Technical Product Manager, West & Central Africa at Sun King (Formerly Greenlight Planet)

About the role:

This role is an exciting career opportunity for a value-driven innovator with a combination of technical and organizational skills who is passionate about working with off-grid consumers and delivering the next generation of Sun King products. The products and services you will build will have a transformative impact for millions of households.

What you would be expected to do

New Product Identification

• Generate, refine and consolidate new product ideas, market research and customer requirements, drawing from relationships across the company, including R&D, sales, marketing, and operations teams.
• Develop customer survey templates, collect feedback, and present to internal stakeholders
• Evaluate current offerings from industry peers, seeking opportunities for differentiation.
• Translate product strategy into detailed requirements for prototype construction.
• Test prototypes and potential new products to validate its commercial viability. Specify product requirements and feedback for R&D. 

New Product Pilots

• Act as the Project Manager to deploy successful pilots, defining the purpose, major deliverables, KPIs, timelines, risks, and roles of internal stakeholders.
• Track and document key pilot project deliverables, including customer engagement, usage habits, product availability, and the weekly number of generated prospects.
• Coordinate with internal and external stakeholders to ensure deliverables (selecting pilot areas, inventory readiness, training, etc.) are met on time. 
• Carry out Engineering Validation Testing (focusing on the features) and Technical Validation Testing (focusing on integration) and generate a Product Requirements Document (PRD)
• Collect Customer Feedback on the product performance and expectations and present to internal stakeholders. 
• Report the progress and results of the pilot through a comprehensive memo or a presentation. Provide insights on lessons learned, recommendations for a successful GTM approach, product design or process changes, if needed. 
• Oversee a successful transition from the pilot stage to commercial scale. 

New Product Introduction

• Clearly convey the product vision. Translate technical specifications, benefits, differentiation against rivals, and its fit with Sun King to a language customers can appreciate.
• Work with various departments to design a sales and service process for new products and the route to market.
• Assist in the Training and Marketing Teams by reviewing training materials, spec sheets, packaging, and highlighting the Customer Value Proposition (CVP)
• Assist in the development of service requirements for new products, working closely with the After-Sales and Call Center teams to ensure customer service is prepared prior to the product launch.
• Work with the R&D Team to define and implement product iterations and cascade the changes to respective stakeholders. 

You might be a strong candidate if you

• Have a Bachelors Degree or Higher National Diploma in product design, engineering, energy systems, the physical sciences, or a related field. Experience in Solar Refrigeration will be an advantage.
• Have minimum 5 years experience as technical Product Manager preferably in the solar industry
• Have an entrepreneurial spirit and with the ability to work well on your own, ability to figure things out with innovative thinking, problem-solving skills, and presence of mind.
• Are curious to ideate and expand product offerings in segments complimentary to solar energy, such as clean mobility solutions. 
• Have the ability to collect and synthesize user feedback for actionable items.
• Have critical thinking skills: Strong ability to structure problems and drive towards solutions even in ambiguous situations
• Have financial knowledge to quantify economic value propositions and commercial opportunities of new product offerings.
• Have experience in spearheading the expansion of new product lines or segments
• Can execute and manage projects effectively.
• Are Open to travel within the region and possibly to other Sun King markets
• Display excellent communication skills, energy, and the ability to handle obstacles at a rapidly growing organization. You can communicate product choices through the lens of multiple stakeholders.