Overview

Okra is looking for an experienced Inventory Manager with a meticulous eye for detail and precision. The mission of this role is to take full ownership of managing Okra’s inventory. Okra procures, manufactures, exports and distributes a range of hardware products and physical goods. The vast majority of our equipment is manufactured and assembled in China, and transported to various geographic markets around the world. The successful applicant will be responsible for maintaining accurate and detailed records of all such activities through the use of specialised tools and software, and frequent communications with other stakeholders (vendors, logistics, finance).

This role opens at a critical moment when the scope and complexity of our inventory data is outpacing internal expertise and available resourcing. In addition to creating immense productivity and efficiency improvements for Okra’s operations team, fulfilling this role will also ensure that inventory is optimally allocated so that our customers (energy utility companies), and their customers (last-mile communities), will always have access to sufficient stock of electrification equipment, and various other goods which are required to ensure projects run sustainably. Doing so successfully will have a direct impact on our overall quality of service, especially in relation to overall system uptime.

Responsibilities

• Investigate and correct discrepancies in inventory data.
• Provide suggestions and guidance to various other teams on how to effectively adhere to inventory management best-practises.
• Define and measure various KPIs which provide insight into the health of our inventory management efforts.

Use Okra’s dedicated inventory management software to accurately record details for a range of ongoing supply chain activities, including (but not limited to):

• procurements
• quotations and pricing
• production
• lead-time analysis
• shipping
• returns

Create detailed and precise reporting tailored to the needs of:

• Finance team → to ensure all financial and supply chain data is reconciled.
• Support team → to ensure stock is allocated optimally in order to service product returns and warranty claims.

Hard Skills

• Tracking procurement and delivery of physical goods between vendors and end-recipients.
• Managing inventory data using purpose-built SaaS tools like Cin7, Unleashed, Odoo, SAP, Zoho Inventory, etc.
• Using spreadsheets to organise and analyse large amounts of inventory data
• S/n and SKU management
• Managing returns and warranty flows
• Automated reporting methods

Soft Skills

• Clear communication → especially in regards to number-centric conversations.
• Composure and comfort when dealing with large swathes of data.
• Taking initiative → to ensure action is taken when inventory numbers begin trending in the wrong direction.

Internal Liaisons

• Supply Chain team

• Finance team
• Support team

External Liaisons

• Equipment vendors
• Shipping & logistics service providers