As part of a planned move of its headquarters to Kansas City and a service revamp, Sprint prepaid Virgin Mobile brand is looking to fill various positions
Sprint’s long-simmering plans to alter the direction of its Virgin Mobile USA prepaid brand took another step forward as the carrier said it is looking to fill more than 50 positions by year-end at the division’s new headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri.
The new headquarters is set to be completed by the end of this year, housed in a new office space near Sprint’s headquarters in Overland Park, Kansas. Sprint noted the downtown location aligned with its planned evolution of the Virgin Mobile USA brand.
“Kansas City has an emphasis on entrepreneurship and technology, especially in the downtown and crossroads areas, which fits exactly with the direction for the new Virgin Mobile,” said Dow Draper, Virgin Mobile USA CEO, in a statement. “It is a vibrant place to live and work, giving us the ability to attract a world-class team with experience across multiple industries to become part of the global Virgin family.”
Sprint announced earlier this year plans to take the division in a new direction, with the carrier last month claiming the move will “launch new, groundbreaking, best-in-class services to reach new market segments for Sprint.” The carrier said the move would bring the “Virgin Way” to the current mobile space.
“Our CEO, Marcelo Claure, continues to lead Sprint with more of a startup mentality,” said Draper. “The latest example is carving Virgin Mobile USA out to act more independently, including the ability to experiment with new business models, as well as the opportunity to use different technology and service partners. We are a unique brand, and I look forward to building out our team with the best local and national talent to be part of our exciting new venture.”
Sprint said its nationwide employee search included “executive-level positions,” although most will be focused in “marketing, customer experience delivery,” website design and management. Draper last month was named head of the new Virgin Mobile USA business, with the legacy operations lumped together with Sprint’s Boost Mobile and branded prepaid divisions under the new leadership of former Ntelos CEO Jim Hyde.
Sprint’s prepaid businesses lost a collective 264,000 net connections during the first three months of the year, which was hit by outsized customer churn of 5.65% for the quarter.
The prepaid segment has become increasingly competitive among domestic wireless carriers, with T-Mobile US through its MetroPCS brand and AT&T Mobility through its Cricket Wireless brands heavily targeting the market. Even Verizon Wireless, which has traditionally taken a cautious approach to the prepaid segment, has attempted to increase its presence in the space.
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