Chief Operating Officer

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Senior Leadership

Base Location: Distributed team; can be based within GMT and GMT +11

Desired Start Date: 1st October 2024

Duration: 12 months (with a strong possibility of extension into a

       permanent contract upon completion)

Full-Time Role, 5 Days per Week

 

ABOUT OORJA

Oorja is an award-winning social enterprise based in New Delhi with the parent company incorporated in the UK. They are on a mission to empower 1 million farmers globally by 2030 with the agricultural solutions they need to sustainably increase their income and quality of life.

Oorja is a Farming-as-a-Service company working at the intersection of sustainable agriculture and renewable energy. Their focus is on powering productive-use appliances that help users to generate stable incomes, create jobs, and mitigate carbon emissions. Despite urgent need, around 90% of marginal farmers cannot afford to invest in solar technology to meet energy needs on their farms. Oorja wants to close this gap. They finance, install and maintain decentralised solar energy infrastructure for community use. They use these assets to sell affordable and reliable solar irrigation and milling services on a pay-per-use basis to smallholder farmers, without any upfront cost to them. They also offer offline and digital advisory services to strengthen climate adaptation and resilience amongst farmers. Oorja operates in rural areas of northern India where farmers are currently reliant on polluting and expensive diesel motors for their energy needs and have ambitions to scale up our unique solution globally.

Their core strengths are their inclusive, farmer-centric business model and a diverse and driven team with a shared passion for sustainable development. Some of their investors and partners in this mission are Acumen Fund, Schneider Electric Energy Access Asia, elea, Echoing Green, Swiss Re Foundation and GIZ.

To find out more about Oorja, please visit www.oorjasolutions.org

 

ROLE BACKGROUND

Oorja is looking for an exceptional Chief Operating Officer, who can provide collaborative leadership and oversight of Oorja and help them achieve the mission and objectives set out in their strategy. As COO at Oorja, you’ll be responsible for team building and management, fundraising and investor reporting, business operations, partnership building, and ensuring the strategic direction of the company is being delivered.

As a member of the senior management team, you will also be working on general management of the company, helping to make critical business decisions, deciding the company’s financial targets, modelling and setting the company’s culture and upholding the highest governance standards. You must have outstanding written and verbal communication skills in English and the ability to interact confidently with people from diverse backgrounds at all levels. They seek a candidate with a track record of raising and managing funds and building and managing teams.

Significant experience in general management P&L supervision and financial literacy are required for this role. You must have an affinity with Oorja’s mission and organisational values. Other traits they look for are strong integrity, passion, empathy, determination, patience, curiosity, adaptability and a healthy sense of humour!

Please note this role is initially a maternity cover position on a 12-month contract starting from October 2024, with likely extension into a permanent role following successful completion.

 

KEY DUTIES

• Team building and recruitment, resource planning and succession management
• Personnel management, overseeing 3-5 direct reports
• Equity, debt and grant fundraising; investor reporting and relationships
• Business operations (legal; contracts; financial modelling; partnerships)
• Overseeing critical projects, including digitisation of operations and B2B business launch
• Ensuring the strategic direction of the company is being delivered.

 

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

As the COO, you will be expected to serve a key role within our Senior Leadership team. Your responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

 

General Management

• Hands-on day-to-day management of the administrative and operational functions of the company
• Maintain and support a strong Board of Directors, including preparing for and attending board meetings, making quarterly presentations to the board, seeking their inputs and feedback
• Model and set the company’s culture, values and behaviour and ensure the company maintains high social responsibility in its area of business; safeguard the mission of the company
• Team building: Assist in human resource need planning, recruitment and performance evaluations; set compensation and incentives; continuously monitor and guide teams to ensure high motivation and performance
• Team management: Lead, coach, develop and retain our high-performance management team; act as a line manager and mentor to team members; set goals and targets; closely supervise direct reports; give frequent feedback, review work and ensure employees are on track to meet their goals
• Represent the company at key national and international forums, events and conferences; undertake speaking engagements, panel discussions, webinars and provide thought leadership
• Actively engage and energise investors, donors, government entities, advisers, partners, the media and other stakeholders and ensure that the company builds a brand image through ethical and sustainable business practices
• Ensure effective systems are in place and used to track scaling progress that can be effectively communicated to the board, funders and other constituents.

Fundraising and Investor Reporting

• Lead the Company’s fundraising efforts for equity, debt and other instruments (including preparing for the Series A round in late 2025); seek to raise the right capital mix; build and manage relationships with impact investors and donors; shortlist mission-aligned investors; pitch the company’s expansion plans; prepare and revise fundraising and due diligence materials including the business plan, financial projections and pitch deck; update the data room; lead term sheet and investment documentation negotiations; find exit pathways for equity investors
• Oversee grant fundraising: identify the right opportunities and funders; oversee preparation of applications and proposals for grant funders and donors including foundations, family offices, DFIs, business plan competitions and others; finalise them before submission; review and submit materials or information requested during due diligence
• Oversee investor and donor reporting: ensure periodic reporting based on agreements with funders; attend to funder requests from time to time; maintain transparent relationships with investors and shareholders.

 

Strategic Projects and Growth

• Partner with senior leadership to implement the Company strategic plan and mission; help to take business decisions to course-correct and troubleshoot during growth and expansion in order to reach major strategic goals
• Provide strategic recommendations to guide the growth and expansion of the B2C business and help bring it to being EBITDA positive in the next 1 year
• Support with strategic business planning for expansion into new markets and addition of new business verticals
• Oversee market research for expansion; begin to build partnerships in new markets
• Determine scope, resource needs, timeline and milestones for new projects; decide allocation of resources between business verticals
• Oversee the launch of the B2B business vertical; help to prepare go-to-market strategy including pricing, partner and technology selection for new markets
• Oversee the conceptualisation and implementation of new strategic projects, initiatives or innovations to boost topline revenue and impact, such as digitisation of billing and payments and internal workflows, processes and systems, launch of new online and offline farming services, development of a farmer advisory and input marketplace mobile app, etc.

 

Business Operations

• P&L oversight: oversee preparation of and monitor budgets; monitor the net income after expenses for teams and projects; ensure company resources are allocated and used efficiently and transparently
• Manage consultants, advisors and other counsel for business, legal, regulatory, finance, compliance and other affairs related to corporate governance, banking, finance, business strategy, etc.; cap table and ESOP management for company entities; manage financial transactions between entities
• Maintain relationships with and renew engagements with clients, e.g. for consultancy, sale of decentralised renewable energy certificates (D-RECs), in line with non-operating revenue targets
• Foster and oversee partnerships and projects for research and consulting
• Negotiate, review and execute contracts, agreements and other documentation required for daily operations such as with vendors, clients, service providers, partners, etc.

 

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

• Master’s degree in a relevant discipline from a renowned university 
• At least 10 years in diverse leadership roles, including at least three years in a (senior) management position in a startup, social enterprise, small business or corporate environment 
• Significant experience in the general and operational management of a company including financial management, human capital management and P&L supervision
• Experience in securing financing and raising funds; ability to engage a wide range of stakeholders
• Track record of building and managing a team; experience managing remote teams (desirable)
• Proven track record of crafting a business strategy and growing revenue through product and service development, marketing, branding and partnerships
• Experience in renewable energy, agriculture, social development, climate, water, etc. (desirable)
• Excellent quantitative and analytical skills; comfortable analysing and interpreting data
• Financial literacy; ability to understand and build on financial models
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills.

PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES

• Aligned with Oorja’s core values of equity, empathy, team spirit, accountability and diligence
• Enjoy working in a fast-paced and distributed startup/scaleup environment
• Mission-driven with a positive attitude, action-oriented, entrepreneurial and adaptable
• Inspirational leadership style; ability to work effectively with people of diverse backgrounds, languages and cultures
• A persuasive and passionate communicator with excellent interpersonal skills
• Integrity, passion, empathy, determination, patience, curiosity and a healthy sense of humour
• Willing and able to travel to India for several weeks/months a year, as required for the job
• Resolute in using skills and experience to make the greatest possible impact in the world.

 

WHAT OORJA OFFERS

• A highly enthusiastic, driven and ambitious team
• A melting pot of diverse talents – development professionals, researchers, engineers, farmers, scientists and community mobilisers
• Competitive remuneration package and ESOPs
• An interesting field of work where you will build your understanding of solar technology, sustainable agri-food systems and the development sector
• A flat and open work culture and friendly work environment
• Experience and responsibility at an award-winning company in renewable energy and agri-tech industries, among the fastest-growing segments of the global economy
• The opportunity to make a difference and to help improve people’s lives.

 

EQUAL OPPORTUNTIES & NON-DISCRIMINATION STATEMENT

Oorja Development Solutions Limited is an equal opportunity employer that values and respects the importance of a diverse and inclusive workforce. It is the policy of the company to recruit, hire, train and promote persons in all job titles without regard to religion, race, caste, gender, place of birth, sexual orientation, marital status or disability status. Oorja endeavours to provide a safe, diverse and comfortable workplace. Oorja will not adversely discriminate, and prohibits other adverse discrimination at the workplace, against any person on its premises, whether that person is in its employment or otherwise. If you can contribute to their organisation, you are welcome, regardless of your roots, religion, age or gender.

 

HOW TO APPLY

Shortlist (www.shortlist.net) is Oorja’s exclusive recruitment partner for this role. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until the position is closed, though early applications are strongly encouraged.

To apply, ask a question, or refer someone in your immediate network, please write to the Shortlist team with your CV or LinkedIn profiles using the following contacts:

Sreelaxmi Radhakrishnan

Talent Consultant

sreelaxmi@shortlist.net

 

Ankita Guhathakurta

Associate Partner

ankita@shortlist.net