JOIN THE FIGHT AGAINST ENERGY POVERTY!
BBOXX is a UK-based Next Generation Utility company providing affordable, reliable and clean energy solutions to meet off-grid customers’ energy needs. We are fully vertically integrated, controlling every part of our customer experience. With over 2,000,000 people having access to Bboxx clean energy in Africa and diversification into clean cooking underway, we have 1,000+ staff working across five offices in Europe, Asia and Africa – who are waking up every morning to transform the lives of our customers and to unlock their potential.
BBOXX’ Power DC product range currently comprises closed DC SHS in three standardized sizes – packaged with appliances such as lights, torch, radio, TV, phone or laptop charger, fan, fridge and shaver. Additional system sizes with lithium-ion (instead of lead-acid) batteries and new appliances are under development. Power DC products account for the lion’s share of B2B revenues and are the entry point for other offerings to rural and peri-urban households in our main markets
Title: Product Manager Power DC
Reports to: Director Product Innovation
Direct reports: Product Analysts/Associates for small (Flexx10-40, bPower10-20) and large (bPower 50-300+) solar home systems as well as solar appliances
Location: Kigali -Africa HQ office with regular travel to London, UK and Guangzhou, China
Role Brief: The Power DC Product Manager (PPM) owns the vision and roadmap of the BBOXX solar home systems product range. The PPM ensures the commercial success of the Power DC range by constantly validating user requirements and development costing versus market potential and future predictable revenue. He/she is accountable for coordinating all product definition, development and introduction activities across the relevant departments in a matrix approach. The PPM must also have a strong understanding of business processes since continuously improving unit economics requires both the optimization of the product and the processes around it.
Key interactions: The PPM works with key stakeholders in the Product, Capital and Corporate divisions to understand and prioritize the needs of our B2B customers and to get those needs translated into requirements that will allow to build and source new solar panels, batteries or appliances that help our local operating companies achieve their business objectives. Regular interactions within the Product Division occur with the Hardware Development and Supply Chain teams as well as with the Software Delivery squads since our Pulse platform for “next-generation utilities” (NGUs) must be adapted as our hardware product range expands or changes to also include third party services.
About the Role
Defining the vision, strategy and long-term roadmap
- Formulate the Power DC vision and create buy-in both at Group and NGU-level
- Set the commercial objectives and the strategic direction for the product range
- Agree the Power DC roadmap internally with key stakeholders in all divisions
- Support the Capital Division with fundraising activities (grant applications, etc.)
Determining customer demand and market potential
- Understand and represent SHS user needs throughout the product lifecycle
- Analyze the business problems underlying NGU requests (“customer voice”)
- Monitor the market and analyze competition, taking action on product gaps
- Create the business case for new Power DC systems and appliances or updates
Managing product design using human-centered approach
- Prioritize product features and use cases by target segment
- Build prototypes to test new features and evaluate test results
- Work with the Device team to turn prototype results into detailed requirements
- Coordinate with the Supply Chain team to source appliances or components
- Work with SW Product Manager/Owners on adapting Pulse to new products
- Assess integrations of our hardware with third party software (or vice versa)
Planning NGU implementation and commercialization
- Propose competitive pricing and give input on B2B positioning strategies
- Understand and improve business processes for the B2C customer journey
- Support go-to-market planning for new product launches (“product packs”)
- Work with Experience Managers on the pilot brief and rollout across NGUs
- Create and track KPIs to assess commercial success of the product range
Facilitate the Product Board for Power DC
- Submit the P&L to the Product Board and coordinate the overall budget
- Align legal, financial and accounting teams around the product success
- Recommend key strategic decisions to the Executive and review roadmap
- Follow up on action items with the team of Product Associates/Analysts
Qualifications
At least 3-5 years of experience as a commercially driven product manager (preferably in the off-grid energy sector) working closely with Engineering and Supply Chain teams
Demonstrated track record of successfully expanding an existing product range into new geographies and demographies
Excitement for running a cross-functional team and aptitude to communicate remotely
Ability to quickly learn about new business areas, critically think through different use cases, synthesize requirements and present new ideas effectively at all levels of the organization
Good working knowledge of the human-centred design approach
Strong analytical, quantitative, problem-solving and project management skills
Excellent time management and organizational skills, with a strong ability to prioritize
Attention to detail even when working under pressure
Master’s degree in business administration, engineering or other relevant discipline is a plus
Application Process
Please upload your CV and answer few questions via our online application platform: https://bboxx.csod.com/ux/ats/careersite/4/home/requisition/1164?c=bboxx . Qualified candidates will be contacted with information regarding the next steps.
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, so we encourage you to apply ASAP.
The deadline for applications is August 24th 2021.
