NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

About Husk Power Systems
Husk is one of the world’s leading rural energy providers. We provide low-cost and reliable power to rural households and businesses, entirely from renewable energy sources. Powering economic possibilities in every village is at the heart of everything we do.

We design, build and operate the lowest cost hybrid (solar and biomass) power plant and distribution network in India and Africa. To date, Husk has provided electricity to over 15,000 homes and business, reducing 95,000 tonnes of CO2. Our aim is to provide 30MW of power to 225,000 customers by 2025, and save 350,000 tonnes of CO2 each year.

Role Summary
Husk is seeking a Business Operations Manager to join the growing team in Nigeria. This individual will play an integral role in ensuring the effective, efficient, and timely implementation of all support activities across our business lines and for operations of various mini grid sites, delivery of EPC installations and sales of Energy Efficient Appliances. We are looking for someone who has experience within the Nigerian context and understands the need for a robust Business Operations Strategy. The individual should also be passionate about contributing to solving one of Nigeria’s most critical challenges – energy access deficit. This position provides the opportunity to join a growing team that is changing the face of rural electrification in many countries in Asia and Africa, including India, Tanzania, Nigeria etc.

Key Responsibilities
General
Play a key role as a member of the Management Team in crafting a robust Business Operations Strategy.
Work closely with the Country Manager and other members of the Nigerian Management Team to deliver on business objectives.
Support the optimization of various Husk NG activities to ensure best practices are entrenched towards more efficient processes.
Support in driving “Best Practices” across the business. Once a “Best Practice” has been identified, ensure that the practice is visible nationally and to another subsidiary.
Support in negotiating solutions, resolve conflicts and provide solutions in the best interest of Husk Power Systems, and our clients and employees across potential mini grid (and other) locations.
Understand the priorities of the country operations and support the Country Team when necessary
Provide requisite support and inputs on building and aligning various company processes and policies according to global best practices.
Other duties as may be assigned from time to time.

Business Operations
Implement and support company policies, practices and programs alongside the Nigeria MT.
Support the planning and monitoring of the day to day running of the business to ensure smooth progress.
Provide direct support to Heads, Business Managers and/or budget holders on all business operations related needs.
Ensure all relevant permits – ESIA, Land Lease, NERC etc – for effective mini grid deployment and operations are in place at all times.
Drive efforts at ensuring adherence to relevant policies and regulations within the power sector.
Develop and implement right processes and practices for whole operations in accordance with the legalities of the country.
Lead efforts in developing a robust security strategy for ensuring safety of assets and employees.
Co-manage with HR the day-to-day office operations; oversee and coordinate office activities and systems; and manage new, key strategic operations/admin initiatives, consistent with tasks associated with the smooth running of an office.
Design and implement a Process Oriented culture by driving the development and implementation of processes across the larger Team, regularly communicating learnings & best practices.

Business Analysis
Prepare and share regular status reports for Business Planning on status of core businesses with a focus on targets, performance management and highlighting key needs for each rolling quarter.
Provide information-model as well as analyze & interpret data sets, patterns or trends for regular inputs for strategic business decision making.
Own the creation and maintenance of reporting dashboards using relevant data and inputs from internal (and external) sources.

Business Growth and Support
Ensure support for other Business Units to ensure alignment with contracting, procurement and operational outlook.
Align with the Finance Team (local and global) to ensure cost optimization strategies are formulated and implement across various cost lines.
Design and influence adoption by the Finance (and other relevant) team of tools for local management information and reporting purposes.
Support HR in identifying, recruiting and onboarding of new employees as well as in the training/development needs related to core business operations for capacity building purposes.
Identify and track financial KPIs across core business functions with the goal to build on performance delivery quarter-on-quarter.
Support Procurement Team on identifying and securing vendors and suppliers with better payment terms for core business component delivery.
Support business growth and continuous cost & quality improvements in the business.

Stakeholder Management
Coordinate, maintain regular communication, and develop positive and productive relationships with various community groups/stakeholders, regulatory stakeholders, customer/client groups etc.
Support effective relationships with all regulatory stakeholders – NERC, NEMSA, Ministry of Power, Ministry of Environment & other principal actors across several states where Husk operates.

Organizational Strategy
Actively contribute to the development of company’s Business plan, ensuring alignment with global directions.
Support in crafting a succession planning strategy to ensure continuity for critical positions.
Assist the Country Manager and other Business Unit Heads in stakeholder engagements and building partnerships.
Contribute towards long-term organizational strategic goals, build key relationships, identify business opportunities, negotiate and support the end-to-end process for business deals.

General Skills & Attributes
Ability to develop and update professional knowledge and skills quickly and efficiently. Ability to apply professional knowledge and skills in the advancement of business objectives.
Proven proactive approach to systems integration and management.
Quickly and successfully implements changes and improvements in operational activities and services.
Effectively carries out tasks that are required by the Global Leadership and Nigeria Management team in addition to carrying out own role.
Adapts to changes in company strategy whilst developing own strategy to achieve personal goals of competently owning and managing processes.
Has a collaborative attitude and the ability to drive that through across other business units and work functions.
Understands company strategy and vision and is able to drive that through across to other employees across the organization.
Assesses own development needs and develops self to improve job performance and fulfil future potential. Contributes to the team ethos and instilling the values of Company.
The ability to evaluate and convey complex information to others in an effective manner through concise communication skills and clear presentation skills in both verbal and written contexts.
Should possess requisite skill sets- active listening, speaking, reading, comprehension, critical thinking, performance monitoring, time management, people management, material resource management, effective time management, judgment and decision making, teaching, coaching, and social awareness.
Should possess knowledge of applicable regulations and standards, customer and personal service, administration and management.

Physical Demands
Have full range of mobility in upper and lower body
Could work in outdoor weather conditions at certain times
Have adequate visual and hearing acuity to follow instructions; and determine accuracy of the work assigned
Ability to work in rural, peri-urban locations as required
Ability to drive a vehicle during the normal course of business. Must possess a driver’s licence, maintain a clean driving record with the ability to pass a driving background check.

Does this sound like you?
Graduate from a leading institution with a related degree in Engineering, Sciences or Social Sciences. Postgraduate degree and/or related professional qualifications, a plus.
At least 5 years of experience in a similar role within the power sector,
A clearly defined strategic thought process and a continuous improvement mindset with excellent problem-solving skills.
Must have experience managing and coordinating large multi-cultural teams towards achieving common goal and objectives.
This position requires risk analysis, critical thinking, excellent analytical skills and the ability to provide time-bound solutions to the benefit of the company, and projects.
Lead by example and offer support/co-ordination to company workflow as required.
Operationally focused; detailed oriented but able to grasp big picture.
Excellent skills with MS Excel, MS Word, MS PowerPoint and project management tools (MS Project, Asana, Slack etc), plus data analysis/reporting tools (Excel, Power BI etc)
Business level fluency in major Nigerian languages, a plus
Dependability, attention to detail, cooperation, stress tolerance, concern for others, initiative, leadership, self-control, and independence are the desired pre-requisites.

Also;

You are driven to support the delivery of business growth in a new market.
You have a robust industry network and understand effective client engagement practices.
You are an effective planner and have a strong orientation to process
You building strong relationship built on trust, and are a strong verbal communicator
You pride your communication skills.
Most importantly, candidate must fit company spirit where people work smart, play hard, have fun and are dedicated to success.

If Yes, then we have a role fitting your ideals!!