General Manager of South Africa and Kenya, Retail

About the Role

Leading at Uber means setting direction in motion, not waiting for perfect conditions. As the General Manager for South Africa and Kenya, you will oversee two of our most dynamic and strategic African markets. This isn’t a role for someone looking for a polished playbook; it’s for a leader who thrives in the messy reality of doing big things at scale.

You will navigate a unique dual-market reality: maintaining market-leading excellence and operational efficiency in South Africa while accelerating growth and navigating the digital ecosystem of Kenya. You’ll be expected to make hard calls under pressure, turning high-stakes complexity into clarity for your team. This role matters because you are at the intersection of our global strategy and local impact, ensuring millions of people across these regions can move and eat every day. If you lead with clarity, build with heart, and are energized by the challenge of managing diverse regulatory and economic landscapes, this is where you’ll make your mark.

What You’ll Do
• Set Direction in Motion: Own the South Africa and Kenya roadmap, making high-stakes decisions on resource allocation and sequencing investments while balancing the "scaled market" needs of SA with the "high-growth" requirements of Kenya.
• Own the Outcome: Take full E2E P&L accountability across the sub-region, staying calm under pressure as you monitor market health and navigate risks like currency volatility or infrastructure shifts.
• Build High-Performing Teams: Lead and coach a distributed team of Country Leads and Operations Managers, helping them unblock market-specific challenges—from SA’s competitive retail landscape to Kenya’s unique merchant dynamics.
• Navigate Complexity: Influence the Central Ops roadmap through matrix leadership, ensuring that African-specific requirements, such as local payment integrations and logistics nuances, are prioritized in the global queue.
• Solve for the Real World: Maintain operational resilience by navigating external variables including regulatory shifts, varying infrastructure reliability, and intense local competitive pressures.
• Lead Through Influence: Partner with Sales to identify "must-win" merchants and act as the executive lead in high-stakes negotiations to secure long-term partnerships with major pan-African retail groups.
• Drive Clarity at Speed: Synthesize complex market inputs into actionable strategic narratives, moving with urgency to ensure your team is aligned and empowered to act independently.

Basic Qualifications
• 7+ years of experience in strategy, operations, consulting, or a related field.
• Proven experience managing high-performing teams, specifically in a distributed or multi-market environment.
• Direct experience owning business performance and P&L management in partnership with Finance teams.

Preferred Qualifications
• Regional Expertise: Prior experience managing operations or strategy specifically within South Africa and/or Kenya.
• Grit & Adaptability: A track record of thriving in ambiguous, fast-paced environments and navigating the unique operational nuances of the African tech ecosystem.
• Systems Thinking: High proficiency in data analysis with the ability to "live in the dashboards" to identify underlying drivers of business performance.
• Storytelling: Exceptional ability to communicate complex data and market trends to global stakeholders with clarity and conviction.

Ready to ride?

Uber's mission is to reimagine the way the world moves for the better. Here, bold ideas create real-world impact, challenges drive growth, and speed fuels progress. This isn’t the kind of place where you follow a playbook — it’s where you help write one. If you’re driven by impact, energized by challenge, and ready to shape how the world moves, this is the place for you. What moves us, moves the world — let’s move it forward, together.

You may be eligible for bonuses, equity, and other compensation, as well as a range of benefits. Explore our benefits.

Offices remain key to collaboration and Uber’s culture. Unless approved for full remote work, employees must spend at least Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday in-office. Some roles, like those at greenlight hubs, require full-time in-office presence. Ask your Recruiter for details about this role’s requirements.

Uber is proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected Veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know by completing this form.

Uber's mission is to reimagine the way the world moves for the better. Here, bold ideas create real-world impact, challenges drive growth, and speed fuelds progress. What moves us, moves the world - let’s move it forward, together.

Offices continue to be central to collaboration and Uber's cultural identity. Unless formally approved to work fully remotely, Uber expects employees to spend at least half of their work time in their assigned office. For certain roles, such as those based at green-light hubs, employees are expected to be in-office for 100% of their time. Please speak with your recruiter to better understand in-office expectations for this role.
• Accommodations may be available based on religious and/or medical conditions, or as required by applicable law. To request an accommodation, please reach out to accommodations@uber.com.