Launch Manager, Kenya

Employment type: Full-time

Location: Nairobi, Kenya (relocation required; assistance provided)

At Ello, we’re building the first personalized AI tutor to help maximize every child’s potential. Our mission is to make world-class education accessible to every child, everywhere.

We’re preparing to expand and launch a new version of our product globally this year, with Kenya as our first international market — and we’re looking for someone to help us lead the charge into new countries.

Who you’ll be joining

Ello is a rapidly growing, series A startup focused on revolutionizing the way children learn and interact with technology. You will work directly with our leadership team and our tight-knit Nairobi team (<10) to develop and launch new products. We work in-person out of our Nairobi office and we’re big believers in face-to-face collaboration.

About the role

We’re looking for a Launch Manager to lead Ello’s expansion in Kenya, and then beyond. Work with us through the next year (and maybe beyond) in Nairobi and own the process of growing from zero to tens of thousands of users there.

Running a launch is like being the CEO of an early stage startup. You’ll have the support of our global team, but this isn't a typical 9-5 job. We’re looking for independent, entrepreneurial people who can work autonomously and will thrive on getting things done in challenging environments.

You’ll work closely with our existing Nairobi team and digital marketing agency, and focus your energy on everything else needed to make Ello successful on the ground: building a local team, engaging the community, and ensuring the product is ready and relevant for the market.

It’s an ideal job for someone who has some experience building businesses in Africa and wants to quickly gain a lot more.

Responsibilities

• Develop and iterate on GTM strategy: Find the right channels to get to our first users, which could include on the ground grassroots marketing, community mobilization, school partnerships, etc.

• Collaborate with marketing to get to the first 10,000 users: Pair with our digital marketing agency to determine optimal market positioning and messaging, and align online and offline efforts.

• Become the expert on the local user and market: Drive learnings back to the global team to ensure our product is launch-ready.

• Hire a local team: Build and manage a small, high-performing local team to run the Ello product in Kenya long term.

• Lock in product market fit: Solve any problems that arise until they love our product and are telling all their friends.

• Prepare for the next market: After our first 10K users, support the transition of day-to-day operations to the local team.

You’ll report directly to our leadership team and collaborate closely with both HQ and local colleagues.

Requirements

• Former founder of a company or nonprofit - you know how to take things from 0 to 1

• 2+ years of experience hiring and managing teams

• Based in Nairobi or willing to relocate to Nairobi for 12-18 months

• Fluent in English

Nice to have experience

• Work experience in Africa

• Swahili or other local languages

You might be a good fit if you

• Have founded or helped grow an early-stage B2C company

• Are intellectually curious and driven to understand unfamiliar environments

• Can adapt to new cultural settings and build rapport with a diverse range of people

• Are comfortable taking risks, trying new approaches, and making decisions with uncertain outcomes

• Pivot quickly based on new information

• Have a high tolerance for uncertainty and travel

• Communicate effectively in person and in writing

• Are deeply curious about the rapidly evolving world of AI

• Are excited to build engaging and educational experiences for children worldwide

• Want to be part of joining, and growing, an A+ team

About Ello

Ello is a public benefit corporation on a mission to maximize the potential of all children. We’re currently around 45 people, headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in São Paulo, Brazil; Nairobi, Kenya; and New York.

Our team has deep expertise in artificial intelligence, K-12 education, and child development across institutions such as Stanford, Berkeley, Google, Apple, and more. We were part of Y Combinator’s W20 batch and are funded by world-class investors including Goodwater Capital, Homebrew, Reed Hastings, Common Sense Growth, Ravensburger, Project A Ventures, Reach Capital, Khosla Ventures,WndrCo, Visible Ventures, and K9 Ventures.

We’re a small, collaborative team that takes each other’s voices very seriously. Because our mission is to support all children, it is critical that our team is representative of the communities we work in; we place significant emphasis on ensuring diversity in our team and inclusion in our culture.

We feel enormously privileged to be one of the few companies that has the opportunity to take a shot at truly revolutionizing education with AI at this inflection point in technology. We don’t take it for granted, so we work quite hard to turn that vision into reality with urgency. We want to create an environment in which we can all be our best selves, use our strengths to take Ello forward, and develop our own skills. We want to have fun while working hard to do impactful things that we’re proud of – and we believe it’s possible to do both.

At Ello, we view diversity as a moral imperative and a competitive advantage. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, skin color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We plan and structure our interviews to directly assess skills and experience. If you need any accommodations throughout the interview process, please reach out to recruiting@ello.com