Key Account Manager jobs in South Africa

Company Profile: Candi is a dedicated solar partner for businesses across Asia and Africa. Combining the international capital of our Swiss-based platform with local expertise in these regions, we’re able to provide a unique offering to this underserved sector. In doing so, we aim to have a big social impact, reduce carbon emissions, create jobs, increase energy access, and save money for businesses of all sizes in emerging markets.

Our approach is to take the risk so our partners don’t have to, providing businesses with flexible, end-to-end solar and battery solutions that are built to last. Our shared value model leverages our experience in customizable finance and performance offerings, quality engineering, and data-enabled asset management to help guarantee optimized systems, lowering the barrier to entry and maximizing returns. www.candi.solar

Job Summary: The company is looking to recruit a driven and highly networked Senior Sales Executive to join our Business Development division, focusing on solar upgrade products, including refinancing of existing assets, along with our unique asset management product suite. This individual will play a critical role in expanding our client base and deepening market penetration. The ideal candidate is a hunter with strong industry relationships, proven experience in generating sales and ideally some experience in the solar sector, and a passion for driving the clean energy transition.

This role requires commercial acumen, industry expertise, and the ability to close high-value, complex deals. You will be expected to originate and close opportunities, leveraging your network to build long-term partnerships that drive growth for both our clients and Candi.

Specifically, the job requires taking ownership of the following for the South African team:

1. Sales & Origination

• Identify and secure new business opportunities in solar refinancing, and asset management contracts.
• Leverage an existing network of industry contacts (developers, asset owners, EPCs, financial institutions, advisors, and large corporates).
• Deliver on individual sales targets with a strong focus on new client acquisition.
• Lead negotiations and ensure proposals meet both client needs and company objectives.
• Represent Candi at industry events, forums, and client engagements to strengthen brand visibility and generate leads.

1. Deal Management

• Drive the full deal cycle from origination to closure.
• Collaborate with internal teams (finance, legal, asset management, engineering) to structure solutions and ensure successful deal execution.
• Provide clients with clear, concise techno-commercial and financial proposals.

1. Client & Relationship Management

• Build and maintain trusted, long-term relationships with asset owners and key industry stakeholders.
• Identify upsell and cross-sell opportunities across candi’s financing and asset management solutions.
• Act as a client champion, ensuring exceptional experience and fostering repeat business and referrals.

1. Market Intelligence & Strategy

• Stay current on energy finance market trends, competitor offerings, and regulatory changes.
• Provide insights to shape product development, sales strategy, and pricing models.
• Track, analyse, and report on sales metrics and pipeline performance.

Location: Cape Town (preferable) / Johannesburg, combined with working from home

Hours: Full time.

Job Requirements:

• Tertiary qualification in Business, Finance, Economics, or Engineering.
• 10+ years’ experience in sales/business development with ideally 2+ years in the solar sector.
• Strong industry network across the commercial & industrial sectors in South Africa.
• Demonstrated hunter mindset with a proven track record of originating and closing transactions.
• Proficiency in presenting value propositions to non-technical audiences.
• Comfortable working with digital tools such as Salesforce, Google Workspace, Asana, and Slack.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and negotiation skills.
• Established relationships with asset owners, developers, financiers, or corporate clients.
• Experience with asset management or portfolio optimisation solutions.
• Familiarity with regulatory frameworks and market dynamics in South Africa’s renewable energy sector.
• Prior experience in an international or fast-growth company environment.

Working Culture:

• You agree to live out the Candi values every day of your employment: this includes putting empathy before ego, being authentic no matter what, that we get it done as one and follow the Candi principle that less is more
• A dynamic, cross-functional team player, willing to take initiative on projects in the context of a multicultural scale-up trying to execute big, bold ideas.
• Having experience working for an international company, or having studied or worked abroad, is considered a plus.
• You must be open, honest, trustworthy, a strong communicator, and understand that what we get done as a team surpasses what we get done individually.
• Candi is an equal opportunities employer.

Candi is unique because...

• We focus on helping businesses of all sizes in emerging markets get access to cheap, clean rooftop solar energy.
• We have a strong emphasis on a client-centric & innovation-driven working culture.
• We are an international team where remote working is commonplace, where we trust our team members to actively carve out a role for themselves according to their skillset.

Only qualified candidates will be contacted.