Head of Launch (Africa)

About the role

The hire owns the end to end launch of Quartermaster AI across the African continent, acting as the primary operator on the ground. They own the interpretation and navigation of maritime regulations that span dozens of national and regional authorities without exception. This person owns the de-risking of our business model by identifying and mitigating regulatory and political exposure before activation. They own the establishment of durable trust with government bodies, port authorities, and regional maritime organizations as a core strategic asset. The hire owns the translation of global product capabilities into locally viable market entry strategies for every major African maritime corridor. They own the development and execution of partnership structures that secure vessel access and space use for SmartMast deployment. Success for this role is owned through tangible metrics tied to SmartMast units installed, activated, and reporting on African waters. They own the mentorship and scaling of a local cross-functional team aligned with Quartermaster's quality and safety standards.

Key facts

What you'll do

Develop and execute market entry playbooks that adapt to the political, economic, and infrastructure realities of individual African ports and coastal jurisdictions.

Establish import, customs, and logistics frameworks for SmartMast hardware, including warehousing and staging areas prior to deployment across diverse coastal environments.

Identify, vet, and onboard local installers, fabricators, and port-side vendors who can meet Quartermaster's strict quality and safety standards for sensor integration.

Build and maintain proactive relationships with national maritime authorities, port authorities, and regional bodies to ensure continuous regulatory awareness.

Anticipate regulatory shifts, trade restrictions, and policy changes across overlapping port state control regimes such as the Abuja MoU and Indian Ocean MoU.

Develop strategies to neutralize risks stemming from continent-wide frameworks including the African Union's 2050 Africa's Integrated Maritime Strategy before they impact operations.

Negotiate and close partnership and space-use agreements that secure vessel capacity and long-term maritime relationships for Quartermaster's data collection objectives.

Oversee the transition from signed agreement to operational integration, ensuring new fleet, port, and vendor partners meet compliance and performance standards from day one.

Serve as the primary feedback loop for Quartermaster leadership, translating regional dynamics, technical requirements, and localized risks into actionable product and strategy insights.

Recruit, scale, and mentor a local cross-disciplinary team spanning field operations, market support, and stakeholder relations to sustain launch momentum.

Align global product, engineering, legal, and marketing teams with the specific requirements and constraints of African markets to ensure coherent execution.

Map and engage commercial fleet operators, independent vessel owners, port authorities, and maritime organizations suitable for SmartMast deployment across varied maritime segments.

Ensure every market launch aligns with local labor, customs, trade, spectrum and equipment type-approval, data handling, and maritime safety requirements through close partnership with legal and compliance specialists.

Maintain durable, trust-based relationships that reduce bureaucratic friction and build brand trust with fleets, ports, and maritime organizations over time.

Requirements

Demonstrate 8+ years in senior operations, market launch, business development, or public policy roles, ideally within maritime, logistics, or other highly regulated sectors.

Possess deep understanding of the political, regulatory, and business diversity across Africa's coastal regions and maritime economies without generalization.

Show a proven track record navigating government relationships, regional maritime bodies, and public-private partnerships across multiple jurisdictions on the continent.

Exhibit commercial acumen through demonstrated success closing complex B2B partnerships, joint ventures, or fleet agreements in emerging or frontier markets.

Operate with a bias for action, combining the ability to draft a market entry plan in the morning with the capacity to negotiate a stakeholder partnership in the afternoon.

Thrive in environments with ambiguous regulatory contexts by proactively identifying risks and designing mitigation strategies before deployment.

Commit to aligning with Quartermaster's quality and safety standards while managing the tradeoffs inherent in launching hardware across diverse African port infrastructures.

Communicate effectively with stakeholders at all levels, translating technical requirements into accessible narratives for government officials and commercial partners.