Chief Operating Officer at PowerGen Renewable Energy

Location: Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, or Sierra Leone

Start date: Immediate

Reports to: CEO

PowerGen’s Business

PowerGen’s business extends along the entire life cycle of a utility in Africa. This breadth enables PowerGen to maximize control over our own success as we work to build a new sector or private utilities in Africa. We are actively building the leading private utility through both mini-grids and commercial solar projects.

Within the mini-grid sector, we are engaged throughout the value chain:

• Consulting:
  • Advising govt’s and donors
  • Undertaking feasibility studies
  • Designing regulatory policies
  • Designing electrification incentive programs
• Development:
• Sourcing micro-grid sites
• Designing micro-grids
• Community engagement
• Government engagement
• Permitting
• Customer acquisition
• Engineering, procurement & construction:
• Engineering
• Procurement
• Inventory
• Logistics
• Fabrication of power units
• Project management
• Customer & Asset Management:
• Energy retail to customers
• Customer call centers
• Technical support / O&M
• Demand stimulation
• Appliance financing
• “Smart Grid as a Service”

Within the commercial solar sector, we are primarily engaged as technical partners, EPCs, and O&M providers to developers.

PowerGen undertakes these activities in 4 core countries (Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone), as well as other countries in Africa. Organizationally, the Business Units for each country are the prime movers at PowerGen, and each have their own autonomous P&Ls and Business Unit managers. They are supported by Supporting Business Units of two types (Operational and Revenue), which are based in Nairobi, Kenya.

Responsibilities of the COO

• Reporting directly to the CEO, the COO will be responsible for strategic leadership, Business Unit development and oversight, coordinating interfaces among Business Units and Supporting Business Units, team and culture building, and core operational functions.
• The responsibilities of the COO are summarized below:
• Spearhead the company to achieve and surpass business KPIs for revenue, profitability, and customer satisfaction across all markets
• Lead and architect PowerGen’s core Supporting Business Units (SBUs), particularly our SBU Project Execution (Engineering, Supply Chain, Project Management, O&M), Customer, and Business Systems teams
• Lead the operational rollout of country Business Units (BUs) in new markets, supported by the SBUs, and manage country BU leaders
• Build and manage a world-class team united by PowerGen Values
• Drive clarity of purpose throughout the company using KPIs, budgets, and effective methods of accountability
• Ensure that technical and customer service standards are upheld throughout the company
• Recruit and develop managers throughout the company to increase their capacity and drive retention of key personnel
• Represent the company with external investors and partners
• Collaborate effectively with the CEO and other key senior leadership at the company, including Finance, People Operations, and Technology

Qualifications

• Ready for a C-suite role at a growing company, tackling a very complex but important challenge
• Strong track record of managing and growing teams, establishing systems and KPIs, and driving both revenue and profitability
• Strong emotional intelligence and a team player – you know how to bring people with you
• Analytical and data-driven
• A change agent: excited about continuous improvement and not content with maintaining status quo
• Gritty and tough enough to lead by example in a challenging market
• Experience working in Africa (being African is a strong plus)
• Passionate about being a senior leader at a small company that is redefining energy access in Africa
• Our Values resonate with yours: Team, Humility, Positivity, Ingenuity, Passion, Integrity

Benefits and Compensation

Competitive and commensurate with experience.