M-KOPA Solar Delivery Manager (Device Software) Job in Nairobi

M-KOPA is seeking:Position Title: Delivery Manager – Device Software
Location: Nairobi, Kenya
Position Start: As soon As Possible
Reporting to: Matrix reporting
Reports to HOD Engineering on Technology
Reports to CTO on Delivery Management
About M-KOPA Solar: M-KOPA Solar, headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, is the global leader of "pay-as-you-go" energy for off-grid customers.
Since its commercial launch in October 2012, M-KOPA has connected more than 350,000 homes in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda to solar power, and is now adding over 500 new homes each day.
The success of M-KOPA (M= mobile, KOPA= to borrow) stems from making solar products affordable to low-income households on a pay-per-use installment plan.
Customers acquire solar systems for a small deposit and then purchase daily usage "credits" for Kshs 50, or less than the price of traditional kerosene lighting. After one year of payments customers own their solar systems outright and can upgrade to more power.
All revenues are collected in real-time via mobile money systems (such as M-PESA in Kenya) and embedded GSM sensors in each solar system allow M-KOPA to monitor real time performance and regulate usage based upon payments.
This connected design means that M-KOPA is processing vast amounts of data (i.e. over 10,000 mobile payments per day) via the company's proprietary cloud platform, M-KOPAnet.
As of January 2016 M-KOPA employs over 700 full time staff across East Africa and sells through a network of over 1,000 direct sales agents. It has also commenced licensing its technology to partners in other markets.
M-KOPA has been recognised for its pioneering business mode and scale, notably winning the 2015 Zayed Future Energy Prize, being selected as the top New Energy Pioneer at the 2014 Bloomberg New Energy Finance awards and earning the 2013 FT/IFC Excellence in Sustainable Finance Award.
M-KOPA has also successfully tested a range of new products that leverage its relationship with customers, and M-KOPA’s unique competencies in mobile telecommunications and ICT.
To ensure that the research and development of new products add value to (and do not distract from) its core business, M-KOPA is establishing the M-KOPA Labs.
The Labs will be a dedicated business unit within M-KOPA that will define and test extensions of the M-KOPA asset-based credit model for off-grid-power to new products and services.
Role Profile
Overall Purpose: This is a senior role in M-KOPA’s engineering team, central to delivery of a fast-moving product roadmap.
More widely, given M-KOPA’s leadership role in this emerging sector, this role will be influential in shaping the delivery of our “connected machines” ecosystem.
The Device Software Delivery Manager is responsible for the successful and timely delivery of all of M-KOPA’s firmware and device-related software products incorporating requirements capture, development, quality assurance and operational integration of the custom firmware and related software assets for M-KOPA’s solar home system hardware and associated peripherals.
This includes alignment with company policies and initiatives on requirements capture tools and methods, software delivery processes, testing tools and methods and operational release processes.
The Device Software Delivery Manager is also responsible for management of team resources, allocation of tasks / deliverables and ensuring timely delivery of quality software.
Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities:

Line management of the firmware (software) delivery team to ensure high quality, timely production of firmware releases.

Liaison with M-KOPA’s software team and third party software providers for the specification and delivery of device control and manufacturing/production related software assets.

Managing and contributing to requirements analysis, documentation, delivery and test of firmware releases across all of M-KOPA’s firmware code-bases.

Participating in the prioritization and planning of firmware releases and supporting software assets across all products to align with the product release roadmaps.

Working with project managers to align firmware releases and device software with overall hardware device delivery plans or operational improvement initiatives.

Liaise with the HoD Engineering to capture feature requirements coming from product roadmaps and from the Device Operations team and manufacturing teams.

Ensure that standard testing processes are applied to the release of firmware, including delivery of high quality test cases, teat suites and test plans.

Participate in troubleshooting of firmware and hardware related issues to drive positive change in product firmware.

Assess and promote continuous improvement in the processes and quality assurance for firmware delivery.

Any other tasks as directed by HoD Engineering.Skills, Knowledge, Qualifications Required
Role Specific, Mandatory:

Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent in Computer Science, Software or related subject – relevant professional experience will be accepted.

At least 5 years working in a software / firmware delivery capacity with at least 2 years in a supervisory / leadership role.

Knowledge / experience in agile software delivery processes

Practical experience in writing software using C, C++, Java or .NET

Knowledge of software release processes and quality gatingRole Specific, Ideal:

Experience in building micro-controller or embedded software solutions

Knowledge/experience in electronic engineering or hardware production

Knowledge/experience of formal project management methodology (e.g. Prince 2)

Experience of working in a consumer electronics related roleGeneral:

Achieving Results – Be aware of key business and team objectives and ensure that these are applied appropriately to all business activities

Building Relationships – Able to develop effective relationships with Operational Teams, Developers, IT and other business users

Customer Focus (internal) – Able to anticipate and understand customer expectations, and ensure that customer requirements are met and expectations appropriately managed. Able to build solid relationships with team members and internal customers.

Communication – Effective written and verbal communication skills suited for technical audiences, peers, IT management, data users and consumers.

Planning and Organizing – Effective at planning and managing own workload and ability to split time between reactive tasks and planned project work.

Teamwork – Effective at contributing towards the objectives of a team, and being able to share knowledge, experience, ideas and information. Aware of the needs, objectives and constraints of those in other disciplines and functions.

Problem Solving and Decision Making – Effective at solving problems in a measured and creative way. Proactive in relation to identifying and undertaking activities that are of benefit to the business. Effective at balancing long and short term objectives. Responsible for own decisions and actions.

Influencing and Impact – Act in a professional manner, and exhibit the required behavior that should provide an example to other employees. Needs to be able to identify tasks outside of own remit and work with peers to ensure an end to end solution is effectively delivered. Must be prepared to meet business goals and respond well to change.Remuneration: Competitive covering a monthly salary, performance bonus and medical benefits reflective of the candidate’s experience and skills.
To Apply
To apply, send an updated detailed copy of your CV and a cover letter expressing why you feel you would be an excellent candidate for the role to careers@m-kopa.com with the subject EV-DMDS-2079
Deadline for application is 5pm on Friday 8th July, 2016.
Please Note
M-KOPA, as a policy, does not collect/charge any money as a pre-employment or post-employment requirement. This means that we never ask for ‘recruitment fees’, ‘processing fees’, ‘interview fees’ or any other kind of money in exchange for offer letters or interviews at any time during the hiring process.
Due to the large number of applications received by us, we regret that you will not be contacted unless you are short listed for the post and invited for an interview.
Therefore, if you have not heard from M-KOPA within 4 weeks of the date of the deadline your application, you should assume that you have not been successful on this occasion.
This measure has been taken in the interests of efficiency and cost effectiveness and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.