Program Manager (French speaking)

Open Function is looking for a remote, commercially minded Program Manager who is fluent in French to join their team as a full-time contractor with negotiable…

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Work arrangement: Remote
Where applicants may be: Applicants in United States only
Salary: Not specified
Apply by: Not specified
Employment type: Full-time
Experience: Not specified

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About This Role

Job Description

Open Function is looking for a remote, commercially minded Program Manager who is fluent in French to join their team as a full-time contractor with negotiable hours. Based in Sub-Saharan Africa and operating within Africa time zones, this foundational role requires establishing the program management function from scratch while managing a live portfolio of subscription customers. Open Function serves as the primary steward of an open-source platform providing digital public goods, public service automation, and AI orchestration for governments and NGOs across more than 40 countries. In this position, the successful candidate will own customer relationships, handle retention and expansion, and act as a trusted advisor.

This opportunity is ideal for someone with deep technical fluency who can converse credibly about APIs, data workflows, and integrations with both technical and non-technical stakeholders. Although no hands-on engineering or implementation work is required, the Program Manager must spot adoption risks early and collaborate closely with solution architects and implementation consultants. Candidates should possess strong relationship-building skills, experience maintaining account health data in a CRM, and a self-starter mindset. The role involves guiding customers through a transition from legacy project arrangements to a new subscription model.

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary point of contact and trusted advisor for a portfolio of existing subscription customers
Build multi-threaded relationships across customer organizations from day-to-day users to senior decision-makers
Develop and maintain account plans mapping customer objectives to platform value
Plan and lead Quarterly Business Reviews and regular check-ins
Discuss integrations, data workflows, and use cases credibly with customer technical teams
Spot technical adoption risks early and involve solution architects or implementation consultants when needed
Own gross and net retention, forecast renewals accurately, and manage the end-to-end renewal process
Identify and manage at-risk accounts to prevent churn
Pursue account growth through tier upgrades and cross-selling additional services
Negotiate renewals and expansions based on pricing and packaging models
Ensure smooth handoffs from sales and implementation into ongoing program management
Monitor product usage and adoption while channeling feedback to internal product and services teams
Coordinate with support and implementation teams to meet service level agreements
Establish foundational playbooks, cadences, and health-scoring approaches for the program management function
Maintain accurate account data and forecasts in the CRM and report core metrics to leadership
Help migrate existing customers from legacy project-based arrangements to the new subscription model

Requirements

Three to seven plus years of experience in account management, customer success, or a related customer-facing commercial role at a SaaS or subscription business
Proven track record of retaining and growing a customer portfolio, including owning renewals, forecasting, and driving upsell or expansion
Experience managing customers for a technically substantive product with the ability to learn how a product functions quickly
Genuine technical fluency with concepts like APIs, integrations, data exchange, and workflow automation
Ability to translate complex technical concepts between technical and non-technical audiences
Strong relationship-building skills to earn trust with technical users and senior stakeholders
Experience running customer cadences including QBRs, service reviews, and success planning
Hands-on proficiency with a CRM and a data-informed approach to managing account health and forecasts
Fluent, professional-level English and French communication skills in written and verbal formats
Self-starter mindset suitable for a foundational role involving building and execution
Ability to work from home or a shared office space with fast, stable internet based in a country located in Sub-Saharan Africa within Africa time zones

Qualifications

Experience helping a business or its customers transition from project or services-based revenue to a subscription model
Technical background such as a computer science degree or prior experience in engineering, technical support, solutions, or implementation
Hands-on experience with integration tooling, data pipelines, or APIs
Experience managing government, NGO, public sector, or international customers within digital public goods or open-source ecosystems
Working knowledge of CRMs such as Salesforce or Odoo
Additional language skills relevant to the customer base such as Spanish or Portuguese
Experience selling or delivering complex digital transformation, business process transformation, or data integration projects

Core Skills

Git Communication Leadership Sales

Benefits

Base salary plus variable pay tied to portfolio retention and growth
Flexible working schedule
Team meetups across Europe and Africa
Exposure to industry and technology trends in health, humanitarian, and government digital transformation interventions
Opportunities for leadership, advancement, and shaping company strategy

Frequently Asked Questions

Answers are based only on the employer’s listing; where it doesn’t say, neither do we.

What is the location and remote work policy for this role?

The position is fully remote, and candidates must be based in Sub-Saharan Africa within Africa time zones, working from home or a shared office space with fast and stable internet.

What is the employment type and are the working hours flexible?

This is a full-time contractor position with negotiable hours.

What language skills are required?

Fluent, professional-level communication skills in both English and French, in both written and verbal forms, are required.

How is the compensation structured for this position?

Financial compensation includes a base salary paired with variable pay tied to portfolio retention and growth, with total pay commensurate with experience according to the employer's Equal Pay for Equal Work framework.