POWERED BY POSSIBLE The world is more fragile than ever. Food shortages have left millions of people hungry, while violent conflict has sent millions on the run. From poverty and malnutrition to natural disasters and climate change, it’s easy to see a world of insurmountable challenges. Instead, we see an opportunity to create transformative change. We see the world differently. In crisis, we believe in the power of human potential. In struggle, we believe in the ability of communities to grow stronger. So we act differently. We understand that communities are the best agents of their own change and local markets are the best engines of long-term recovery. In more than 40 countries, we partner to put bold solutions into action, helping people triumph over adversity and grow stronger from within. For the refugee who dreams of rebuilding her country, for the mother who wants a healthy future for her children — for millions of people filled with the power of possibility —Mercy Corps connects people to the resources they need to build better, stronger lives. We create transformative change. Mercy Corps has responded to nearly every global emergency over the past 20 years. Since 1979, we have provided $3.7 billion in lifesaving assistance throughout the world. Each year we infuse millions of dollars into local economies through small business loans and grants to provide livelihoods for the world’s most vulnerable people. We are empowering more than 100,000 youth trapped by violent conflict to overcome the profound stress of war and become change makers in their communities. We are powered by the belief that a better world is possible. Join us.

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 here), which it has worked with for over a decade - investing, supporting product innovation, and conducting research on the opportunities for the sector. In late 2021, Mercy Corps launched the Jobtech Alliance, 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:

Internal use cases: where the Jobtech Alliance team requires insights that are material to the organisation’s operations, e.g. guiding our strategy around platforms in international migration
Partner use cases: where partner Jobtech start-ups or donor funders require insights for their decision making, e.g. how best to support female gig workers increase their platform earning
Ecosystem use cases: where learning products are required to shift mindsets and get ecosystem actors to do something differently, e.g. helping platform entrepreneurs curb platform cutout
Communication use cases: shorter-form thought leadership articles that raise the Jobtech Alliance’s profile, e.g. guidance on how to measure what counts as a job in gig platforms

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

Learning Studies produced on regular basis as per Learning Agenda (at least 6 over contract period)
Major Learning Study on Gender & Jobtech completed
Systems established for ongoing learning

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Director / Jobtech Alliance

Works Directly With: Start-ups, External partners, Results Measurement & Insights Lead, Venture builders,

Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills

Bachelor’s degree in business, social science, international development, or a related field.
10+ years of relevant experience, including working in or with technology startups.
Demonstrated expertise in both quantitative and qualitative research methods.
Demonstrated ability to develop tailored research and learning strategies covering use cases, formats and dissemination plans
Demonstrated familiarity with both business strategies and decisions, as well as user-level impact.
Excellent communication and writing skills, with a keen ability to synthesize and present complex data in a simple, compelling, meaningful way.
Computer proficiency in word processing, databases, and spreadsheets.
Must be a strong self-starter.
Ability to complete tasks in a timely manner while balancing several assignments with inputs from multiple team members.

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

INTERIM RESEARCH & INSIGHTS DIRECTOR / JOBTECH ALLIANCE

Offer summary

Qualifications:

Key responsabilities:

Job description

Description

TL;DR

About Mercy Corps

The Position

Consultant Activities:

Accountability

Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills

Success Factors

Required profile

Experience

Hard Skills

Other Skills

Related jobs

Sr. Site Reliability Engineer

Application Systems Analyst

Sr. Fullstack (React and Node)

Mediatore Linguistico per Ripetizioni di Inglese

STAGE – INGENIEUR GESTION PROJET (H/F)