Chief Operating Officer

POSITION OVERVIEW

Job Title: Chief Operating Officer
Department: Executive Office
Reports To: Chief Executive Officer
Location: Nairobi, Kenya (with regular travel to Kilifi County)
Employment Type: Full-Time
Target Start: Q3 2026

ABOUT GIRAFFE BIOENERGY
Giraffe Bioenergy is a Kenyan, women-led clean energy company building the country's first vertically integrated cassava-to-ethanol platform: the Galana Biorefinery Complex in Kilifi County. The platform converts drought and disease tolerant cassava grown on idle semi-arid land into renewable ethanol for transport fuel blending, industrial use and clean cooking, while creating new income for smallholder farmers and supporting food security in some of Kenya's driest agricultural land.

THE OPPORTUNITY
Giraffe is at an inflection point. The technical work is mature, the commercial partners are credible and a major capital raise is well underway. The Chief Operating Officer joins as the company moves from founder-led development to institutionally backed venture, with the chance to shape both the deal and the operating system that follows it. The role pairs senior operating leadership with a Chief of Staff orientation: partner to the CEO, integrator across the business, and the second decision-maker in the room. Over the next eighteen months the COO will help bring the current capital raise to financial close, build the corporate machinery a growing energy company needs, and step into construction phase leadership as the project breaks ground.

ROLE SUMMARY
The Chief Operating Officer is a senior cross-functional leader sitting at the heart of the Executive Office. The role exists to absorb financial close execution from the CEO, stand up Giraffe's operating infrastructure, and grow with the business through construction and into commercial operations. The successful candidate is equally comfortable drafting an investor memo, chasing a vendor invoice and walking a cassava field. They bring rigour, judgement and ownership to a fast-moving, high-stakes environment, and they are genuinely energised by the impact thesis: clean fuel from Kenyan farms, built and led from Kenya.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Capital Raise & Financial Close
   1. Drive the workplan to take Giraffe's current capital raise to financial close. Coordinate legal, technical, financial and regulatory workstreams to milestones. Serve as primary internal interface with the senior debt provider on conditions precedent and lender compliance. Support the CEO on equity investor preparation, due diligence coordination and investor Q&A; Manage external counsel and transaction advisors.
2. Corporate Operating System
   1. Stand up the governance, financial controls and reporting cadence Giraffe needs as an institutionally backed company. Build board reporting templates, governance calendars and compliance registers. Work alongside the Fractional CFO to ensure financial models, audited accounts and reporting packs are close-ready. Develop the hiring plan that scales the team through construction and into commercial operations.
3. Strategic Integration & Chief of Staff
   1. Hold cadence across commercial (offtake, feedstock), technical (EPC, FEED, ESIA, land) and operational workstreams as the single point of accountability under the CEO. Author board memos, investor updates and strategic briefings. Free up CEO time to focus on capital, partnerships and Board engagement. Translate strategy into execution and close loops without prompting.
4. Construction Phase Leadership
   1. Transition from transaction lead to construction operating lead alongside the EPC partner once financial close is achieved. Establish project controls covering milestone tracking, budget management, change order governance and risk reporting. Lead stakeholder coordination across community, government and county relationships in partnership with the Head of Government Relations.
5. Commercial Operations Readiness
   1. Stand up the commercial operating model in the lead-up to and beyond commissioning, including offtake management, feedstock supply chain and operational reporting. Own people leadership and organisational development as the team scales. Drive continuous improvement across safety, yield and cost performance.
6. Site & Stakeholder Presence
   1. Represent Giraffe Bioenergy at the project site in Baricho, Kilifi County as required. Build trusted working relationships with the on-site team, contractors, county government and community partners.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

• 10–15 years of progressive experience in finance, operations or commercial leadership, with at least one prior role at C-suite, VP or director level.
• Direct, hands-on experience taking an industrial, infrastructure or energy project to financial close, ideally with capital expenditure of USD 20 million or more. Project finance familiarity is essential.
• Investor-facing experience with institutional capital. You have sat across the table from development finance institutions, impact investors or commercial banks and led commercial negotiation.
• East Africa context fluency. You understand the Kenyan regulatory environment (NEMA, EPRA, KRA), county government dynamics, OMC commercial practice and Kenyan corporate law.
• A track record of integrating commercial, legal, technical and capital workstreams under deadline.
• Excellent written communication. You can author board memos, investor updates and term sheet redlines without translation help.
• Sector adjacency a strong plus: bioenergy, biofuels, agribusiness, industrial processing or downstream petroleum.
• Familiarity with IFC Performance Standards, the Equator Principles or comparable environmental and social frameworks is an advantage.
• Comfort building from low overhead in early-stage or venture-backed environments, not just inheriting structure.
• Qualifications: CPA-K, ACCA, CFA or MBA preferred. An engineering or scientific undergraduate background is a plus given the technical nature of the project.
• Kenyan nationals strongly preferred. East Africa returnees considered for exceptional fit.

KEY COMPETENCIES

• Bias to ownership and execution; closes loops without prompting and treats deadlines as commitments.
• Comfort with ambiguity and the ability to move from a board-level capital question to a procurement decision to a farmer outgrower issue in the same morning.
• High judgement under pressure; knows what to escalate, what to absorb and what to redirect.
• Low ego, high standards; equally at home drafting an IC memo and walking a project site.
• Discretion in handling confidential investor, board and personnel matters.
• Resilience and stamina to run alongside the CEO through an intense 18-month phase.
• Strong cultural fit with a women-led, farmer-first venture and a genuine commitment to the impact thesis.

WHAT WE OFFER

• A senior leadership seat at one of East Africa's most ambitious clean energy ventures, at the moment it transitions from founder-led development to institutionally backed company.
• Direct partnership with a founder CEO and exposure to a credible investor base, board and cap table.
• Competitive compensation commensurate with experience, including meaningful equity participation and a milestone-linked performance bonus.
• Standard Kenyan employment benefits: medical cover, NSSF, NHIF and statutory leave. Travel covered for site visits and investor meetings.
• A purpose-driven, mission-led team culture with the opportunity to build the operating model that will run a flagship Kenya industrial venture.