With a passion for customer care, it’s no surprise that Dorah Owiyo Chief Operations Officer of Jumia Uganda has managed to take those customer care skills to the next level by using them to encompass even more stakeholders

Who is Dorah Bazirake Owiyo?

“I am the Chief Operations Officer for Jumia Uganda, a role I have been in for the past 3 years.

My job entails a lot, operations starts from the moment a customer places an order all the way up to when delivery is made. My job is to make sure all the stakeholders in between are happy, including the vendors. So for that I work closely with all departments to make sure everything is running smoothly.” she says

Dorah started off building a career in customer care for over 6 years – first in banking where she started as a customer service executive, worked in customer service for over 6 years. She specialized in making customers always cared for and happy.

“ After I left the bank, I decided to pursue one of my other passions – fashion & design. I enjoy all things that involve art & design so I got into making dresses as well as interior design. While I enjoyed being an entrepreneur, I decided to pursue a career with Jumia because I wanted to have a better understanding of the start up industry having just started one myself.” Dorah added.

At Jumia, she started off by doing what she loves – customer experience. As the head of customer experience she was in charge of making sure customers had an all round great experience when shopping on the app, from the shopping experience on the app, down to the prices of products before she worked her way up to her current role – Chief Operations Officer.

Like every job, it has its challenges, you have to be flexible, quick on your feet to make sure things happen effectively & also to guide the teams. But my passion and experience keep me going.

On what it means working as a woman in a role, she says she strives everyday to challenge stereotypes people have about the role.

“E-commerce is one of those industries where your mind and work speaks for itself – we still have to bridge the gap in terms of women challenging themselves more and being more outspokenHowever I am glad that I have been given a place on the table to make changes and be part of the problem solving.

Day in, Dorah works to challenge any stereotypes & boost the confidence of the women that work with her because it is important to make sure they never feel less than or doubt their skills and capabilities.

Career advice for young women

As women we have more expectations put against us, to take care of ourselves, our homes, our careers but we are naturally graced with the skill to multitask so my advice would be to stay focused, know what you want and don’t be afraid to to challenge the status quo.