PowerGen Renewable Energy is a micro-grid developer and Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) company for Commercial and Industrial (C&I) solar projects in Africa. PowerGen is creating an African energy system that utilizes clean, renewable energy and smarter grids to deliver power to all. 

We uniquely combine our mission – to build Africa’s future energy system, while improving lives through smarter power – with technical, on-the-ground expertise and an innovative business model. We build, own and operate AC micro-grids and C&I solar projects to bring power to residential, commercial and industrial customers. With over 120 employees, a 7,500 sq. ft. workshop and headquarters in Nairobi, offices in Tanzania, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, PowerGen is building a company that is set to have an impact on the energy sector in Africa for years to come.

Reporting to the Nigeria Customer Experience Manager, the Productive Use Business Development Lead will primarily be responsible for implementing initiatives to stimulate demand for power and grow revenues at PowerGen minigrid sites. Your primary focus will be on deploying “Productive Uses of Energy” (PUE) in a way that grows electricity demand, improves minigrid utilization, grows revenues of the micro-utility model, and empowers consumers to generate more income.

As an entrepreneurial self-starter, you will develop and lead initiatives that facilitate PowerGen customers’ access to equipment, financing and training needed to increase their capacity to consume electricity and bolster income. PUE projects will focus primarily on energy services such as agro-processing, industry and transport that can be catalyzed by the arrival of reliable power, with the dual objective of strengthening the profitability of the mini-grid business model and improving economic outcomes for the communities we serve. This will involve collecting data from customers, creating business proposals, cultivating strategic partnerships, implementing pilot projects to prove out new opportunities, and then working to institutionalize our PUE strategy so it becomes replicable and scalable across PowerGen’s pipeline of mini-grid sites in Nigeria. You will work closely with the Customer Team, Engineering, Project Execution, and Commercial Development teams both in Nigeria and the head office level. 

What You'll Make Happen:

• Own the ideation,  evaluation, and delivery of new business opportunities linked to the arrival of mini grid power in rural communities, including data collection for scoping new opportunities, developing proposals for go/no-go decisions, strategic sourcing of equipment, marketing and sales to customers, project implementation, monitoring and evaluation 

• Capture and institutionalize PowerGen’s strategy for deploying new business opportunities in a way that is scalable across our Nigeria portfolio, sharing learnings across Customer and Commercial Development, head office and affiliated companies

• Work with the Nigeria Customer Team to ensure effective marketing, broad community buy-in, high repayment rates, and high Customer Satisfaction with PUE services

• Support the Commercial Development team with modeling PUE contributions to portfolio-wide commercial projections

• Support the Engineering team in sizing mini grid systems that accommodate PUEs

• Identify and lead strategic partnerships across public and private sectors, academia, suppliers, service providers and grant funders that support new business development, productive uses of energy, and value-added services

• Represent PowerGen at industry events, and identify and cultivate strategic partnerships

• Coordinate with Project Execution, Customer and O&M teams to deliver projects on-time and within budget

• Lead the monitoring and evaluation of commercial, technical and customer related KPIs and effects of PUEs on asset performance

• Institutionalize lessons learnt from PUE projects and prepare them for scaling across the Nigeria portfolio

• Engaging closely with internal teams to ensure that Business Development work supports our customer and commercial goals (i.e. techno-economic analysis of projects and solutions, customer satisfaction surveys)

• Supporting R&D efforts for new customer-facing Business Development projects, which may include customer surveys, sourcing and testing appliances

• Preparing and managing team budgets

• Championing health, safety, and environmental standards across the company

• University degree in Business, Project Management, Rural Development, Energy or a related field

• 3+ years of experience in business management, energy access, agriculture, community health or a related field 

• Entrepreneurial self-starter requiring minimal oversight on deadlines and deliverables

• Exceptional writing and communication abilities in English and any Nigerian language

• Strong organizational and communication skills to coordinate across teams in a complex business environment, build internal support and momentum for projects, and interface with external partners

• Proficiency in Word, PowerPoint, Excel and/or their Google equivalents

• Basic financial analysis and modeling abilities are strongly preferred

  • Existing technical knowledge in solar PV, off-grid batteries, and distribution networks in Africa strongly preferred

  • Experience managing small business or project budgets

  • Comfort working within a small, growing company with aggressive growth targets