Location: London
Position type: Fixed Term Contract until end of December 2027 , Full-Time, Hybrid working, 2-3 days in the office
What the hiring manager says
“We’re looking for someone who is highly organised, proactive and excited by the opportunity to support programmes that drive digital inclusion at scale. This role offers broad exposure across operations, programme delivery and stakeholder coordination, making it a fantastic opportunity for someone who enjoys variety, collaboration and meaningful impact in their work.”
Orla Ryan, Operations Manager
About the Team
GSMA Mobile for Development (M4D) Foundation is a dedicated global team within the GSMA, bringing together our mobile operator members, tech innovators, the development community and governments, to realise the impact of mobile in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
This role sits within the M4D Digital Inclusion & Gender Team, which includes the Connected Women and Connected Society programmes.
GSMA’s Connected Women programme works with mobile operators and their partners to address the barriers to women accessing and using mobile internet and mobile money services www.gsma.com/connectedwomen.
GSMA’s Connected Society Programme works with the mobile industry and key stakeholders to increase access to and adoption of the mobile internet, focusing on underserved population groups in developing markets www.gsma.com/connectedsociety
The programmes are funded by the FCDO (UK), Sida (Sweden), and are supported by the GSMA and its members. Additional research and work is also funded by the Gates Foundation.
About the role
The Assistant Operations Manager role will be an exciting opportunity for an individual with a passion for international development and the role of digital innovation in driving socio-economic impact for the underserved.
You will be working across the Connected Women programme as part of the Digital Inclusion & Gender Operations team including supporting a project focused on improving affordability and adoption of internet-enabled handsets for women to support their livelihoods.
This role is critical to the overall success of the Connected Women programme and reports directly to the Connected Women Operations Manager who leads operations across delivery, reporting (including donor reporting) and business planning, as part of the wider Digital Inclusion & Gender Operations team. In this role you will also work with various Project Leads and Directors, subject matter experts, compliance/finance, legal, HR and marketing teams, as well as the wider M4D team.
As an Assistant Operations Manager, you will be responsible for the following:
Assist the Operations Managers to track and report on deliverables and KPIs
Support the preparation of monthly internal programme reports, as well as quarterly and annual external donor reporting
Maintain programme risk, issue and lessons learned logs, ensuring timely escalation where required
Assist with programme activity planning and track programme workplans
Lead end-to-end procurement processes including supplier onboarding, contracting, purchase order and invoice management, in collaboration with the Finance team
Coordinate event planning and logistics, including sourcing and booking venues and liaising with programme teams and marketing
Manage budget forecasts
Support all aspects of team travel
Maintain organised, shared filing systems i.e. SharePoint
Any other duties commensurate with level as requested by the Operations Manager
About You
The ideal candidate will demonstrate the following skills and experience:
Demonstrable operations and project management experience, ideally within donor-funded projects
Strong organisational and planning skills, with ability to manage multiple priorities across different programmes
Experience supporting budgeting, forecasting and financial processes
Proven track record tracking and reporting on project activities
Strong stakeholder management skills, including the ability to work effectively across teams and manage upwards
Flexibility to respond to changing requirements and priorities
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
Ability to work as part of a team, supporting other team members in a busy global environment, across several different geographical locations
Excellent attention to detail
Proficiency using MS Office (i.e. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams) and experience with project or grant management systems
An interest in international development and/or social enterprises in emerging markets
This is a hands-on role requiring a pro-active, self-motivated individual who can work independently and collaborate effectively to support programme success.
About your skills
Across the diversity of roles at GSMA, there are core capabilities that all GSMA staff need. For this role, there five key capabilities required for this role are Project Management, Communication, Agility, Teamwork and Stakeholder Management.
Project Management: Fundamental to ensuring activities are well coordinated and delivered effectively. Requires the ability to manage competing priorities, track deliverables and reporting requirements, and maintain accurate documentation and oversight across multiple workstreams.
Communication: Critical to effective coordination and collaboration. Requires clear and professional verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to convey information concisely, prepare reports, and engage confidently with different audiences.
Contract type
Fixed Term Contract (Fixed Term)Worker type
EmployeeWhat We OfferWorking at the GSMA offers you unparalleled access to the mobile industry. We offer a chance to truly shape the direction of mobile, whatever your role. By joining the GSMA, you will be exposed to a fast-paced rapidly evolving environment, working on global solutions, genuinely fascinating and industry-changing projects and a stimulating and dynamic environment designed to enable you to flourish.
In addition to architect-designed offices and competitive compensation, our benefits include fantastic learning & development opportunities, generous holiday allowances, four additional days off for professional development and many others.
To learn more about the GSMA, visit our career site, our LinkedIn page and our Twitter page.
Being You at the GSMA
We care deeply about diversity, equity and inclusivity and aspire to be the best at it. Your well-being and work/life balance is important, so flexi-time and remote working is available to all staff. We're keen to ensure everyone is equal, represented and connected so we particularly encourage applications from all demographics. The sucess of the GSMA year on year will continue to be contributed by people from all walks of life.
GSMA Values
Our values not only drive our culture – they shape how we work and interact inside and outside our global organisation.
Passionately driven
We approach everything we do with unparalleled capability, tenacity and commitment, knowing that the challenging scale, pace and complexity of our work is what leads to its world-changing impact.
Insightful leaders
We continually develop and engage our expertise, insight and creativity so that we’re always ready to respond to the changing landscape with authority, agility and nuance.
Stronger together
We lean on each other so the industry can lean on us, embracing our diversity by actively seeking out perspectives and skill sets beyond our own, fuelling each other’s successes and constantly asking how we can help.
Underpinning our values is our collective mindset to show up purposefully as good human beings every day, in every situation. When we’re at our best – we are collaborative, considerate and compassionate to others, and we create a safe space for one another to thrive, assuming positive intent in our colleagues. And if we aren’t at our best and the pressure is on – we feel free to be ourselves but still remain curious, lean into the tough stuff and we are always respectful to others and accountable for the part we play.
Skills Required
- Demonstrable operations and project management experience, ideally within donor-funded projects
- Strong organisational and planning skills, with ability to manage multiple priorities
- Experience supporting budgeting, forecasting and financial processes
- Proven track record tracking and reporting on project activities
- Strong stakeholder management skills, including ability to work effectively across teams and manage upwards
- Flexibility to respond to changing requirements and priorities
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
- Ability to work as part of a team across different geographical locations
- Excellent attention to detail
- Proficiency using MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams) and experience with project or grant management systems
- Pro-active, self-motivated individual able to work independently
- Interest in international development and/or social enterprises in emerging markets
What We Do
The GSMA is a global organisation unifying the mobile ecosystem to discover, develop and deliver innovation foundational to positive business environments and societal change. Our vision is to unlock the full power of connectivity so that people, industry and society thrive. We operate through three main pillars: Connectivity for Good engages members, governments and civil society, to advance positive policy and spectrum outcomes, facilitate digital innovation to reduce inequalities in our world, and tackle today’s biggest societal challenges such as digital inclusion, climate change and sustainability. Industry Solutions supports the technology and interoperability that make mobile work. For instance, we assist the industry’s development in areas such as 5G, Mobile IoT, fraud and security, through our projects, working groups and other collaborative activities. Our events provide successful ways of bringing the ecosystem and adjacent industries together, to make strong business connections and drive positive impact. From the world’s largest and most influential connectivity event, MWC, in Barcelona, Shanghai, Las Vegas and Africa, to the growing M360 series that has a more regional focus.
