Social Impact and Research Manager

Location: London or Nairobi*
Reports to: Chief Executive Officer
Level: Senior Management
Application deadline: 1st April

Background
SolarAid and our social enterprise, SunnyMoney, has set an ambitious mission to eliminate the kerosene lantern from Africa by the end of the decade. We plan to do this by catalysing a market for solar lights which will replace kerosene; and by building SunnyMoney into a profitable business which can be scaled and replicated.

In order to make this happen we have placed social impact measurement and research at the very heart of our work. We have built a social impact model to help us measure the impact of our work, understand our customers and the market and track our progress towards the mission.

We are now recruiting for an exceptional Social Impact and Research Manager to lead this area of our work through these exciting times.

Key responsibilities
• Ensuring that SolarAid / SunnyMoney has reliable data at their fingertips to prove the impact of their work and the progress towards their mission to eliminate the kerosene lantern from Africa by the end of the decade
• Managing field based research in accordance with our Social Impact Model
• Ensuring that SunnyMoney has the data they need to continue improving the business to ensure that it is profitable and works towards eliminating the kerosene lantern by the end of the decade.
• Manage knowledge and information across the organisation, ensure data and information is easily accessible to all members of staff and that statistics are used consistently across the organisation.
• As a member of the Senior Management Team provide regular updates and reviews on social impact and learning.

Key tasks
• Working with the Senior Management Team to identify milestones and targets for our key indicators as part of the Social Impact Model
• Training key members of local staff / research interns on research methods, data input, our specific research objectives and best practice
• Supporting in-country teams, research interns (and consultants where relevant) to implement research in case study areas (baseline and follow up) in accordance to the Social Impact Model
• Supporting in country teams and research interns to collect other data as required
• Designing and implementing focused research studies as required (education, repairs, market studies, product tests etc)
• Analysing qualitative and quantitative data to a high standard
• Creating reports for internal and external to present and summarise research findings
• Working with the Fundraising and Marketing team to ensure that donors and social investors buy into our social impact model and research indicators. Providing information as required.
• Manage version control and ensure all statistics and information is clearly referenced.
• Collate secondary data on the impact of kerosene and solar and other relevant information (census, market intelligence etc) and ensure it is accessible across the organisation
• Occasional travel to programmes to oversee focused research studies
• Working with the Marketing department to develop communications materials which summarise our findings and that of external parties
• Working with the Marketing department develop an impact section of the website to include a regularly updated dashboard, country case studies and downloadable impact documents (internal and external website)
• Recruitment and ongoing support / guidance for research interns in country
• Manage relationships with external consultants to implement focused research, evaluations and market studies
• Prepare papers and articles for submission in international publications, conferences and to share with our partners.

Person specification

Essential
• At least 3 years experience of managing the social impact of commercial or NGO projects.
• At least 3 years experience of managing knowledge and information at senior level.
• An excellent track record of implementing field based research projects and /or market research studies, ideally in an African context
• Exceptional skills in research design and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data
• Experience of supervising teams for both data collection and input
• Experience of managing contracts with research consultants and external evaluators
• Willingness to travel and work in rural Africa
• Entrepreneurial spirit and a drive to succeed

Desirable
• Experience / understanding of carbon credit verification
• Experience of Social Impact Measurement in a social enterprise / not for profit
• Knowledge of / interest in outcome mapping / Theory of Change approaches to impact measurement

About working with us:
We are a small but rapidly growing organisation, and a passionate bunch! You can learn more about our work by visiting our website at www.solar-aid.org. Our lovely marketing team are currently working on a new website, so some of the information may be a little out of date, so please bear with us! You can also see us on facebook, twitter and pinterest!

*Important note
For Nairobi based applications we are sorry that we can only consider applicants currently located in Kenya, either Kenyan residents or non-residents with the right to work. UK applicants must equally have the right to work in the UK. Please clarify which location you are applying for, your current location and resident status on the covering letter.

How to apply:
Interested applicants, please email your CV together with a covering letter to: recruitment@solar-aid.org before 1st April.

Please note we will contact shortlisted candidates to hold initial phone interviews before inviting the final candidates in for face to face interviews.

If you have any questions regarding this position, please contact beth.james@solar-aid.org