General Manager Classifieds Vertical
This vacancy has been filled. Go to the OLX brandpage
OLX, part of the global platform operator Naspers, is the world’s leading classifieds platform focused on emerging markets. They have a clear purpose: to empower millions of people across the globe by helping them connect and share their goods and services.
Verticals at OLX
In most countries, OLX operates a horizontal classifieds platform, offering a full range of categories for consumers to trade in. They successfully set up vertical businesses around the Cars and/or Real Estate categories in a few countries already. The next wave is now.
OLX will use the strategic advantage of being a local classifieds market leader with sizable listings in said categories to launch the new verticals in designated geographies: Real Estate in Dubai and Indonesia, and Cars in India and Latin America. Those markets were chosen for their room for growth and partiality to innovation. Big things can happen there.
About the job: General Manager Classifieds Vertical
The verticals operation will form a second organization that mimics and duplicates the existing horizontal business in India, Indonesia, UAE and Latin America. They will share resources where applicable, but the verticals will be autonomous in building their market. They will go beyond C2C trading and attract Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) to the platform as well. This requires a different approach, so the product will be tailored to the verticals’ needs. To be truly innovative or even disrupt the market, it will need to exceed UX expectations in terms of services, features and flows.
Type of work
OLX is sitting on potential goldmines in named regions: the horizontal umbrella contains numbers of listings in cars and real estate categories that verticalized competitors can only dream of. So, the Vertical General Manager won’t start from scratch, but does have a long road ahead. Developing a vertical means stretching between developing high level strategy and interacting with SME’s on their work floors, and everything in between. The GM will lead and expand a dedicated team. In most geographies, the primary sales force is already in place. The GM will be held accountable for disrupting the status quo as well as building a business. Only a visionary with a good sense of both sales and product can succeed here. Depending on the area, the GM will report to the Country Manager or Regional CEO, with a dotted line to the Global Verticals Director.
Requirements
People can’t be expected to disrupt something they don’t know. Therefore, these positions are only open to professionals with a solid track record in online classifieds or marketplaces. Senior Business Managers whose careers feature involvement in strategy, commerce, product and a solid foundation in analytical thinking. OLX values MBA’s and tenures at strategy consulting firms, but they are not hard requirements. The aim is to bring world-class international experience to the emerging markets.
Netherlands
Germany
Spain