Product Analyst

Hooked on Hermès? Swept off your feet by Jimmy Choo? Then Shedd is for you. This new mobile-only market place for fashion items is currently available in Dubai and Bulgaria, and due to expand to five other markets within a matter of months. In order to facilitate this growth and build their own big data infrastructure, they are opening a new office in Barcelona. One of their first hires in Barcelona will be a Product Analyst.

War on wardrobe waste

The Shedd story starts in the summer of 2015 at Dubizzle, the leading classifieds website in the Middle East and North Africa. Dubizzle-employees Tariq Zabian and Alex Hutley were both based in Dubai, the capital of #neverworn. They noticed that the fashion industry in the region was booming. According to a survey, 43 percent of women in the region owned at least five items that never made it out of the wardrobe, with the tags still intact. Although many new local and international brands were reveling in success, Zabian and Hutley also noticed there was nothing major going on in the second-hand sector.

“We are trying to help the world make better use of its possessions. We see the biggest opportunity right now in the fashion segment, where globalization, increased dispensable income in emerging markets, social media obsession, and fast fashion are creating consumerism that is spiraling out of control.” – Tariq Zabian, Co-founder of Shedd

So when they came up with the idea for a mobile-only fashion marketplace, they buckled down and quickly put together a business plan. Shedd was incubated within Dubizzle and soon became an autonomous spin-off, with Zabian and Hutley as co-founders, backed by investor Naspers. The app is currently available in UAE and Bulgaria, and will soon expand to five further markets.

The Shedd motto is “Buy it / Wear it / Shedd it”, and it really is as simple as that. All you have to do to sell an item is take a photo, upload it, write a blurb and add some hashtags. All listing are reviewed by a team of specialists before they’re added. That’s all there’s to it. Shopping is just as easy. You can use location services to browse everything that’s close by, click on hashtags or you can use the search function to look for specific items or your favorite brands.

“We’re a young and hungry company with a global footprint, benefiting from the backing and experience of global powerhouse Naspers, to scale quickly. We are aggressively expanding into new markets, and are still agile enough to test and iterate design systems with pace (as a start-up would).” –  Alex Hutley, Co-founder of Shedd

About the vacancy

Data is at the heart of the Shedd business model. The Product Analyst will be the key driver of data-centricity in the Product & Technology department and Shedd as a whole. Communication, team work, sharing knowledge and training others will be at the core of this position.

In order to do so, the Product Analyst will work with Product and Tech teams to set objectives, identify improvement opportunities and prioritize product features based on business priorities. He/she will design, analyze and interpret the results of product experiments. Insights are great, but there’s more. The Product Analyst will synthesize results into actionable recommendations and new feature designs. And to make sure it will be a success, the Product Analyst will also guide product- and business managers in each step of the product development process.

In close cooperation with Product, Engineering and Business Intelligence teams, this professional will implement, document, validate, and monitor tagging and metrics. An effective automated reporting to surface the key metrics to main stakeholders will be one of the key deliverables.

Candidate profile

Candidates will have a quantitative degree and at least two years’ experience at a digital scale-up. Technical skills such as SQL, statistics and data analysis are key. Expertise in A/B testing, User Experience research, Python, R or other programming languages used for statistical computing and Machine Learning are nice to have.

“No biggie if Machine Learning still has some mysteries to you, as long as you’re keen to keep exploring and learning. If you’re ready to roll up your sleeves, you’ll fit right in.” – Benjamin Cohen, Growth Manager at Shedd

In terms of cultural fit: Shedd values speed and accuracy. People who tend to make concessions on either side won’t feel at ease here. There’s an open communication culture with clear feedback, and team members rely on one another to share their expertise effectively. Clear thinking and the ability to simplify complex matters are key. As a result of the open communication culture, colleagues are able to constantly challenge assumptions. They feel part of a community with a higher goal, working hard to achieve results quickly.

Experience

• Degree in Math, Physics, Statistics, Computer Science or other quantitative field
• At least 2 years’ experience in a high-growth online environment
• Strong technical skills (data analysis and statistics, SQL)

Competencies

• Outstanding problem-solving skills
• Strong business sense
• Initiating & driving projects to completion with minimal guidance

Core values for Shedd

• Fast and thorough
• Natural and effective communication
• Don’t be afraid to go swimming in data
• Aim high and get those hands dirty