Head, Interconnected Minigrids (IMGs) and Public Partnerships at Husk Power Systems

Role Summary

Husk is recruiting for a Head, Interconnected Minigrids (IMGs) & Public Partnerships to coordinate and drive high-level stakeholder engagement efforts within Nigeria. This role is a leadership role that requires a strategic thinking individual, who will drive engagement strategies with national and sub-national stakeholders in alignment with functional leadership whilst providing support in driving best practices across the business.

The candidate will also have a track record of proven leadership abilities (communication, relationship building, training & development, commercial acumen etc.) as well as in-depth industry knowledge with a robust industry and stakeholder network. The individual should also be passionate about contributing to solving one of Nigeria’s most critical challenges – the energy access deficit.

Key responsibilities:

General

• Work closely with the Country Director and other members of the Nigerian Management Team to deliver on country business objectives.
• Support the optimization of various Husk activities in Nigeria to ensure best practices are entrenched towards more efficient processes.
• Support in driving “Best Practices” across the business. Once a “Best Practice” has been identified, ensure that the practice is visible nationally and to another subsidiary.
• Understand the priorities of the country operations and support the Country Team when required.
• Other duties as may be assigned from time to time.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Develop, drive and implement a robust Stakeholder Management Strategy and supporting processes with structures for Husk in Nigeria.
• Own stakeholder mapping efforts towards identifying relevant stakeholders within and outside the industry for structured engagements with commercial outcomes.
• Engage with stakeholders at national and sub-national levels to drive active policy advocacy efforts and ensure a conducive regulatory and business environment.
• Coordinate external relations efforts with the host state governments, supporting agencies, and traditional and local institutions to strengthen working relationships with these entities.
• Monitor the wider policy environment to identify and exploit opportunities for future work supportive of Husk’s strategic plans.
• Develop leads to establish relationships with policy makers, critical influencers etc and identify opportunities for collaboration where possible.
• Share intelligence gathered via stakeholder engagements to relevant internal stakeholders.

Interconnected Mini-Grids (Business and Project Development)

• Drive and co-ordinate a data-driven actionable strategy for engagements with power distribution companies (DisCos) within focus areas.
• Lead and drive project development engagements for the IMGs’ portfolio in alignment with set objectives.
• Regularly interact with various high-level internal and external stakeholders on IMG project development.
• Work with relevant teams to set relevant site selection criteria, for viable IMG locations.
• Ensure support for other Business Units to drive alignment with IMG-related activities.
• Own market research activities across the IMG business, including but not limited to business development, stakeholder mapping, and IMG landscape analysis.
• Prepare and deliver commercial proposals to internal and external stakeholders, power distribution companies (DisCos), communities, etc.

Portfolio Growth and Business Support

• Identify possible inorganic site portfolio growth opportunities within focus areas.
• Coordinate with the relevant teams and external stakeholders on inputs regarding inorganic site portfolio growth.
• Prepare and deliver site acquisition proposals to internal and external stakeholders, communities, etc. where suitable opportunities are identified.
• Support efforts for business communications internally and externally, including project press releases, case study development, and videos.

Funding Submissions

• Own site-specific submission process for funding where Husk is already pre-qualified to access.
• Seek out potential funding sources for IMGs, stakeholder management support and the source's conditions within agreed time frames and within Husk’s funding objective framework.

Thought Leadership

• Drive thought leadership engagements to ensure Husk maintains local visibility as an industry leader amongst stakeholders within the off grid power space.

Qualifications

• 10 years of work experience with at least 5 years of experience in engaging high-level stakeholders and fostering synergies for a conducive business environment.
• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Sciences, Management, Business, or related degree from a top-rated institution. Postgraduate degree or relevant business certifications; a plus.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English.
• Excellent organizational, problem-solving and time management skills required.
• Excellent people skills, and ability to engage in a multicultural and diverse environment, with multiple internal and external industry stakeholders.
• This position requires commercial acumen, experience in ideating and conceptualization, critical thinking, and the ability to negotiate with high level industry stakeholders for positive outcomes for Husk.
• A clearly defined strategic thought process and a continuous improvement mindset with excellent problem-solving skills.
• Demonstrates a high level of accountability and ownership of tasks.
• Ability to influence through data and business analysis.
• Confident in liaising at all levels, articulate with good presentation skills.
• Ability to work and lead effectively in cross-functional teams.
• Excellent skills with MS Office, Google Suite, and relevant tools
• Most importantly, the candidate must fit a company spirit where people work smart, play hard, have fun, and are dedicated to success.
• In-depth knowledge of the power sector in Nigeria and experience working with a company within Nigeria’s power generation, transmission and distribution space, highly desired.