Vice President of Customer Sales and Marketing

Job description

PowerGen Renewable Energy is a micro-grid developer, implementer, and operator in East Africa, reshaping the prevailing rural electrification model in the region. PowerGen is creating an African energy system that utilizes clean, renewable energy and smarter grids to deliver power to all. 

Over the past 6 years, PowerGen has earned the reputation as the leader in renewable energy and micro-grids in East Africa. From an implementation standpoint we have installed more micro-grid than any other company in the region (over 40), and have by far the strongest operational capacity with a headcount of more than 80 employees. PowerGen also leads in terms of market development and thought leadership. We are frequently featured as speakers at industry events, have published widely read articles on the state of our sector, and are driving the organization of our industry through the establishment of a regional association of micro-grid developers

Customers are at the center of PowerGen’s business model. First, PowerGen must select and connect the best potential customers. Armed with proprietary customer data collected by PowerGen surveyors, the Grid Development team needs to choose which customer to connect to our micro-grids. Once they are connected, the Grid Operations team must exceed expectations and provide excellent customer service to maintain customers given alternative energy sources and providers.

PowerGen is working to move beyond basic service to provide premier customer service and engagement throughout our relationship with customers. Managing current customers involves quickly resolving all customer complaints as they arise, but is primarily focused on proactively engaging customers to improve their service quality and overall experience. There is a continued focus across the company to drive customer engagement projects to improve customer satisfaction and energy use. Some projects include: customer outreach methodology and execution (by phone, in person, surveys, etc.), electricity tariff education and marketing campaigns, strategies for detecting and discouraging fraud, improved customer selection criteria, etc.

As the lead of PowerGen’s Customer Sales & Marketing efforts you will be a key member of the team, focusing on understanding our East African customers who use electricity from our micro-grids each day and implementing programs to improve customer satisfaction and energy consumption.

What You’ll Make Happen:

• Develop a deep understanding of PowerGen customers and continue to refine PowerGen’s Value Proposition.
• Spend time in the field at micro-grid’s talking gathering customer insights, customer preferences, customer pain points, customer issues, customer desires, customer interests, etc.

• Build surveys and hold focus groups to further refine customer understanding.

• Develop a deep understanding of rural customers through quantitative and qualitative analysis.

• Work to understand customer payment reliability based on consumption behavior and payment patterns.

• Build an understanding of the impacts of events, seasons, promotions, tariff changes, etc. on customer behavior.

• Implement changes to the customer experience in order to drive customer satisfaction.

• Develop hypothesis for projects that could improve customer spend, usage and satisfaction.
• • Execute pilot projects at existing micro-grids and new development sites.
  • Analyze results of pilots to support or disprove hypothesis.

• Implement full rollouts of new programs across PowerGen’s customer base.

• Create very clear feedback loops between (1) those gathering insights on-the-ground and (2) those updating information, rolling out the changes, and training the rest of the team.

• Build and manage the Customer Sales & Marketing team.

• Track metrics and preparing reports for management on customer feedback, customer spend, customer usage, customer satisfaction, and other data.

• Coordinate logistics for field work, including transport, accommodation, and planning routes before embarking on any trips to the field.

• Supervise and training other team members during any and all of the above areas as needed.

What Excites You:

• A fast-paced environment where constant change is the norm and individual initiative-taking is encouraged.

• Managing and growing a team.

• Working both in the office and in the field.

• Contributing to rural electrification in East Africa.

• Building a clean energy future.

• A passion for organization, details, and precision in all you do.