Business Development Manager Job – Sawa Energy

Job Title:    Business Development Manager

Organisation: Sawa Energy

Duty Station:  Kampala, Uganda

About US:

Sawa Energy is a solar energy and energy efficiency company servicing SMEs across East Africa, with operations in Rwanda and Uganda. They bring together international capital and local solar expertise in order to enable SMEs to get access to solar and energy efficiency solutions with no up front cost. In doing so, Sawa Energy aims to have a big social impact, reduce carbon emissions, create jobs, increase energy access, and save money for businesses in emerging markets. Sawa Energy’s objective is to deploy a portfolio of 35 MW of solar C&I projects across East Africa within the next 5 years, and have been actively deploying since February 2021. Their clients include I&M Bank, MTN, and other leading regional businesses.

Job Summary: The company is recruiting an ambitious and energetic Business Development Manager to lead the sales initiatives for Sawa Energy’s Ugandan Portfolio. This role will report directly to the Ugandan Country Manager with responsibilities in sales, account management, and project management. This person will be integral in executing Sawa Energy’s vision to lead the revolution of solar for SMEs in East Africa. Given that Sawa Energy is taking solar into a new realm with a new set of tools, the role will require creativity, flexibility, and dynamism.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:  

• Lead the development of strategies for identifying, tracking, and engaging potential clients and preparing proposals to meet their requirements
• Lead the development of the Ugandan sales pipeline by diligently tracking, managing, and engaging numerous clients’ stakeholders across the local and regional levels, and across various functions within the client organizations including technical, procurement, financial, and leadership
• Lead the coordination of a range of co-development and technical partners to originate, develop, and close projects
• Lead the preparation and review of a variety of financing contracts including private power purchase and lease-to-own agreements
• Lead the negotiations on commercial aspects and coordinate input from the internal technical and legal teams
• Lead the due diligence of potential projects and clients, including collecting client information and coordinating across the internal teams for support

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

• The applicant must hold a Business-related bachelor’s degree is strongly desired
• Experience working in East Africa, especially in Uganda
• 4+ years in a business-related role within the following industries: solar, energy (e.g. generators, energy efficiency solutions, etc) or SME lending.

• Systematic and highly organized sales professional with a strong SME network in Uganda;
• Must take personal accountability for tracking numerous activities across workstreams and driving them all to a successful conclusion.
• Must display a track record of thriving in a fast-paced sales environment, able to work towards and hit KPIs.
• Being a self-starter with an entrepreneurial spirit is paramount.
• Must be very comfortable working in the digital realm, using tools such as Google Drive (Docs, Slides, Sheets), CRMs, and other remote working tools.
• High level of proficiency in building PowerPoint presentations
• High level of proficiency in Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets
• The role will require regional travel from time to time

Other Critical Requirements:

Technical skills

• Networking, relationship building, negotiating, writing, and presentation skills are strongly desired for this role.

Leadership

• We are a team of self-starters and expect all team members to take initiative, own their projects, and assume leadership within their set of responsibilities.

Communication

• This role involves communicating both within the team, and with partners. As such, effective written and verbal communication is integral to ensuring all stakeholders are aligned.

Multitasking

• We are looking for a team member who can manage many projects at once while still meeting deadlines. We seek someone with strong multitasking, decision-making, and organizational abilities to ensure the workload is managed effectively.

How to apply:

All interested candidates should apply through this application form. Only selected candidates for the interview will be contacted. For questions, reach out to hr@sawaenergy.com

Deadline: 6^th March 2023 by 11:59 pm