About Okra

At Okra Solar, we’re on a mission to bring Power to the People by unlocking opportunities through energy access for everyone in the world.

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Over 650 million people still live without electricity. At a time where technology such as mobile devices, productive agritech and AI are becoming more accessible than ever, we believe that access to energy is the first step toward opportunity and growth.

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That’s why we build our Mesh Grid technology that energizes off-grid households at a fraction of the cost of the other solutions. We provide the entire solution, including the hardware and software, that we sell to local energy companies who deploy our tech to deliver affordable, reliable electricity as a service to last-mile communities.

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We’ve deployed 2MW+ of solar PV energizing ~50,000 people, and we’re scaling fast under Nigeria’s $750M World Bank-funded DARES program, with equipment for another 150,000 people in manufacturing now, and new markets opening in Mozambique and Madagascar.

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Role Overview

• Reports to: Supply Chain Team Lead (Based in Shenzhen)
• Travel Requirements: Visit suppliers (domestic suppliers mainly)
• This role is an individual contributor role
• Hybrid: In office at least 3 days/week

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As Okra's dedicated buyer for our major hardware categories, this role inherits full ownership of the cost, terms, supply continuity and supplier performance of the largest share of Okra's spend - PV modules, LFP batteries, inverters, cables and mounting structures etc. You will directly contribute towards energizing hundreds of thousands of people, and be the person the company relies on to know what our hardware will cost next year, and why.

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The immediate challenge: buying roughly four times the volume of hardware in 2027 that we bought in 2026, whilst reducing overall costs, shortening supplier lead times and cutting our exposure to commodity, policy and single-source risk.

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Additional role specific context:

• The BOM for a mesh-grid consists of 40+ SKUs, including:

• • 5x Okra engineered OEM products (procured by contract manufacturing manager);
  • 10x ODM-sourced products with high technical nuance, namely; LFP batteries, solar PV, inverters, earthing systems, mounting, and cabling.
  • 25x commodity items such as screws, cable trunking, light bulb sockets, etc.
• Sales pipelines are lumpy. Deals are large, few, and tied to customer financing timelines which sometimes slip. Accordingly procurement rhythm is not stable.
• We ship dangerous-goods, i.e. LFP batteries. Maintaining transport and import compliance across multiple markets is extremely challenging, as is navigating port delays and sudden policy changes.
• We’re a global team; Okra’s engineering and supply chain staff are between Portugal, China, Malaysia and Australia.

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Responsibilities

In this role, you own the following:

Procurement of the major categories.

• Purchasing for PV modules, LFP batteries (cells and packs), inverters, cables, and mounting rails and structures.
• End to end: quotation, negotiation, purchase order, production and delivery tracking, expediting, and reconciliation of quantities and invoices.

Commercial negotiation and contracts.

• Price, terms and volume negotiations with the category suppliers including regular price reviews
• Owning the category cost-down plan and delivering verified, year-on-year cost reductions
• Drafting and administering framework purchasing agreements, supply agreements and warranty terms with Legal and Finance, and tracking compliance with them through the life of each agreement.

Market intelligence and cost.

• Knowing the market, and reasonable pricing for each category
• Watching the commodities and policies that move category prices that are integral to Okra’s products, and getting ahead of the market movements.
• Accountable for managing and escalating supply risk early and with a recommendation.

Supplier relationships and performance.

• Being the primary commercial contact and day-to-day owner of the category supplier relationships.
• Keeping lead times, MOQs, price tiers, payment terms and capacity commitments accurate as the single reference Planning buys against.

Sourcing and supplier development.

• Screening and qualifying new suppliers under Okra's supplier qualification process
• Establishing and maintaining a qualified second source for single-sourced high-value items

Support to Quality, Compliance and Planning.

• Obtaining supplier documentation and certifications
• Providing volume-price analysis for order-quantity decisions and a supply-side view of risks and constraints into the monthly S&OP cycle.

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Relationships

Internal

• Supply Chain Team
• Commercial team
• Hardware product and engineering teams
• Finance team
• In-field teams

External

• Solar system components manufacturers

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Required Experience

• 5+ years buying LFP batteries, inverters, PV modules, cables or mounting structures in the solar or energy storage industry, with batteries and inverters bought hands-on
• Managed ≥US$10M a year of purchased spend, or ≥US$5M a year in one of the categories above.
• Closed negotiations and contracts ideally in framework agreements with tier-1 suppliers.
• Deep category market knowledge that holds up in a negotiation. You can build a should-cost model unprompted.
• Experience qualifying and onboarding new suppliers, including factory assessments.
• Experience with supplier performance management
• Fluent Mandarin and business-level English, written and spoken. You will negotiate with suppliers in Chinese and report to, and work with, a global team in English.
• Travel willingness - Ability to travel regularly to meet with suppliers and other production partners in China.

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Nice to Have

• A relevant university degree (e.g. Supply Chain, etc.)
• Background in off-grid energy, solar, telecoms or similar distributed hardware infrastructure, in sub-Saharan markets.

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Is This Role for You?

‍Yes - if you like…

• Being commercially sharp and evidence-led. You negotiate from data: cost models, market indices, competing quotes. You know the difference between a good price and a low one.
• To Compare, Iterate and Buy good products
• Being on the ground: factory floors in China, routine visits to each of our suppliers
• Working and communicating across cultures and time zones.
• working in a fast-paced environment with other smart and like-minded colleagues
• Seeing the impact directly: the hardware you shipped will power households that didn’t have electricity before.

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No - if you are…

• not cost sensitive
• not interested in new tech and solar power eco-system
• not good at communication or confident to negotiate with suppliers