Head of Asset Management

SOLTRAK; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 720,000 - 1,020,000; Full time

Job summary

SOLTRAK, a renewable energy performance tracking company, seeks an experienced leader to head its Asset Management Team in Cape Town. This senior, client-facing role owns the portfolio’s performance, the governing commercial agreements, and the ONM service providers, coordinating a team of energy analysts to deliver reliable insights.

The successful candidate will be the primary contact for asset owners, facilities managers and providers across a national portfolio of solar PV and battery

Qualifications

• Must have technical engineering degree in one of the specified fields.
• Minimum five years in South Africa's renewable energy sector.
• Proven ability to lead a client portfolio and team.
• Experience negotiating and administering O&M agreements.
• Strong senior-level client-facing communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Asset Management Team and mentor analysts.
• Manage client portfolios, capacity, and resourcing.
• Own the client relationship and negotiate SLAs and contract terms.
• Oversee onboarding of projects onto SOLTRAK platform and ensure timely reporting.

Skills

Team leadership

PV performance data interpretation

O&M agreements negotiation

Senior client-facing communication

Driver's licence

Education

BSc/BEng in Electrical, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Chemical or Energy Engineering

Job description

Location:Cape Town, South Africa Type:Full-time Remuneration:R720,000 - R1,020,000 p/a

SOLTRAK is looking for an experienced renewable energy professional to lead its Asset Management Team. This is a senior, client-facing role with end-to-end ownership of SOLTRAK's portfolio under management: the performance of the assets, the commercial agreements that govern them, the service providers who maintain them, and the team of energy analysts who deliver the service. The successful candidate will be the senior point of contact for asset owners, facilities managers and O&M service providers across a national portfolio of commercial, industrial, retail and utility-scale solar PV and battery storage assets.

About Us

SOLTRAK is a renewable energy performance tracking company that gives renewable asset owners insight into the performance of their assets. SOLTRAK offers independent performance reporting, support in setting up and administering O&M agreements, and access to a live monitoring platform that provides real-time access to performance metrics for an asset portfolio in one location.

The service provides comprehensive monitoring that gives owners complete visibility of their assets or portfolio of assets. SOLTRAK also supports owners in procuring and structuring O&M agreements with a fair and clear framework to adjudicate underperformance. Monthly, quarterly and annual performance reports are generated by SOLTRAK and include a comprehensive set of performance metrics, written to be useful to both the technical and the non-specialist reader.

SOLTRAK forms part of the SOLINK Group and works alongside SOLINK’s advisory, wheeling and project development teams. SOLTRAK is a dynamic and young company with great ambitions to have a positive impact on the renewable energy sector in Sub-Saharan Africa. This position offers the opportunity to lead a function in a rapidly growing business with significant reach and potential.

Responsibilities

Lead the Asset Management Team

• Lead, mentor and develop a team of energy analysts (engineers) and interns, setting standards for reporting quality, client communication and turnaround times.


• Allocate client portfolios and manage team capacity, reassigning work as client demands change and escalating resourcing needs early.


• Recruit, onboard and train new analysts as the portfolio grows.


• Hold weekly and monthly reporting cycles to schedule across the full portfolio.

Own the Client Relationship

• Act as the senior point of contact and escalation for asset owners, asset managers, facilities managers and property fund clients.


• Negotiate, maintain and renew SOLTRAK service level agreements, including site additions, contract structuring across multiple owning entities, fee tier reviews and billing commencement terms.


• Prepare proposals for new and expanded scopes of service, including SOLTRAK's asset management tier.


• Work with the accounts team on invoicing, purchase orders and pass-through costs.


• Support new business through platform demonstrations, portfolio reviews and client references.

Oversee Project Onboarding

• Lead the onboarding of greenfield and brownfield projects onto the SOLTRAK monitoring platform, from telemetry and data access through to first report.


• Resolve onboarding blockages with EPCs and service providers, escalating to client and internal stakeholders where information is withheld or delayed.


• Maintain the onboarding pipeline and hold both the team and third parties to timelines that protect the monthly reporting run.

Oversee O&M Contracting and Service Providers

• Run O&M procurement on behalf of clients: preparing and issuing RFPs, hosting site briefings, adjudicating submissions and advising on appointment.


• Negotiate and administer O&M agreements, including scope, service extensions, pricing and the framework for adjudicating underperformance.


• Lead penalty and underperformance discussions with service providers, supported by SOLTRAK's performance evidence.


• Appoint and manage third-party inspection and electrical contractors, including scoping, quotations and pricing methodology.

Drive Asset Performance

• Oversee monthly, quarterly and annual performance reporting across the portfolio, ensuring accuracy, timeliness and clarity.


• Undertake and review performance evaluation assessments of PV and BESS systems together with SOLTRAK's energy analysts.


• Interpret plant performance to identify underperformance, quantify lost yield and assess opportunities to improve output.


• Own the alerting and incident escalation process, ensuring incidents are triaged, communicated to the responsible party and driven to resolution.


• Oversee physical site inspections and translate findings into maintenance actions and capital recommendations.


• Coordinate actionable items arising from performance assessments through to closure.

Shape the SOLTRAK Platform

• Work with the SOLTRAK software development team to prioritise, specify, test and roll out new platform features and releases.


• Represent the end user in the platform roadmap, translating asset owner and analyst needs into product requirements.


• Support the development of SOLTRAK's automated reporting framework, introducing new features and identifying bugs and fixes.


• Support the development of telemetry schemas, protocols and third-party API integrations with inverter, metering and monitoring vendors.


• Evaluate third-party analytics, diagnostic and machine learning tools for use within the service.

Support the Wider SOLINK Group

• Support technical due diligence and plant valuation instructions on asset transactions.


• Provide performance data and technical input to wheeling, REC and embedded generation workstreams.


• Advise clients on portfolio-level decisions such as spares holding, EPC engagement and repowering.

What's in It for You

• Full ownership of a growing national portfolio of distributed, C&I and utility-scale solar PV and battery storage assets.


• The opportunity to build and shape a team, and to define how asset management is delivered at SOLTRAK.


• Direct engagement with senior decision-makers at some of South Africa's largest property funds, industrial groups and mining operations.


• Real influence over a monitoring platform in active development, with your requirements shaping the roadmap.


• Exposure to adjacent markets including wheeling, renewable energy certificates and battery storage.


• Opportunity to develop machine learning tools and forecasting algorithms that predict underperforming plants with suggested remedies.


• A senior position and network in the South African renewable energy market.

Qualifications & Skills

Required

• Technical qualification (BSc/BEng - Electrical, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Chemical or Energy Engineering).


• At least five years' work experience in the South African renewable energy sector.


• Demonstrated experience leading a team or owning a client portfolio.


• Proven ability to interpret PV performance data and identify and quantify underperformance.


• Experience negotiating and administering O&M agreements or service level agreements.


• Confident, senior-level client-facing communication, written and verbal.


• Driver's licence and own transport.

Beneficial

• MSc / MEng / MPhil (or similar) in an engineering, energy or sustainability discipline.


• Professional registration (Pr.Eng or Pr.Tech Eng).


• Battery energy storage and wheeling exposure.


• HelioScope / PVSOL / PVsyst experience.


• Exposure to South African tariff structures, NERSA registration and municipal SSEG processes.


• Experience with monitoring platforms, SCADA, metering and telemetry protocols.


• Experience with Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Slides).


• Understanding of, or exposure to, Python and/or JavaScript.


• Exposure to renewable energy certificates and carbon markets.

Physical Requirements

• Own transport and a valid driver's licence.


• Reside in Cape Town or the immediate surrounds.


• Willingness to travel nationally for site visits, inspections and client meetings.

Remuneration

R720,000 - R1,020,000 cost to company per annum. Final offer in line with the candidate's experience and qualifications.