Who we are
M-KOPA is the world’s leading pay-as-you-go “PayGo’” energy provider to off gridhomes. We’ve developed a better way to provide affordable, safe and clean energyto millions of people. It was the first company to launch a SIM-enabled pay-as-yougo solar system anywhere in the world. M-KOPA is now one of the fastest growingpower providers in Africa, connecting solar to 500 new homes each day. Every night,hundreds of thousands of homes and 2.5 million people in East Africa are using anM-KOPA Solar home system.
From this foundation, M-KOPA has launched a highly successful PayGo phoneproduct in partnership with Samsung and Nokia. Our phone is a key new product linefor the company. The phone can be our customer’s first stand-alone product, or itcan be a purchased following good payment history with one of our solar products.
In June 2017, M-KOPA was named on MIT Technology Review’s 2017 list of 50Smartest Companies. In March 2016, M-KOPA emerged boldest at the FinancialTimes Arcelor Mittal – Boldness In Business Awards in the developing marketscategory. In February 2016, M-KOPA was recognized as the Best Mobile Innovationfor Emerging Markets at the Global Mobile Awards. In 2015, M-KOPA was recognizedby Fortune Magazine as one of the Top 50 Companies Changing the World and wonthe Zayed Future Energy Prize.
M-KOPA is backed by leading growth-stage investors including:
• The CDC group - UK’s development Finance Institution that has invested in1,245 businesses throughout Africa and South Asia. They were founded in1948, making them the world's oldest DFI.
• Generation Investment Management LLP (GIM) - A London-based investmentmanagement firm with over $10bn assets under management and aninvestment style that focuses on both commercial and sustainability factors.Generation was founded in 2004 by former US Vice President Al Gore andformer Goldman Sachs Asset Management CEO David Blood.
• Stanbic Bank – One of the leading financial services organizations that aimsto be the leading corporate and investment banking business in, for andacross Africa.
The role
M-KOPA is seeking a
Senior Product Manager
for the M-KOPA Mobile Product. Thisrole sits at the nexus between the business and technology to drive the softwaredevelopment for our most important product. The essential functions of the mobilesoftware product include secure device locking, customer acquisition andregistration, account management, and mobile money payment integrations withour telecom partners. Our goal is for the M-KOPA mobile application to become apersonalized hub for our customers, allowing them to manage their loans, view theirbalances, pay for their products in installments, request and upgrade to newservices, and support their financial development. While there has always beensoftware that allows M-KOPA to control the devices that we offer, the M-KOPA mobile product represents a fundamental shift towards managing customer facingsoftware products across the business.
Responsibilities
You will be the owner of the M-KOPA Mobile Software Product.
You will hear big ideas from all corners of the business and distill them intoour mobile product roadmap.
You will help many business stakeholders come to consensus on backlogprioritization and clarify relevant trade-offs.
You will manage the product to achieve goals and hit feature launchtimelines.
You are an excellent collaborator. You will find the right methods tocommunicate with internal stakeholders to gather feature requirements,share updates on timelines, design around constraints, carefully manageexpectations, and craft appropriate communications for the appropriateaudience.
Likewise, you will collaborate closely with engineering during thedevelopment cycle to make judgment calls as engineering constraints arise,with a bias towards shipping valuable work each sprint and iterativelyimproving on it later.
You will become the authority on our mobile software, a resource for othersin the company to rely on.
You will work closely with market research teams to understand user needs,define a vision for the product, and advocate for the voice of the customerthroughout the product lifecycle.
To get a broad array of stakeholders aligned and invested, you will draft andpresent “product brief” and process map documentation to outline high-levelscope for Epic and Feature level work.
You will write feature specifications in user stories along with acceptancecriteria in Gherkin syntax format.
Using agile product process, you will move the user stories throughrefinement to meet our definition of ready.
You enjoy communicating visually. You are comfortable refining wireframesand process maps to guide product design. From there, you will actively drivethe design process with our nascent product designer, and perhaps outsidedesigners.
You will stay up to date with the requirements that our grant obligationsplace on our software roadmap and advocate for language in our grantproposals that is best for our core business.
You lead by example, modeling Product Management best practices for theproduct team and the business. You are comfortable advocating for processimprovements that will clear the path for you to do your best work.
Required Experience:
Required education: No requirement
Required relevant work experience: 4 years, including 1 year on a native mobile app
Required languages: English (Spoken: fluent | Written: fluent)
Preferred Experience:
Preferred education: Masters of Business Administration
Preferred relevant work experience: 6 years, mostly on native mobile apps
Preferred languages: Fluent in English and proficient in a national language from oneof our target markets
PLEASE NOTE:
M-KOPA Solar is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer committed toassembling a diverse, broadly trained staff. Women, minorities and people withdisabilities are strongly encouraged to apply. In compliance with applicable laws andin furtherance of its commitment to fostering an environment that welcomes andembraces diversity, M-KOPA does not discriminate on the basis of race, colour,creed, religion, national origin, sex (including pregnancy and parenting status),disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status orgenetic information in its programs or activities, including employment.
M-KOPA, as a policy, does not collect/charge any money as a pre-employment orpost-employment requirement. This means that we never ask for ‘recruitment fees’,‘processing fees’, ‘interview fees’ or any other kind of money in exchange for offerletters or interviews at any time during the hiring process.
Job Requirements
Required education
: Post-graduate education
Required relevant work experience
: 3 years
Required languages:
English (Spoken: fluent | Written: fluent)
Mandatory attachments
Please have a scan or photo of these documents ready when you start the application:
Self-prepared CV file
- the employer wants to see a CV that you have prepared yourself
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