In 2017, over half the population in Sub-Saharan Africa had no bank account. That's for good reason—the fees are too high, the closest branch can be miles away, and nobody takes cards. Without access to financial institutions, people are forced to keep their savings under the mattress. Small business owners rely on lenders who charge extortionate rates. Parents spend hours waiting in line to pay school fees in cash.

We're solving this by building financial services that just work: no account fees, instantly available, and accepted everywhere. In places where electricity, water and roads don't always work, you can still send money with Wave. In 2017, we launched a mobile app in Senegal for cash deposit, withdrawal, and peer-to-peer and business payments. Now, we have millions of users across 9 countries and are growing fast.

Our goal is to make Africa the first cashless continent and that's where you come in...

How you'll help us achieve it

Wave is now the largest financial institution in Senegal, with over 7 million users. And we're still in the early days of our product roadmap and potential impact on people's everyday lives.

We are seeking a Strategic People Partner who combines curiosity, strategic thinking, and hands-on HR delivery. This Partner will help us shape our people's experience, talent initiatives, and ultimately own an org/s as a trusted People Partner.

You’ll partner across teams to strengthen how we grow, support, and develop Wavers. Your work will touch key areas such as: performance coaching, development, talent management, organizational design and employee experience, while also supporting talent programs.

In this role, you'll;

Support Organizational Design & Effectiveness
- Partner with business leads to assess and evolve team structures that enable collaboration and effectiveness.
- Facilitate organization health reviews, using people analytics to identify strengths, gaps, and growth opportunities.
- Support managers on change management, team design, and culture alignment as their orgs scale.
- Contribute to cross-functional projects that enhance employee experience, performance, and engagement.
Learning & Development Collaborations
- Partner with the L&D team and business leads to identify development needs and learning priorities across functions.
- Support individual development planning and ensure learning insights are embedded into performance and career frameworks.
- Track participation, to inform continuous improvement of learning initiatives.
Talent Management & Growth
- Partner with leaders to map career paths and growth frameworks across their teams.
- Support performance review cycles, calibrations, and feedback conversations that drive meaningful development.
- Build visibility into succession planning, and emerging talent across Wave.
- Collaborate with the Talent team, to ensure a consistent strong pipeline of talent during hiring processes.
Grow our Talent & Development Programs
- Manage Wave’s internship and Support rotation programs: canvassing roles, coordinating interviews, onboarding, and successful integration.
- Partner with leads to identify high-performing participants for continued development and full-time conversion opportunities.
Strengthen Employer Branding
- Collaborate with Marketing and Comms to capture authentic stories that reflect Wave’s culture and employee experiences.
- Contribute to content for social channels, events, and recruiting campaigns showcasing Wave as a great place to grow.

Key details

Location: You'll work from our office in Abidjan or Dakar and may travel to field locations.
Work authorization in Côte d'Ivoire and Senegal.
This is a permanent position.
Our salaries are competitive and calculated using a transparent formula.
We offer generous health insurance for yourself and your dependents.
We support working parents - we offer 26 weeks of parental leave for mothers and 4 weeks for fathers, in addition to subsidized child care when they return to work.
Airtime reimbursement.
Free food and a beautiful office space.

Requirements

5-8 years of experience in Recruiting, Learning & Development, Talent management, or HRBP in a high-growth environment
A degree in Business Administration, Human Resources, or equivalent.
French and English proficiency.
Demonstrated background in talent and leadership management, as well as a proven ability to attract and retain outstanding talent and motivate high-performing teams.
Hands-on operational experience in managing employee relations.
Ability to work with a variety of organizational leaders, to build consensus around HR strategy and tactics.
Excellent negotiation and conflict resolution skills in dealing with sensitive employee issues and managing cultural differences.

You might be a good fit if you

Are strategically minded but operationally hands-on. You can design frameworks and also execute them.
Have strong coaching, facilitation, and communication skills, with a passion for helping others grow.
Are analytical and data-informed, using insights to guide decisions and measure impact.
Excel at building relationships and trust, partnering across multiple levels and cultures.
Are curious, proactive, and adaptable; you thrive in a fast-moving, mission-driven environment.

Our team

We have a rapidly growing in-country team in Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Uganda, Niger, Sierra Leone, and Cameroon plus remote team members spread across the world.
We're deeply passionate about our mission of bringing radically affordable financial services to the people who need them most.
We foster autonomy for our employees. You'll own your projects at every stage, from understanding the problem to monitoring your solution in production.
We raised the largest Series A in Africa in 2021. Our world-class investors, include Founders Fund, Sequoia Heritage, Stripe, Ribbit Capital, Y Combinator, and Partech Africa.
We are on Y Combinator's top companies by revenue.

How to apply

Fill out the form below, and upload a resume in English and a cover letter describing your interest in Wave and the role.

We review applications frequently and recommend that you apply to the role that most closely aligns with your skills, experience and career goals.

Wave is an equal-opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

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