Product Researcher

Overview

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.

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.

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 build the hardware and software, that we sell to local energy companies who deploy our tech to deliver affordable, reliable electricity as a service last-mile communities.

In order to execute on the mission to 100% energy access for all - we are looking for a product researcher in Abuja to be a bridge between our customers and the rest of our product team and ensure our products meet real customer needs as we establish Mesh-Grids as a world-class technology!

If you’re excited about designing technology to create tangible impact, love engaging with customers, and want to help shape the future of energy access, you could be the right person to join us.

Responsibilities

This role exists to be the voice of the customer inside the product team — grounded in real field/customer experience. You’ll spend time with developers, technicians, and end-users, translate feedback into insights, and help the product team build things that actually work in the Nigerian context.

Understand the whole product deeply (hardware and software)
Get early prototypes (software and hardware) into end-user hands for feedback, observation of real-world usage, testing assumptions, and identifying risks early
- Need to be comfortable handling hardware prototypes. not just software!
- Quickly learn from a user’s confusion, misuse, or even silence, and capture those insights
Plan and conduct interviews, shadowing, field-testing, etc.. Join customer-facing meetings or trainings to observe and build intuition for customer needs and pains.
Translate feedback and field notes into distilled insights and recommendations with the rest of the Product team
Collaborate closely with the product team to ultimately influence key roadmap and design decisions
Field time - spend time in customer offices, field offices, warehouses, and villages to engage with the end-to-end journey from sales to installation to ongoing usage and maintenance.

Required Skills

We are looking for someone who has skills in some, if not all of these areas:

3+ years in customer-facing roles that also required field work, interviewing, product research, or something similar
Experience working in or around energy, infrastructure, mobility, fintech, or hardware-heavy products in a rural context. Familiarity with Nigeria market constraints.
Intuition for UX - thinks about customer journeys, painpoints, identifies friction or confusion
Product mindset - asks “why”, doesn’t just listen to what customers say they want on the surface
Patient, observant, and curious - you’re not trying to sell or convince someone of your perspectives, you’re trying to learn and understand the customer needs
Diligent in communicating and documenting findings

Nice-to-Have

Experience in an international startup environment or multi-national company
Training in user research, product discovery, service design

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DEI Statement

At Okra we are dedicated to creating a diverse and inclusive environment where everyone feels valued, respected, supported and empowered. Our workplace is an interconnected network, where each individual contributes to the energy that drives innovation, fosters collaboration, and illuminates new possibilities. We are committed to recruiting, retaining, and developing a diverse team of talented professionals, and we welcome candidates of all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives to join us in our mission. Diversity brings power to our teams so we can bring #PowerToThePeople.

Benefits At Okra

🕒 Flexible Location & Hours

We’re an output-focused organisation, which means that for the most part, you can choose where and when you work as long as your team has been communicated to and is on board with it. Most commonly, we ask everyone to be in the office at least 2 to 3 days a week to foster connections.

📈 Professional Growth

With mentorship from our investors (At One Ventures, Schneider Electric) and a range of experienced leaders and change-makers in our network, you get the opportunity to take on leadership responsibilities.

🛡️ We’ve Got You Covered

Cover for work travel, health insurance, sick leave, and equipment.

🌴 Unlimited Paid Time Off

We burn bright, not out – we offer unlimited paid time off so you can rest, recharge, support your loved ones, and bring your best self to work.

🌈 Dynamic & Diverse Workplace

You’ll work in a fast-paced startup environment with multinational staff – expect to learn a lot while finding creative solutions to complex problems, all while enjoying a great office vibe.

🍼 Flexible Parental Leave

At Okra, we support parents with fully paid, flexible leave: +60 days in Portugal, 120 in Nigeria, up to 178 in China. Take it your way - before or after birth, in blocks or part-time. Your career won’t stall; we make sure family and growth go hand in hand.

Process Timeline

More 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.

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.

That’s why we built Mesh-Grid technology that energizes off-grid households at a fraction of the cost of traditional off-grid energy solutions. We supply the tech we specialize in to local energy companies, who go out and deliver affordable, reliable energy to last mile communities.

Okra is currently in its high-growth phase, after raising over $11M for our Series A in 2023 from our investors At One Ventures, FMO, Autodesk, King Philanthropies and Susquehanna. We have rolled out multiple Mesh Grid projects across Africa, Southeast Asia and Central America, but in order for us to achieve our mission of 100% electrification, we need to continue engineering and deploying disruptive energy access technology at scale, so this is an exciting time for everyone!

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