Amazon is hiring talent in South Africa ahead of its e-commerce service launch in 2024

You never know, luck might be on your side as we head into 2024. Amazon is currently on the lookout for 50 full-time employees and one seasonal recruit in South Africa, coinciding with its plans to create a marketplace in the region.

Among the several positions advertised are a customer service lead, a B-BBEE senior program manager, a transportation and fulfilment manager, and various roles within vendor and supply chain management for its South African division.

On October 17th, 2023, Amazon revealed their plans for a 2024 launch of Amazon.co.za, facilitating a platform for South African merchants to connect with customers across the country.

In their announcement, Amazon highlighted how over 60% of their platform’s sales come from independent, especially small to medium-sized, business owners. Starting from now, it added, independent South African sellers can register their businesses on their Amazon seller portal.

Amazon’s general manager for the Sub-Saharan Africa region, Robert Koen, expressed his excitement about introducing Amazon in South Africa, saying the move would offer opportunities to local sellers, entrepreneurs and brand owners – large and small.

Despite facing several setbacks over the years, including from legal challenges and a tough global tech scenario, and being rumored for a while, Amazon’s launch in 2024 will allow independent sellers across the region an opportunity to quickly launch, expand, and scale up their businesses by leveraging Amazon’s innovative capabilities.

However, Amazon is expected to face formidable competition from the local online marketplace, Takealot.com, which is prepared for the competition. Moreover, Amazon will have to comply with the competition policies and restrictions recently imposed by the Competition Commission, explaining that these rules would apply to any newcomers in the South African online marketplace sector, Amazon included.

The table below summarizes some of the latest positions available at Amazon in South Africa. The number of open posts per category is provided in brackets.