About Okra

Okra is an impact-driven technology provider in the off-grid energy sector. Our flagship product is the “mesh-grid”: a highly adaptive and cost-effective ELV (extra low voltage) electricity grid powered by interconnected solar panels, batteries, and smart IoT meters. It’s designed by a global team, manufactured in China, then shipped to our customers in sub-Saharan Africa and Haiti. We also develop various cloud products, including our own device management and billing platform, geospatial site identification and project design tools, and grant application tools - all of which are marketed and sold to our customers: DESCo’s (distributed energy service companies). Okra systems currently provide reliable household electricity to ~45,000 people globally. This is set to quadruple within 12 months as we continue to innovate alongside our partners, in pursuit of global energy access.

The team behind Okra is a diverse, multi-disciplinary group of problem solvers spread across three major offices:

1. Porto, Portugal → global HQ; all functions + senior leadership team
2. Shenzhen, China → supply chain, manufacturing, QC
3. Abuja, Nigeria → commercial, after-sales & support

For a comprehensive dive into the mesh-grid technology and our products, see our technology overview and product spec datasheet.

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The Role

As an executive leader, this role inherits full accountability for the outcomes, efficiency, growth, and risk management, of Okra’s supply chain and manufacturing operations. This includes:

• Supply-demand planning & forecasting
• Manufacturing, partner production, sourcing & procurement strategy
• Global inventory, logistics, landed cost tracking
• Cross-functional leadership in on-going operations

The impact potential of this role cannot be understated; you will directly contribute towards energizing hundreds of thousands (maybe millions) of people, and help steer the overall vision of the company - especially on the operational side. You will succeed our current Head of Operations and take this critical function to the next stage of scale.

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This is not a line-management role; Okra’s supply chain Team Lead line-manages the team day to day. You are the senior leader who works alongside them — setting direction, raising the standard, coaching, and clearing the blockers only a senior leader can clear.

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Additional role specific context:

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

• • 5x Okra engineered OEM products;
    • 4x grid metering and electricity distribution devices (see here),
    • 1x cellular routing device for IoT connectivity
  • 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. Forecasting must be done very carefully.
• Our BOM contains numerous long-lead time and single-source components. Some parts have lead times longer than our sales visibility. There is an ongoing need to buy up “safety stock” of various components, especially ICs.
• We usually deliver FOB China, but sometimes also CIF -> DDP.
• 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:

Supply-demand planning & forecasting

• Maintain a rolling manufacturing, purchasing and shipping plan based on evolving commercial pipelines, engineering roadmaps, and financial constraints.
• Manage procurement cashflows and working capital spending scenarios.

Manufacturing, partner production, sourcing & procurement strategy

• Ensure our supplier base can scale from current volumes to hundreds of thousands of connections per year.
• Set clear goals and strategy for manufacturing teams, and help coordinate them towards key milestones.
• Establish strategic supply chain KPIs (e.g. on-time in-full delivery, lead time, $/connection COGS, etc.) and hold teams accountable.
• Drive down COGS and lead times, drive up quality and operations efficiency.

Global inventory, logistics, landed cost tracking

• Ensure import/export readiness across China and the markets Okra ships to.
• Lead strategy on goods consolidation, incoterm offerings (FOB, CIF, DDP), and import/export compliance.
• Support in-country warehousing, stock positioning, and after-sales/warranty processes.
• Build cost models which track inventory value from raw material through to finished goods.

Cross-functional leadership in on-going operations

• Keep Okra's leadership team aligned on current status and upcoming priorities through clear, frequent communication.
• Enable full visibility on landed costs, procurement cashflows, inventory levels, volume-pricing across all SKUs.
• Mentor and support Okra’s supply chain team (6 people): team lead, EMS manager, inventory controller, logistics manager, sourcing manager, procurement manager.
• Be the “eyes and ears” in China, paying particular attention to team culture, cohesion, overall team health, and surfacing early what the rest of the leadership team needs to know.
• Hire, onboard, grow the team as needed.

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Relationships

Internal

• Executive and extended leadership teams: operating strategy, trade-offs, investment decisions, supply-demand planning.
• Commercial team: Deal pipeline, timing, delivery scenarios, deal specific constraints.
• Hardware product and engineering teams: NPI, product change management, product quality feedback from the field, manufacturing coordination.
• Finance team: cash planning, supplier payment terms, cost attribution (supplier advances, COGS, write-offs, etc.)
• In-field teams: shipping schedules, importation, packing lists.

External

• Contract manufacturers: the single most important external relationship – visit often, know them deeply.
• Other key suppliers: semi-conductors, batteries, solar panels, cabling, especially long-lead and single-source components.
• Customs brokers and freight forwarders.
• Import, standards and certification authorities in each market.
• Okra’s investor network for supply-chain diligence.

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What You Bring

Must have:

• 10-15 years experience in supply chain and manufacturing operations, especially within China and within hardware-intensive industries such as renewable energy systems, energy storage, consumer electronics, IoT devices, power electronics, telecom equipment, automotive, etc. Ideally you have 5+ years as an individual contributor and 5+ years leading teams.
• A track record of negotiating complex manufacturing, supply, development, and service agreements, including MSAs, Supply Agreements, SOWs, tooling/NRE agreements, payment terms, acceptance criteria, IP protections, etc.
• Experience leading a company through distinct phases of growth - in particular the start-up to scale-up transition, where the processes, systems and team structures that worked at one volume have to be rebuilt for the next one.
• A strong technical foundation and the credibility to engage with engineers on manufacturability trade-offs.
• A track record of on-time, in-full delivery into hard logistics environments, especially emerging-markets.
• Comfort owning a supply-demand forecast and production schedule.
• Experience in integrating ERP systems.
• Experience in cost-modeling, and managing working-capital finance.
• Clear communication to all audiences; you make complex supply chain operations legible to the whole company.
• Ability to travel regularly to meet with suppliers and other production partners in China.

Strongly preferred:

• Business-level Chinese communication.
• Experience in using, or integrating, ERP/MES software.
• A relevant university degree (e.g. Bachelors in Mechanical, Electrical, Industrial, or Manufacturing Engineering)
• Background in off-grid energy, solar, telecoms or similar distributed hardware infrastructure, in sub-Saharan markets.
• Exposure to grant- and DFI-financed procurement environments (World Bank, AfDB, GIZ, USAID and similar) and how disbursement timing, eligibility rules, and reporting requirements shape sourcing and delivery planning.
• Familiarity with quality and certification regimes relevant to off-grid energy products, including VeraSol / Lighting Global standards, IEC 62257, CE/RoHS, ISO 9001, and country-level conformity schemes such as SONCAP in Nigeria.
• Experience in building after-sales and customer support operations.

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Is This Role For You?

Yes - if you like…

• Physical problems with hard constraints. The container either sails on Tuesday or it doesn’t, and no amount of narrative changes that.
• Owning the big numbers: landed costs, lead times, yield, cash tied up in stock.
• Negotiating with contract manufacturers, suppliers and freight forwarders, and occasionally with your own colleagues’ forecasts.
• Being on the ground: factory floors in China, routine visits to each of our regional offices, and the odd trip to see mesh-grids live in the field.
• Building the systems and discipline into small, agile teams.
• Working and communicating across cultures and time zones.
• Seeing the impact directly: the hardware you shipped will power households that didn’t have electricity before.

No - if…

• You want a large team to delegate to; this is a senior leadership role, not a line-management one.
• You have never spent time working in China, either permanently or temporarily.
• You need clean, predictable demand signals. Ours are lumpy, project-based and tied to complex project development processes.
• You’d rather optimize a mature supply chain than build processes and systems that don’t exist yet.
• You’re uncomfortable making big financial decisions with incomplete information.
• Regular travel to China and emerging markets doesn’t suit your life right now.
• You do your best work in one office, in one time zone, with everyone in the room.

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