Senior Manager

Job Description

About Prerna Ojas

Prerna Ojas is a women-led clean energy enterprise established under the Uttar Pradesh State Rural Livelihood Mission (UPSRLM) to expand access to affordable clean energy solutions while creating livelihood opportunities for SHG women. Its key verticals include solar and energy-efficient product manufacturing, women-led Solar Retail Shops, decentralized renewable energy (DRE) solutions for livelihoods and households, clean cooking solutions, and the Surya Sakhi cadre. Through these interconnected verticals, Ojas combines local production, retail, technology adoption, market development, and last-mile outreach to build a community-led clean energy ecosystem across rural Uttar Pradesh.

Position Overview

The Senior Manager – Climate change and sustainability will work to expand access to clean-energy products and strengthen women-led enterprises in rural markets. The role will focus on developing and scaling Solar Shops run by women entrepreneurs, Surya Sakhis as last-mile sales and demand-aggregation agents, and other clean-energy livelihood models. The position will also support the adoption of solar, energy-efficient and clean-cooking solutions by strengthening market linkages, product availability, enterprise viability and customer outreach. The Senior Manager will work closely with women entrepreneurs, community institutions, technology suppliers, government agencies and field teams to build commercially sustainable clean-energy enterprises.

Key Responsibilities

1. Focus Verticals

• DRE (Decentralized Renewable Energy): Lead expansion of solar and productive-use energy products and energy-efficient appliances, working with technology suppliers on product selection, quality, pricing and after-sales support.
• Solar Shops: Support the establishment, strengthening and performance monitoring of women-run Solar Shops (Sanchalikas), including inventory, servicing, warranty management and enterprise viability.
• Surya Sakhis: Build and scale the Surya Sakhi network as last-mile sales and demand-aggregation agents, covering onboarding, training, mentoring and performance tracking.
• Clean Cooking: Drive adoption of clean-cooking technologies through market linkages, product availability and demand-generation activities.

2. Women-Led Enterprise Development

• Guide entrepreneurs across all four verticals on business planning, product selection, pricing, margins, working capital, sales planning and customer management.
• Develop and coordinate practical training and mentoring on products, sales, basic servicing and enterprise management.
• Identify enterprises requiring additional support and develop appropriate improvement plans.
• Strengthen linkages between Solar Shops, Surya Sakhis, community institutions and local customers.

3. Market Development and Partnerships

• Assess rural markets to identify customer segments, demand patterns and opportunities across DRE, Solar Shops, Surya Sakhis and Clean Cooking.
• Develop partnerships with manufacturers, distributors, financial institutions, government departments, SHGs, CLFs, FPOs and other relevant organizations.
• Support institutional and bulk-market opportunities through Panchayats, community institutions, government programmes and other potential customers.
• Facilitate demonstrations, campaigns and other market-development activities to increase awareness and product adoption.

4. Finance and Government Convergence

• Identify relevant government programmes and schemes that can support renewable energy, clean cooking, MSMEs, rural livelihoods and women-led enterprises.
• Coordinate with government departments and programme partners to facilitate convergence and enterprise support.
• Track the progress of finance and scheme linkages and address implementation bottlenecks.

5. Field Monitoring and Business Performance

• Regularly review the performance of Solar Shops, Surya Sakhis, assembly/service units and other supported enterprises across all verticals.
• Monitor key indicators such as sales, inventory movement, enterprise income, product performance, customer feedback and enterprise activity.
• Establish practical field-verification systems for inventory, sales records, product quality and enterprise performance.
• Undertake regular field visits to understand implementation challenges and identify corrective actions.
• Ensure accurate and timely data is maintained through the MIS and field-monitoring systems.
• Use field and business data to identify high-performing and underperforming enterprises and recommend appropriate support.

6. Programme Management and Reporting

• Prepare annual and periodic implementation plans, targets and progress reviews across the DRE, Solar Shop, Surya Sakhi and Clean Cooking portfolio.
• Coordinate with internal teams and external partners to ensure timely implementation of activities.
• Monitor programme budgets, outputs and agreed performance indicators.
• Prepare concise management reports highlighting business performance, implementation progress, challenges and required actions.
• Document lessons, successful enterprise models and opportunities for scale.

7. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Number and proportion of active Solar Shops, Surya Sakhis and other clean-energy enterprises.
• Sales growth and improvement in enterprise income.
• Expansion of solar, clean-cooking, energy-efficient and productive-use energy products.
• Effectiveness of inventory, servicing and after-sales systems.
• Number and value of enterprise finance linkages facilitated.
• Government and institutional partnerships established.
• Coverage and quality of field monitoring.
• Improvement in the performance of low-performing enterprises.
• Timeliness and quality of programme implementation and reporting.

Candidate Profile

• Education: Master of Business Administration / Master of Social Work / Master of Public Health
• Experience: Minimum 8 years, with experience in the government sector projects.