M-KOPA Solar Product Test Engineer Job in Nairobi, Kenya

M-KOPA is seeking:
 

Position Title: Product Test Engineer
 

Location: Nairobi HQ
 

Position Start: As Soon As Possible
 

Overall Purpose:

Work as part of team to provide thorough testing of the products that

M-KOPA has under development, and technical advice and support as these

products reach the market.

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 200,000 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 US $0.45, 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 May 2015 M-KOPA employs over 650 full time staff across East Africa and sells through a network of 1,000 direct sales agents. It has also commenced licensing its technology to partners in other markets. 
 

M-KOPA has been recognized 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.
 

Role Profile
 

Key Accountabilities

• Testing of prototypes under development (for example, life cycle and functional testing) including development of testing processes, executing test plans, and documentation of results. 


• Provision of technical support for initial customer trials of new products.


• Provision of technical assistance for customer issues brought to M-KOPA’s customer care team.

Incumbent Requirements

• Ability to read circuit schematics and board layouts in an ECAD program (for example, EAGLE).


• Experience analyzing and debugging electronics at the PCB level.


• Experience with MySQL an added advantage.


• Knowledge of hardware (embedded hardware) and firmware interaction is an added advantage

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering or electronics.

Experience:

• Project management experience.

Remuneration: Competitive covering a monthly salary, performance bonus and medical benefits reflective of the candidate’s experience and skills.

How 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 ENG-PTE-2036

Deadline for applications is Midnight on Sunday 27th September, 2015.

Please Note: 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.