs, Microfinance Institutions,
Banks, and/or mobile money operators that are interested in working with
DreamStart Labs. This role will include having strategic meetings with
MFIs and other similar market partners to better understand their interest
in linking with savings groups. In this case, the Customer Success Representative
will be acting as our business representative in Kenya, working
proactively with these partners.
- Translation – Throughout
this role, there will be the need to translate items for training or
support purposes. Therefore, we will ask you to translate materials for
the local market or record videos in Swahili for local partners and
groups. Additionally, you will be involved in the ongoing translation of
the DreamSave app into Swahili.
Desired Skills & Experience
The ideal candidate will have a good cross-section of
the following skills and experience:
- Passionate believer in our mission to help people in need
- Great people skills, with a proven ability to solve problems
- Ability to remain calm and patient in stressful situations
- Mindset of friendly service and supportive mentoring
- Excellent trainer with good communication skills
- High integrity and hard working with less supervision
- Good project planning and project management skills
- Good skills with Android smartphones and is very comfortable
using them
- Comfortable using web-based tools for collaboration, support,
and working from home
- College degree strongly preferred
- General knowledge of savings, lending, and microfinance
Key Support Success Criteria
Key success factors for the support part of this role
will include the following:
- Be a DreamSave Expert. To
be successful in this role, you will need to become an expert with the
DreamSave app. You will spend time using the app yourself, engaging in
ongoing discussions and trainings with the global Customer Success team,
learning all the support tools, and staying current with the latest new
features, bug fixes, tips, and tricks. Our partners and groups in Kenya
should be able to look to you as the #1 expert on how to excel with
DreamSave.
- Be Positive and Professional. You will be the face of DreamStart Labs in Kenya with
our strategic partners and end-users. The way you treat our users will be
a reflection on us. It is critical that our users feel loved, appreciated,
and respected. Every interaction should be respectful, encouraging, and
supportive. It’s not just about providing support, it’s about going above
and beyond with a goal of delighting our partners and end-users.
- Be Responsive. In
this kind of role, it is important to be responsive and available when a
team member, partner, or end-user contacts you. For most day-to-day
communications, you will need to respond within a few hours. For urgent
support issues the response time may need to be quicker. For example, if a
group has everyone gathered together for a meeting and there is a problem
with the app, they may need someone who can answer a support call and help
them while they are at their meeting. If they can’t reach our support representative
during a time of need, they will not feel supported. This is especially
important in the first few months when everything is new, and partners and
groups are forming their first impressions about DreamStart Labs.
- Be Proactive. You
will be our representative in Kenya, so you will need to be proactive in
watching what is happening in the field and keeping DreamStart Labs
informed. If you see potential problems or have ideas for improvement, you
should bring them to our attention ASAP. This role is not just about
waiting for a task list of action items. It’s your role to be passionate
about the success of DreamSave and constantly looking for opportunities to
help us succeed together.
- Listen and Learn. When
you talk with partners and users about problems or questions, your first
job is to listen and make sure you understand the situation. The better
you understand the situation, the better you will be able to help them.
It’s also important to make sure they know we care about them and want
them to succeed.
- Help Solve Problems. Some
users may contact you with a problem with the app or a question about
something they don’t understand. In these cases, your job is to help them
solve these issues as quickly as possible, working with the rest of the
DreamStart Labs team.
- Report Ideas, Suggestions, and Bugs. Savings groups will undoubtedly have ideas for
improvements in DreamSave. Since software is always evolving, there will
also be problems discovered along the way. Your job will be to collect all
these ideas and issues, document them clearly in the support tools we
provide, and follow up on them as needed.
Location Of Role
The ideal candidate would be located in Eldoret or
Kisumu. The candidate will need some schedule flexibility to do training or
even a group visit during the day if needed. It will also be important to be
connected with our internal team, partners, and end-users. To be successful,
you will need to attend internal team meetings, be active on our Slack-based
workspace asking questions and sharing your ideas and experiences, attend field
training in-person when possible, and visit groups when possible to learn from
them and make sure they feel like they are getting excellent service.
Term Of The Role
Our intent is for this to be an ongoing role in
Kenya. The best way to ensure this is to delight our partners and end users. If
the partners and groups you support are successful and our business grows, this
role will continue as a long-term position.
Time Expectations
While there is no firm hourly commitment, we
typically find that to be successful in this role, most CS reps starting in a
new country spend an average of about 30 hours a week. Some weeks it will be
fewer hours and some weeks it will be more, but you should expect to spend
about this much time on average.
Compensation
- Salary: US $350 monthly
- Health benefits of up to US $700 per year
- Communications stipend: approximately US $50 per month
- Opportunity for performance-based bonuses based on exceptional
job performance and proactive initiative-taking.
- Costs for transportation, meals, and accommodation while
traveling shall either be pre-arranged or be covered through an
advance/reimbursement.
How To Apply
To apply for this position, fill out the application
form from this link http://bit.ly/3PR3FQU