Expansion Manager at BURN Manufacturing

BURN is seeking an Expansion Manager for West Africa, who will be responsible for BURN’s expansion strategy and incubation of operations in West Africa new markets.

The position is responsible for balancing immediate resources, ROI, and the long-term potential of the new countries that BURN expands into.

The Expansion Manager is also responsible for assessing potential and prioritizing all new markets.

The position entails the following duties & responsibilities:

• Strategy: Assess, prioritize, and develop the route-to-market for new countries. Consult with and advise senior management regularly on expansion strategy and necessary actions.
• Operations: Manage all operations in incubation countries – including management of staff, logistics, sales, marketing, and business setup.
• P&L: Own the budget and spending of each incubation country.
• ROI: Keep track of running and forecasted ROI for incubation countries, and appropriate talent and cash resources accordingly.
• HR: Recruit and train country managers for incubation countries together with the HR department.
• Business Development: Assist country managers in developing and managing new distribution partnerships.
• Sales and Marketing: Together with the VPs of Sales & Marketing, develop appropriate sales and marketing strategies & tactics for each new market.
• Market Research: Working with the market research department as needed, research and track potential new markets according to new market entry criteria. Manage projects conducting test sales in these markets.
• Reporting: Produce monthly reports for the senior management team highlighting new market potential, forecasts, successes & failures, and path forward.
• New Product Development: Advise the product design team with respect to new product development and market needs and desires in incubation countries.

Skills and Experience

Essential:

• 3+ years Sales and/or Operations Mid to Senior level Management Experience (E)
• B2B sales, route-to-market, and supply chain, and new business development experience (E)
• Ability to produce and present professional Strategy, reports, accurate forecasts, and oversee channel sales plans (E)
• Communication skills in both written and spoken English and French (E)
• Bachelor’s Degree from University (E). Master’s Degree / MBA is a plus (D)

Desired:

• 2 years Sales or Operations Experience in West Africa (D)
• Experience with sales/marketing of physical products (D) Durable Goods is a plus (D)
• 2+ years’ experience successfully developing operations in a new market (D)
• Sales/Marketing Data Analysis experience (D)

Based in Kenya, BURN designs, produces and distributes East Africa’s best-selling, most durable and economical charcoal and wood cookstoves that also dramatically reduce harmful smoke emissions which can cause significant health problems, even death.

Not only does BURN sell the world’s most fuel-efficient charcoal and wood household stoves, but we are also the only cookstove company that manufactures all its products in sub-Saharan Africa’s only state-of-the-art clean cookstove manufacturing facility.

Since 2013, BURN has sold 650,000+ Jikokoa ™ stoves in East Africa. These stoves have helped 3,000,000 beneficiaries save $215 million in fuel expenditures and 2.6 million tons of wood while reducing indoor air pollution by 65%. BURN currently sells ~25,000 stoves per month and are on track to double sales over the next 12 months by expanding its successful model across Africa. BURN has 300 employees and also expects strong growth in the number of employees in the coming years.

BURN is now poised to bring its revolutionary biomass cookstoves - as well as a new range of electric, hybrid, and liquid fuel stoves - to Sub-Saharan Africa & beyond. Over the next 3 years BURN will enter into 6 new countries and launch 5 new products.

BURN is a corruption-free business, and in accordance with its graft policy, there is zero tolerance for giving or receiving bribes or allowing any other undue influence on our operations. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.