Meet the Team: Andrew Matkin, Field Operations Manager

Our Meet the Team blog series highlights the amazing people behind Moixa. This week we caught up with Andrew, our Field Operations Manager, to discuss his role and the challenges of delivering a great service to our Moixa customers.

Meet the Team: Andrew Matkin, Field Operations Manager

Andy has been working for Moixa for almost four years, successfully leading the field operations team to oversee our optimised batteries’ end-to-end installation process.

Initially starting his career at Moixa in the sales team in 2017, he has progressed from an operations admin role to managing the entire process of installations, from when a customer pays the deposit for the battery to post-installation checks.

Before Moixa, Andy worked in various jobs in the UK and abroad: he was a cocktail bartender in London, a chalet host in Austria and a golf instructor in New York.

Andy holds a BSc in Environmental Science and a PRINCE 2 Project management certification.

How did you first hear about Moixa?

I first heard about Moixa in 2015 working for Nottingham Energy Partnership as an admin assistant on one of their social housing projects. I did some research about the company and decided it is an area I was very interested in.

I got in touch to see if there were any suitable open roles, but unfortunately, there weren’t any at the time. Luckily, I tried again two years later in 2017 and secured a position as part of Manchester’s newly formed sales team.

What made you want to take the job?

I studied Environmental Science at University, and the lecturers there always said that batteries would be the next big thing if they could harness solar efficiently. So I decided on batteries and renewable energy being the path I would like to take.

What happens on a typical workday for you?

Most days are different for me, as each customer has their own set of needs. We try to offer a personal service to our customers, often being on the phone to talk them through their installation and provide all the information they need.

We also have a strong network of installation partners, who I liaise with regularly on when they can complete installations and share information from customers. This involves a lot of communication (both over the phone and by email) to ensure everyone is on the same page.

As not everything goes smoothly all the time, there is a lot of problem-solving on a very ad-hoc basis. For instance, if there is an issue with the shipping of a customer’s battery, this can affect many different stakeholders & processes. Therefore, we have to adapt quickly and find solutions to issues as rapidly as possible, appeasing all parties as best we can.

What has been your most proud moment since joining Moixa?

My highest point at Moixa was winning the ‘Moixans of the Quarter’ (a quarterly company survey where we reward and celebrate those at Moixa who demonstrate our values in the way they work).

As it’s voted for by colleagues, this really meant a lot to be recognised as doing a good job day-to-day.

Congratulations on winning our ‘Moixans of the Quarter’. Your hard work and dedication clearly paid off!

What defines a successful month for you and your team at Moixa?

Hitting our installation targets and making sure all customers have received a 5-star install experience. We’re always trying to improve our processes and reduce the time taken from when a customer pays to when the battery is installed.

Ensuring a smooth end-to-end installation process is also vital to enable our optimised batteries to help the UK electricity system for various grid services, such as Moixa’s participation in the Balancing Mechanism and our partnership with UK Power Networks to unlock flexibility at a domestic level.

What are the key skills you need to be successful in your role?

One of the critical skills to be successful in my role is definitely patience. As mentioned, not everything goes to plan, so having patience and a proactive mindset as to how we can make things right is a must.

You also need to have good communication skills. In the field operations team, we speak not only to customers and installers but also to many other business departments and external stakeholders, such as DNO’s.

For instance, we speak with the software team when we commission a battery once installed. As we are the face of the install to the software team, it’s important to have clear communication with others to make sure everyone knows what is going on. This can sometimes be a challenge working remotely, but I think we do a relatively good job of it.

If you weren’t in your current role, what else do you think you would be doing?

I would probably be working in a ski resort somewhere. Spending 6 months working in Austria and skiing every day was a good way of life and a lot of fun. I think if I hadn’t got the role with Moixa, I’d have probably gone back to do another season there.

What are your top tips for someone who wants to work at Moixa or in the renewable energy industry?

You get out what you put in. Having had four different job titles at Moixa, it pays to work hard, specialise in an area and develop your skills. Having evolved from an operations admin support to being a field operations manager, it is clear that Moixa can provide great progression if you’re willing to put in the work.

A huge thank you to Andy for taking the time out to discuss his life at Moixa. You can connect with Andy on LinkedIn here.

If you would like to hear more about available roles at Moixa, visit our careers page.