DIRECTOR, MINIGRID BUSINESS

About Us

Husk Power Systems (“Husk”) is an award-winning clean energy company serving rural India and Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2023, it was named “World’s Best Challenger Brand” in the energy industry and is a 3-time Global Cleantech 100 company. The company’s AI-powered rural energy platform provides 24/7 renewable power to rural households, commercial customers, institutions, and small factories. It also delivers a range of other products and services, including e-commerce and credit financing of branded appliances for home and commercial use, as well as community-based solutions for e-mobility and the agricultural value chain. Husk’s mission is to supercharge economic growth and social well-being in rural communities that are unserved and underserved.

Husk Values

Safety; Honesty and Integrity; Mutual Respect; Frugal Innovation; Quality and Reliability; Excellence as an Attitude; We > I; Fail Fast and Learn Faster.

Husk is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to diversity and inclusion and welcomes all applicants regardless of age, disability, gender, marital status, pregnancy and maternity, race, or religion. Husk is committed to improving gender balance within its teams in India and globally. Female candidates are therefore highly encouraged to apply even if not all requirements are met.

Benefits

Husk offers flexible working conditions with employee benefits that are in line with global best practices. These include clear career growth planning, transparent annual review processes that are gender inclusive, maternity, and paternity leave, gender-inclusive workplace conditions, family health insurance, and regular training to assist employees grow in and to their next roles. Husk does not believe in micro-management and encourages its employees to have a healthy work-life balance, hence giving them the freedom to manage their workload to be compatible with their life.

Position Name: Director, Minigrid Business

Division/Function: Minigrids

Job Location: Abuja, Nigeria requires some travel across other Husk locations

Reports to: Country Director

Role Summary

Husk is recruiting for a Director for its Minigrid Business to help expand its footprint within Nigeria and across other parts of sub-Saharan Africa. We seek a highly motivated individual with clear understanding of P&L ownership for our rapidly developing minigrids’ business, and a total commitment to safety and the customer. The candidate must be committed to executing at a very high level in a fast-paced environment, with a strong leadership mindset and non-negotiable self-starter capability.

The Director, Minigrid Business will be accountable for the MiniGrid Team's financial performance in partnership with the Country Director and is required to drive continuous business growth. This position provides the opportunity to join a growing team that is changing the face of rural electrification in Nigeria and Asia.

Key responsibilities:

General

• Manage, motivate, and mentor other team members along with others to create a positive, constructive, and performance-driven dynamic, while driving efficiencies.
• Drive strategic vision and direction for the Minigrid Business in Nigeria.
• Drive “Best Practices” across the business. Once a “Best Practice” has been identified, ensure that the practice is visible nationally and to another subsidiary.
• Managing sales operations with a focus on achieving predefined revenue objectives. Forecasting and planning monthly, quarterly, and yearly business goals and executing them within given frame.
• Work closely with Heads of other Business Units to understand sales/business performance trends and position partnership engagements adequately.
• Act as a leader within the country. Understand the priorities of the country operations and support the Country Director and Heads of other Business Units when necessary.
• Support the optimization of various Husk Nigeria activities to ensure best practices are entrenched towards more efficient processes.

P&L Ownership

• Own and drive the P&L for minigrid business for Husk in Nigeria aligned with profitability and business objectives.
• Provide regular reporting on sales management, sales pipeline development, forecasting, key account status, market condition updates, sales results, and budget performance.

Business Growth

• Develop and implement robust sales and business management processes. Stringently monitor revenue pipeline to ensure revenue targets and achievements.
• Development of accurate segmentation and targeting of the market including identification of customer and market opportunities, market entry/expansion strategy, and establishing a balance of long-term pipeline and short-term revenue opportunities
• Create community market intelligence packs to drive customer sizing and customer pricing decisions.
• Support business growth and continuous cost & and quality improvements in the business.

Stakeholder Management

• Coordinate, maintain and develop positive, regular and productive relationships with various stakeholders – regulatory, local, customer groups, etc through regular engagement.
• Collaboration and convergence with all relevant internal teams and Senior Leadership to ensure the successful implementation of business plans towards achieving set objectives.

Team Leadership

• Build and maintain a high-performing team whilst promoting individual/team performance and a collaborative attitude across board.
• Drive and entrench a customer and safety first culture across the team ensuring business outcomes are met in alignment with high customer satisfaction and safety adherence expectations.

Thought Leadership

• Drive thought leadership engagements to ensure Husk maintains local visibility as an industry leader within the MiniGrids space.
• Represent Husk at relevant fora, industry events relevant to the minigrid business, its impact and growth trajectory.

Required Skills & Attributes

• 12+ years of relevant business management experience with strong techno-commercial expertise, with 5 years in a similar role within related sectors – energy, power, service sectors.
• Graduate from a leading institution with a related degree in Engineering, Sales, Business Management, etc. Postgraduate degree in business and/or related professional qualifications, a plus.
• A clearly defined strategic thought process and a continuous improvement mindset with excellent problem-solving skills.
• This position requires an in-depth understanding of business development, sales, critical thinking, and a self-starter attitude to solve challenges expediently.
• Hands-on experience driving business growth within service sector(s) focused on rural and peri-urban areas
• Great relationship management skills and an understanding of data analysis and forecasting methods.
• Excellent skills with MS Excel, MS Word, MS PowerPoint, and project management tools (MS Project, Asana, Slack, etc.) for expediting workflow and multiple workstreams.
• In-depth knowledge of the power sector in Nigeria, a plus.

Location and Travel

This role is based in Abuja, Nigeria and requires some travel to other Husk locations.

Salary

Negotiables based on experience. 

Women candidates are encouraged to apply.

DISCLAIMER:

This description indicates the general nature and level of the qualifications and duties required of employees in this job classification, as well as the essential functions a person must be able to perform to do this job. It is not designed to be a comprehensive inventory of all duties and qualifications required of employees assigned to this job.

Husk Power Systems and its subsidiaries are equal-opportunity employers and make employment decisions on the basis of merit and business needs. We hire without consideration of race, colour, religion, citizenship, political activity or affiliation, marital status, age, national origin, ancestry, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, sex or gender, or any other basis protected by law.