Product Researcher

Organization
Okra Solar
Location
Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria
Job Type
3-month contract
Where to Apply
https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/4353104996/
Tags
Contract, Full-time

Overview

At Okra Solar, we’re on a mission to bring Power to the People by unlocking opportunities through energy access for everyone in the world.

Over 650 million people still live without electricity. At a time where technology such as mobile devices, productive agritech and AI are becoming more accessible than ever, we believe that access to energy is the first step toward opportunity and growth.

That’s why we build our Mesh Grid technology that energizes off-grid households at a fraction of the cost of the other solutions. We build the hardware and software, that we sell to local energy companies who deploy our tech to deliver affordable, reliable electricity as a service last-mile communities.

In order to execute on the mission to 100% energy access for all – we are looking for a software product researcher in Abuja to be a bridge between our customers and the rest of our product team and ensure our software products meet real customer needs as we establish Mesh-Grids as a world-class technology! This will be a 3 month contract to do deep-dive research into our customers, how they use our software, and opportunities to drive more value.

If you’re excited about technology that creates tangible impact, love engaging and spending time with customers, and want to help shape the future of energy access, you could be the right person to join us.

Responsibilities

This contract exists to capture the needs, pains, and journeys of our customers — and ultimately enable the product team to use your research to shape the future of our software. You’ll spend time with developers, technicians, and end-users, translate feedback into insights, and help the product team build things that actually work in the Nigerian context.

  • Understand the whole software product deeply
  • Major deliverables are customer research-based. This requires – planning and conducting interviews, shadowing, field-testing, etc.. Join customer-facing meetings or trainings to observe, dissect, and capture customer needs and pains.
  • Quickly learn from a user’s confusion, misuse, or even silence, and capture those insights
  • Translate feedback and field notes into distilled insights and recommendations with the rest of the Product team
  • Field time – spend time in customer offices, field offices, warehouses, and villages to engage with the end-to-end journey from sales to installation to ongoing usage and maintenance.
  • Get early software prototypes into end-user hands for feedback, observation of real-world usage, testing assumptions, and identifying risks early
  • Need to be comfortable handling software prototypes.
  • Collaborate closely with the product team to ultimately influence key roadmap and design decisions

Required Skills

We are looking for someone who has skills in some, if not all of these areas:

  • 3+ years in customer-facing roles that also required field work, interviewing, product research, or something similar
  • Experience working in or around software, energy, infrastructure, mobility, fintech, etc. Familiarity with Nigeria market constraints, and with rural context.
  • Intuition for UX – thinks about customer journeys, painpoints, identifies friction or confusion
  • Product mindset – asks “why”, doesn’t just listen to what customers say they want on the surface
  • Patient, observant, and curious – you’re not trying to sell or convince someone of your perspectives, you’re trying to learn and understand the customer needs
  • Diligent in communicating and documenting findings

Nice-to-Have

  • Experience in an international startup environment or multi-national company
  • Training in user research, product discovery, service design

Benefits

• Flexible location & Hours

• Professional Growth

• Health Insurance

• Unlimited Paid Time Off

• Dynamic & Diverse Workplace

• Additional and Flexible Parental Leave

DEI Statement

At Okra we are dedicated to creating a diverse and inclusive environment where everyone feels valued, respected, supported and empowered. Our workplace is an interconnected network, where each individual contributes to the energy that drives innovation, fosters collaboration, and illuminates new possibilities. We are committed to recruiting, retaining, and developing a diverse team of talented professionals, and we welcome candidates of all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives to join us in our mission. Diversity brings power to our teams so we can bring #PowerToThePeople.