Zakir Hosenbux

Career Break

• • Planned 18 months of travel and personal time off.

May 2024 - Current

Optasia ● Customer Engagement Director ● Greece/South Africa

Jul 2023 - May 2024

• • Led strategic management of Tier-1 accounts processing over $75M in monthly disbursements (~200M transactions), driving a $1B+ annual telco-lending portfolio across Vodacom Group and Telecel markets; 8 accounts, 6 African markets.
• • Engineered customer segmentation strategies using Big Data analytics to identify behavioral patterns, funnels; enabling tailored growth plans and increasing customer engagement & LTV.
• • Built a dynamic 12-month revenue forecast model based on historical data, market/seasonal trends, prioritizing high growth levers.
• • Exceeded Net Revenue targets by deploying growth levers, delivering +11% growth in Q3/Q4 2023 and +4% in Q1 2024, unlocking over $1.2M incremental revenue.
• • Boosted upsell/cross-sell conversion on all live accounts by revamping customer experience and engagement triggers (e.g. low data).
• • Delivered $40K monthly incremental revenue in Telecel Ghana through enhanced risk modeling; a 50% uplift in Airtime credit.

MFS Africa (Now Onafriq) ● General Manager; Remittances ● UK/South Africa

Apr 2020 - Jan 2023

• • Led the UK/EU remittance business unit, managing product, engineering, operations, marketing and compliance for a $20M portfolio connecting diaspora corridors to an expanding 14 African markets via MTN and Airtel Mobile Money.
• • Led end-to-end budgeting and forecasting with P&L ownership. Implemented unit/resource expansion along with cost controls.
• • Designed robust B2C KYC, fraud detection and AML frameworks (e.g. transaction velocity, card risk profiling), streamlining identity verification and transaction monitoring while ensuring full FCA compliance.
• • Launched hyper-targeted sender/receiver marketing campaigns with a $2M annual budget; leveraging outdoor, PPC, Google Ads, SEM, social media and influencers to drive acquisition and retention.
• • Built and optimized operational workflows across compliance, reconciliation, failed transactions, customer support and refund handling, improving cross-collaboration, SLA adherence and audit-readiness.
• • Drove strategic partnerships including documenting contracts, RFPs and PSP Remittance License to the Bank of Spain.
• • Grew transaction volumes from Q4 2021 and user engagement from 18% to 44% through continuous UX, pricing and optimizations.

MFS Africa ● Senior Product Manager ● South Africa

Apr 2016 - Mar 2020

• • Defined and executed the B2C mobile remittance product strategy, leveraging market research and user insights that shaped product requirements for a multi-country launch.
• • Led the full product lifecycle of the international remittance mobile app (Android/iOS) from design and sprint planning to launch in 2019; adopting Agile/Scrum methodologies to accelerate delivery and time-to-market.
  
• • Designed the core architecture and technical blueprint of a unified B2B Mobile Money Aggregator & Billing Platform, including seamless partner onboarding, API integrations, float/FX management, sanctions screening, transaction monitoring, commission structures, reporting system and automated reconciliation; enabling a 5x increase in transaction volume.
• • Piloted an e-commerce payment layer (POC) enabling card-to-mobile wallet linkage, unlocking new merchant payment use cases.
• • Delivered a $1M mobile money-powered school fee platform, in partnership with the Government of Benin and the University of California, enabling inclusive education payments.
• • Spearheaded development of enterprise-grade compliance and scalability initiatives, successfully leading the organization through CMMI and ISO 27001 certification, enhancing product security and institutional trust.

Interactivelab ● Creative Director ● Mauritius

Jan 2013 - Apr 2016

• • Led cross-functional delivery of social media and digital product campaigns for 25+ B2B clients across France and Mauritius in diverse industries with projects related to branding, customer engagement and reputation management.
• • Directed product management and creative development of Facebook-integrated apps/games, Mobile Apps, Web Apps; aligning feature sets with social engagement metrics and marketing goals.
• • Defined and executed creative strategy across digital campaigns, ensuring on-brand messaging, high-impact visuals and gamified user journeys that boosted client engagement and conversions.
• • Managed media budgets exceeding $5,000/day across Facebook Boost and Google Ads, ensuring channel mix efficiency, tailored performance and budget pacing.

Game Theorem ● Product Manager ● Mauritius/South Africa

Apr 2010 - Jul 2012

• • Owned end-to-end product lifecycle for mobile and web casino gaming (MobileMillions) and integrated Game Enterprise Management System (GEMS), overseeing concept, SDLC, launch and supporting live operations.
• • Managed a portfolio of 52 games across 5 mobile platforms (iOS, Android, Symbian, BlackBerry, Windows Phone) and Web, driving multi-platform reach and unified user experience.
• • Developed gamification mechanics, including a real-time leaderboard and points allocation engine for play-for-fun users that drove sustained engagement and repeat play.
• • Launched game operations and product marketing strategies, collaborating with operations to enable smooth deployment and with marketing to maximize user acquisition.

Ashtech Systems ● Project Manager/Creative Lead ● Malaysia

Aug 2008 - Dec 2009

• • Developed & launched region-specific digital products across Malaysian, Singaporean, and Mediterranean markets; spanning e‑commerce sites, SaaS platforms, Semantic search engines and digital libraries.
• • Built search and content classification systems using semantic technologies for data visualization and interactive mapping; enhancing user navigation and discovery.
  
• • Drove the overall visual design of graphics, digital products (UI/UX) and campaigns, delivering compelling, quality works that are user-centered and engaging.
  
• • Led full project lifecycles; with multiple clients from discovery and requirements to delivery and quality assurance.

National University of Malaysia ● Creative Lead, Developer ● Malaysia

May 2008 - Jun 2009

• • Led full lifecycle development of the university’s corporate website and faculty portals; overseeing platform design (Flash, HTML/CSS), interactive features, and CMS integration to enhance usability and maintainability.
• • Architected structured navigation and content frameworks, enabling intuitive access across multiple faculty sites and streamlining editorial workflows via a unified CMS.
• • Drove UI/UX design standards for all web properties, delivering visually coherent and responsive interfaces aligned with academic branding and accessibility norms.
• • Designed a Learning Management System (LMS) using Moodle, defining course structures/content to support learning initiatives.