Jobs in Kenya

Description

Interim Research & Insights Director / Jobtech Alliance Location : This role can be based in any location in a GMT-2 to GMT+3 time zone, but preference will be given to candidates based in Nairobi, Kenya or Lagos, Nigeria

TL;DR

If you’re interested in the future of work in Africa, there is no role that will put you closer to the centre of the sector’s learning-for-action agenda.

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is a global humanitarian organization working in over 40 countries at the front lines of today’s biggest crises. Mercy Corps has built a reputation for innovative economic development programming, particularly working with start-ups, and hosts a venture capital arm called Mercy Corps Ventures. Its youth employment work places a focus on jobtech (read more ), which it has worked with for over a decade - investing, supporting product innovation, and conducting . In late 2021, Mercy Corps launched the , an ecosystem-building initiative around inclusive jobtech in Africa.The Jobtech Alliance has a portfolio of grants which allows us to conduct a range of acceleration activities with jobtech start-ups, and to conduct wider ecosystem-building activities. We partner with jobtech start-ups across 10 African markets to support strategy, product and operational innovations which make their services more viable and scalable, more inclusive and / or delivering better quality jobs for the users they serve. We conduct research to better understand what makes these innovations work (or not), and conduct exploratory research on emerging themes to help guide the sector.

The Position

The Interim Research & Insights Director will lead the research and insight generation strategy and its implementation at the Jobtech Alliance for the remainder of Phase 1 of the program (to the end of 2025). With Phase 2 funding anticipated to be secured in the second half of 2025, we will conduct a recruitment for a full-time role starting in 2026 thereafter. The role is expected to be a largely full-time consultancy, but part-time models could be explored.As the Interim Research & Insights Director, you will craft our learning-for-action agenda, oversee research activities on our jobtech start-up acceleration activities and beyond, and coordinate our dissemination and advocacy plans to ensure our research outputs lead to action across our ecosystem. We operate as a ‘do-tank’ rather than a ‘think-tank’ - our research insights need to be operationally impactful. You will often have a role in moving research into practice, as well as vice-versa. You will be traveling up to 20% of the time across the continent.This role at the Jobtech Alliance will provide you with access to unrivaled information resources, data and influence across the Jobtech ecosystem in Africa :

• Access to the highest-potential Jobtech start-ups across the continent working to make their business models more scalable and inclusive
• The most comprehensive dataset on gig workers in Africa with rich details on engagement patterns and earnings
• Deep relationships with players across the jobtech ecosystem for research dissemination and advocacy

You will have the opportunity to influence and execute action-oriented research and learning to solve problems across the Jobtech Alliance ecosystem :

Consultant Activities :

RESEARCH AND INSIGHTS STRATEGY- 25%-Craft and continuously refine our research and insights strategy, identifying the different research and insight use cases and the appropriate methodologies, formats, dissemination channels and advocacy required to translate research outputs to action.- Shape the overarching learning-for-action agenda of the Jobtech Alliance. Identify emerging themes coming out of our work, as well as upon the wider Jobtech horizon, which require further research.- Support the venture building team to identify learning themes and opportunities within their innovation sprints.- Advise the team on new issues they should be addressing in their work, based on reading emerging research in the Jobtech space.CONDUCTING RESEARCH AND OVERSEEING RESEARCH OUTPUTS - 65%- Lead research on varying themes with acceleration start-up partners, from product design, to business model strategy, user-level impact, and / or operations. This involves strategizing research approaches and methodologies in a manner that is adapted to each innovation project’s needs, and would involve data collection activities with start-ups, the venture building team, and users themselves. - Oversee the analysis, synthesis, and production of knowledge products as a primary author for various forms of audiences and channels, including long-form reports, blogs, and other communication mediums for knowledge products. Our content will primarily be in the form of 5-10 page learning reports, and 1-2 page blogs, with a few longer-form research products.- Manage researchers, consultants and primary data collectors, where required, as part of the research output production process.LEAD DISSEMINATION AND ADVOCACY ACTIVITIES - 10%- Execute tailored dissemination plans for the various research use cases identified in the strategy. This may include workshops, webinars, public events and social media campaigns.- Lead advocacy efforts to feed research findings into the decision-making process of ecosystem actors, where identified in the strategy. - Oversee quarterly research and content calendar. Ensure that research and content (blogs etc) are on course.- Ensure quality and relevance of blogs and learning products produced by other team members.- Function as a learning focal point for engagement with external stakeholders. Attend local events, meetings and networking activities.- Where suitable, convene researchers in the Jobtech space to move forward learning agenda, or to foster collaboration. Deliverables

Accountability

Reports Directly To : Director / Jobtech Alliance Works Directly With : Start-ups, External partners, Results Measurement & Insights Lead, Venture builders,

Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills

Success Factors

You’re a leader, who understands how to embed learning into otg research and learning makes organizationsYou are a learn-it-all, with a passion to learn more about the jobtech, employment, and start-up space - how to make tech businesses work, and how those can have an impact on their users. You are an excellent communicator and collaborator, who can work with different stakeholders. You possess strong analytical and research skills, and can tell the difference between an ‘insight’ and ‘information. You are a great storyteller, who can write short, punchy, content with strong and clear messaging. You approach research with a practical bent and are passionate about knowledge products driving improved decision making and action