The Role
Lead discovery, validate and launch a new business line in African markets: research customers/agents, define commercial model and unit economics, run pilots, build local operations and teams, partner with finance, technology and manufacturing, and advise C‑suite on scaling, pivoting or stopping based on evidence.
Summary Generated by Built In
We can't hire everyone… but we can help them shine somewhere brilliant.
At Octopus, we're lucky to attract some incredibly talented humans. And while we can’t bring every talented person into our team, we can help them land somewhere that’s just as mission-driven. That’s why we’re sharing opportunities from MOPO; a company we’ve proudly backed through a strategic investment.
About MOPO...
MOPO is on a mission to enable renewable energy access in underserved markets. Already operating in Nigeria, DRC, Sierra Leone and Liberia, their solar power stations distribute energy through proprietary MOPO Batteries managed by a network of local agents. Their model is already powering thousands of homes and small businesses—eliminating fossil fuel use and enabling livelihoods. With backing from Octopus Energy, British International Investment, and Norfund, MOPO is scaling rapidly and is positioned to transform energy access and e-mobility across the continent.
MOPO is hiring a New Business Lead to scope, launch and scale a new business line fromthe ground up. By owning growth from a blank page to a real, scaling business, this is founder-style role for someone who discovers like a product leader and scales past the runway.
The Role:
We think great new businesses are built the way great products are: by getting close to the customer, testing assumptions cheaply, and following the evidence rather than the plan.
• Discover the opportunity: get deep with customers and agents in-market, frame the problem worth solving, and size the prize.
• Own the model: define the commercial strategy and unit economics, and be accountable for whether the business is viable, not just whether it ships.
• Build and lead: stand up operations and a local team, and grow both as the business scales.
• Work across MOPO: partner with the Sheffield-based finance and technology teams and the China-based manufacturing teams to turn ideas into reality.
• Report to the C-suite, help shape MOPO’s long-term strategy, and have the standing to make the call to scale, pivot or stop.
• Discover the opportunity: get deep with customers and agents in-market, frame the problem worth solving, and size the prize.
• Own the model: define the commercial strategy and unit economics, and be accountable for whether the business is viable, not just whether it ships.
• Build and lead: stand up operations and a local team, and grow both as the business scales.
• Work across MOPO: partner with the Sheffield-based finance and technology teams and the China-based manufacturing teams to turn ideas into reality.
• Report to the C-suite, help shape MOPO’s long-term strategy, and have the standing to make the call to scale, pivot or stop.
What Success Looks Like:
Because you’re building something new, we won’t set revenue targets before the opportunity is understood. We’ll judge success by the clarity of your thinking, the momentum you create, and the business you leave behind. Over your first 12–18 months, success looks like:
• A validated business case. A clear, evidence-based view of the customer, the problem, the size of the prize and MOPO’s right to win is good enough for the C-suite to back with confidence.
• A live pilot. Something real in at least one market, with actual customers and agents, generating hard data on unit economics and demand.
• A funded path to scale. Either a repeatable model and a credible route to profitability, the business can scale across markets, or the honesty and evidence to recommend stopping or pivoting.
Real impact. Measurable progress on MOPO’s mission.
• A validated business case. A clear, evidence-based view of the customer, the problem, the size of the prize and MOPO’s right to win is good enough for the C-suite to back with confidence.
• A live pilot. Something real in at least one market, with actual customers and agents, generating hard data on unit economics and demand.
• A funded path to scale. Either a repeatable model and a credible route to profitability, the business can scale across markets, or the honesty and evidence to recommend stopping or pivoting.
Real impact. Measurable progress on MOPO’s mission.
What We Are Looking For:
- An analytical, structured, rigorous and well-reasoned approach to solving problems.
- High attention to detail and a strong sense of personal agency and ownership.
- Comfort with ambiguity and uncertainty, and the ability to generate forward momentum despite limited infrastructure and incomplete data.
- A willingness to travel extensively and spend extended periods in African markets and openness to relocating if the business needs it.
- A legitimate interest in frontier markets, energy access, e-mobility or social-impact ventures.
We’re flexible on years of experience and will tailor the role and reporting structure to your strengths. We care far more about how you think than your CV.
You’ll need:
Bonus, but not essential: French (valuable in DRC and other markets); experience taking a venture, product or business line from zero to one; a background in emerging or frontier markets, energy, mobility, distribution or asset finance.
Skills Required
- Analytical, structured, rigorous problem-solving approach
- High attention to detail and strong sense of personal ownership
- Comfort with ambiguity and ability to generate momentum with incomplete data
- Willingness to travel extensively and spend extended periods in African markets
- Openness to relocate if the business needs it
- Genuine interest in frontier markets, energy access, e-mobility or social-impact ventures
- French language skills
- Experience taking a venture, product or business line from zero to one
- Background in emerging/frontier markets, energy, mobility, distribution or asset finance
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The Company
What We Do
We’re not your typical energy company. We want to change energy for the better by making it greener, smarter, and more affordable for everyone. Not only are we one of the biggest generators of renewable energy in the UK, we’re also one of the top-rated energy suppliers.
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