Clean Cooking Manager

Are you up for a challenge and looking to join a great place to work? We are looking for a Clean Cooking Manager to join our team. If you think that could be you, please read on.

Who are we?

VITALITE Zambia Limited is a Zambian registered company founded in 2013. VITALITE was created to increase rural electrification and combat the poverty tax affecting low-income, energy-poor households across Zambia.

Our mission is to make quality products and services accessible and affordable to all Zambian households. We pride ourselves on having been the first to pioneer a fully integrated pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) service in Zambia and aim to become the country’s leading rural service and distribution company.

Our team of more than 130 employees and 650 community based agents is on a mission of positive change. We service over 50,000 customers and take pride in our positive impact on their lives and their environment.

According to an independent survey of our customers (run by impact reporting agency, 60 Decibels in March 2021), 88% find we’ve very much improved their quality of life.

What’s it like to work here?

We have built a vibrant and dynamic team in which all of us are treated fairly and given equal opportunity to progress. We work in an emotionally safe environment within which we all have the opportunity to fully express ourselves.
Everyone is encouraged to create positive impact for themselves, their colleagues and our customers by taking full accountability for what we do every day.

According to an independent survey (run by global gender advisory firm, Value for Women in February 2021):

• 94% of team members feel respected by their colleagues
• 97% of team members like our mission and purpose
• 86% of team members believe men and women have equal career opportunities
• 94% of team members believe issues of sexual harassment are taken seriously here
• 89% of team members believe we encourage open and honest communications

What’s the role about?

The Product & Innovation department is responsible for developing and executing a product strategy that brings life-changing impact to our customers while meeting the business goals of VITALITE. The Clean Cooking Manager will report to the Product Innovations Manager.

This team is accountable for our product portfolio throughout its lifecycle at all stages from research, development, launch, refinement and end-of-life and makes sure our portfolio of offers delivers maximum value for our customers, remains competitive and meets the needs of the business.  Consequently, the team (which has a dynamic, innovative, entrepreneurial approach) has a substantial influence on the strategy of the wider organization.

The department drives innovation by broadening the Portfolio of products and services that are made available to Vitalites 60,000+ customers and through its sales and distribution network of more than 600 stores.  This innovation is driven through developing and managing new partnerships, donor projects, grants and new product pilots and introductions.

VITALITE’s product strategy is organized in three areas, Solar & Appliances, Agriculture and Clean Cooking. This role is for a manager to be overall responsible for the area of Clean Cooking.  Clean Cooking is about bringing cookstove products to urban and rural households in Zambia that are more effective, safer, less polluting, more economical and more sustainable.  Cookstove technologies includes but are not limited to Improved Charcoal and firewood stoves, Induction stoves, Electric Pressure cookers, Solar Cooking, Gasifier stoves.

Overall responsibility for VITALITE clean cooking product portfolio and strategy, to ensure a portfolio of clean cookstove products that allow urban and rural households to transition to more sustainable, more affordable and less polluting means of cooking. We are looking for an individual who is motivated and highly driven to take VITALITEs clean cooking strategy and offering to the next level.  Given the diversity of the role, and the opportunity to both develop a strategy and implement the strategy a candidate with an entrepreneurial background/character is likely to be well suited and successful in the role.  Ability to formulate a clear strategy and path forwards and then manage execution on this path by prioritizing between competing opportunities is important.  The role requires both knowledge/experience from Clean Cooking products and sector in Zambia, and harder skills such as Project management/product management.  A combination of both areas is highly valued.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Develop product portfolio and strategy through leveraging existing market research and conduct new research, customer surveying and engagements and supplier engagements to understand market dynamics, competition, trends, needs of customers and available cookstove technologies and their benefits.
• Project Management
• Coordinate and ensure delivery of projects to achieve milestones, objectives and within budgets.
• Conduct stakeholder management, communication and project reporting.
• Cookstove Product Management.
• Manage cookstove products by collecting and analyzing data on sales, portfolio quality, customer satisfaction and technical performance.
• Provide inter-departmental support on cookstove products.
• Refine proposition of cookstove products through pricing, bundling etc
• Oversee and analyze the overall performance of the Clean Cookstove product portfolio, provide recommendations on products to improve, retire or add.
• Partnerships/Grant Development.
• Lead on development of new Clean Cooking grant applications and proposals by designing new projects to test, market pilot or scale.
• Cookstove technologies.  Manage Clean Cooking partnerships.

Minimum Requirements

• 2+ years of experience in project management roles and/or Product Management roles, in particular project management implementing projects in a cross functional environment and in particular product management of consumer products.
• University Degree in Economics/Environmental Studies/Engineering or any Degree relevant to Clean Cooking Technology.
• Grade 12 with excellent Mathematics and English.
• Preferred – Understanding of/experience with the clean cooking sector in Zambia (market dynamics, stakeholders, ecosystem, challenges, opportunities, enabling environment) or Clean Cooking technology and products (induction stoves, gasifier stoves, Electric pressure cookers, improved charcoal stoves etc).
• Entrepreneurial background is valued – those who have started or contributed significantly to a particular project, team, or new company and we especially value candidates who have seen projects through from start to finish, from design to scale up phase.
• Project Management.
• Project Management (commercial B2 products).
• Donor project reporting and management.
• Experience working with Clean Cooking or cook stove products.
• Experience working with retail products towards urban or rural household markets.
• Experience managing or working in grant/ donor funded projects.

Female candidates are encouraged to apply

How to apply

Please email your up to date CV, copies of your Academic Qualifications and 2 references from prior employers to [email protected].

Please also enclose an essay of no less than 400 words expressing your view on “How to identify the most appropriate product or service for an identified customer group and assess its commercial viability”.