Chief Operations Officer (COO)

Business Unit: Hydrobox Department: Management Reports to: CEO Location: Karen Office Park, Nairobi

・The Chief Operations Officer (COO) is responsible for ensuring disciplined execution, cross-functional coordination, and operational excellence across Hydrobox.

・As a member of the senior leadership team, the COO leads the ExCo as the central platform where all business functions come together, ensuring alignment, accountability, and timely implementation of decisions.

・The COO directly oversees the Operations Managers in Kenya and DRC and the General Managers of Magiro and Yetu, holding them accountable for performance against agreed KPIs.

・A key focus of the role is to professionalize organizational practices, coordinate processes for project development, and introduce best practices to raise efficiency and reduce time-to-implementation.

・This role frees the CEO from day-to-day operational follow-up so that the CEO can focus on external strategy, fundraising, and partnerships.

1. Strategic & Operational Leadership

・Translate strategic objectives into operational plans with clear KPIs for each business unit. Oversee the implementation of these plans, ensuring that monitoring systems are in place.

・Report regularly to the CEO and Board on progress and gaps.

2. Execution Discipline

・Lead the ExCo as the central coordination platform where business functions come together.

・Ensure decisions taken at ExCo are followed up and implemented within agreed timelines.

・Drive interdepartmental coordination (finance, technical, HR, legal, operations) to ensure seamless execution.

・Track achievement of operational KPIs, including plant uptime, energy availability, revenue collection, losses, and project development milestones.

3. Organizational Excellence

・Introduce and institutionalize best practices across operations and support functions.

・Benchmark Hydrobox practices against industry standards and raise professionalism across the group.

・Lead initiatives to improve organizational efficiency and effectiveness.

・Develop and implement initiatives to shorten project development timelines, recognizing the importance of time-to-market in Hydrobox’s business model

4. Financial & Budgetary Oversight

・Oversee the preparation of operational budgets in collaboration with BU Managers and Operations Managers.

・Ensure adherence to budgets, track variances, and implement corrective measures.

・Ensure resources are allocated effectively to meet operational and project delivery targets.

・Collaborate with the CFO to ensure operational budgets are integrated into group-level financial planning and reporting.

5. Risk Management and Compliance

・Identify, assess, and mitigate operational risks across all Hydrobox entities.

・Ensure compliance with operational, regulatory, safety, and environmental standards.

・Maintain and monitor operational risk registers with clear accountability for mitigation measures.

・Work closely with the CFO to delineate operational risks (COO) from financial risks (CFO).

6. Leadership and Team Development

・Provide leadership, mentorship, and accountability to BU Operations Managers and General Managers.

・Foster a culture of accountability, ownership, and results orientation across teams.

・Develop talent pipelines and ensure succession planning for critical operational roles.

・Strong operational leadership and execution discipline.

・Ability to lead ExCo and ensure cross-functional alignment.

・Expertise in organizational excellence and process improvement.

・Financial and budgetary accountability Risk management (operational, safety, regulatory).

・Leadership and people development.

・Experience managing multi-country operations.

・Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.

・Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Business Administration, or related field; MBA or advanced degree preferred.

・Minimum 12–15 years of experience in operations leadership, ideally in renewable energy, infrastructure, or related industries.

・Proven track record managing multi-site or multi-country operations.

・Demonstrated ability to drive execution discipline and deliver results.

・Experience introducing best practices and organizational process improvements.

・Strong knowledge of regulatory frameworks, operational best practices, and energy sector dynamics.

・Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills.

・40 hours

・Be part of a dynamic and innovative scale-up company committed to renewable energy and sustainable development, where you will have the opportunity to work on impactful projects that make a difference in local communities, in a collaborative and supportive work environment.

・If you are passionate about renewable energy and possess the skills and experience that we are looking for, apply today to join us in shaping the future of energy in Kenya by sending your application to hr@hydrobox.africa.