Position: REACH Research Manager
Department: REACH
Duty Station: Nairobi
Starting Date: 15/06/2025
Type of Contract: Fixed Term
Duration: 6 Months

About ACTED/REACH

Since 1993, as an international non-governmental organization, ACTED has been committed to immediate humanitarian relief to support those in urgent need and protect people’s dignity, while co-creating longer term opportunities for sustainable growth and fulfilling people’s potential. ACTED endeavours to respond to humanitarian crises and build resilience; promote inclusive and sustainable growth; co-construct effective governance and support the building of civil society worldwide by investing in people and their potential. We go the last mile: ACTED’s mission is to save lives and support people in meeting their needs in hard-to-reach areas. With a team of 7000 staff, ACTED is active in 42 countries and implements more than 550 projects a year reaching over 20 million beneficiaries. More on www.acted.org

IMPACT Initiatives is a humanitarian NGO, based in Geneva, Switzerland. The organisation manages several initiatives, including the REACH Initiative. The IMPACT team comprises specialists in data collection, management and analysis, GIS and remote-sensing. REACH was born in 2010 as a joint initiative of IMPACT Initiatives and ACTED, and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT). REACH’s purpose is to promote and facilitate the development of information products that enhance the humanitarian community’s decision making and planning capacity for emergency, reconstruction and development contexts, supporting and working within the framework of the humanitarian reform process. REACH facilitates information management for aid actors through three complementary services: (a) need and situation assessments facilitated by REACH teams; (b) situation analysis using satellite imagery; (c) provision of related database & (web)-mapping facilities & expertise.

Country profile

In Kenya, Acted has been present since 2007 to meet the humanitarian and development needs of communities affected by natural calamities, population displacement and inadequate access to basic services. Acted has a capital office in Nairobi and operational bases in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL) counties in RiftValley and Northern Kenya. The teams work with local governments and partners to support the most vulnerable households through Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), food assistance and disaster preparedness programmes.

REACH has been operational in Kenya since 2016, providing information management support to humanitarian actors on the needs and intentions of refugees and vulnerable populations as well as the needs and vulnerabilities of the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands counties of Kenya. REACH Kenya is looking to expand information support to the humanitarian response in several key areas, including IDP settlement profiling and monitoring, multi-sector needs assessments, durable solutions and improved remote data collection. Key strategic aims are to increase geographic and sectoral coverage and to enhance advocacy capacity through strengthened data collection and information targeting.

FUNCTIONS

Under the management of the Country Representative, the Research Manager oversees the programs and assessment staff within the Kenya mission (Cash & Markets, and intersectoral work stream). The Research Manager leads their team to achieve program excellence and ensure the highest level of impact and accountability while ensuring compliance to IMPACT’s guidelines and standards. As part of the country’s Senior Management Team, s/he contributes to the development and implementation of IMPACT’s country strategy and promotes organizational vision and core values across the mission.

The Research Manager is responsible for the management and coordination of all REACH research cycles in Kenya including implementation, resource mobilisation and management, partnership framework, dissemination, and evaluation. S/he directly supervises all senior assessment staff in Kenya.

In his/her mission, the Research Manager will be employed by ACTED and will be under the direct responsibility and management of ACTED’s Country Director and his/her delegates for all Administrative, Security, Logistics, and Finance issues. S/he will therefore fully abide by ACTED’s Security, HR, Administration, and Logistics rules and regulations, and, in coordination with ACTED, will ensure IMPACT staff in his/her unit abide by them.

KEY ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The Research Manager’s responsibilities include the following:

• Strategy development and implementation: including monitoring the evolution of the humanitarian crisis, the country’s socio-economic situation and stakeholder analysis. The RM is responsible for developing and overseeing the implementation of his/her unit’s strategy and contributing to the overall mission’s strategy.
• Research planning: ensuring that all research is planned in line with programme objectives and IMPACT’s guidelines.
• Research implementation: overseeing data collection, cleaning, analysis and output production to ensure they are delivered on time and to a high standard of quality.
• Knowledge sharing and learning: ensuring the development and application of a monitoring, evaluation and learning plan for each programme within the unit, supporting the uptake of best practices and sharing of learning across mission staff, at the global level and externally as relevant.
• Project and grant management: managing all relevant grant cycles within his/her unit in coordination with the country representative and the project development officer, ensuring delivery against contractual commitments.
• Fundraising: leading on fundraising for the unit’s strategy, drafting concepts for funding and developing strong relationships with donors and partners.
• Financial management: maintaining oversight of project budgets within the unit in collaboration with the senior finance officer and anticipating financial risks and gaps in funding.
• Asset and IT management: ensuring appropriate asset management and use of IT systems, data backup and knowledge management within the unit.
• Provide leadership within his/her unit as well as within the country Senior Management Team.
• Staff management: line managing staff within his/her unit, ensuring they all have clear objectives, learning and development plans and receive adequate performance management, as well as promoting team building and staff welfare.
• Coordination with ACTED: ensuring regular coordination with ACTED’s Project Development, Finance and other support departments at all stages of development and implementation of the Unit’s projects, including participation in project kick off and lessons learnt meetings, support to drafting of monthly internal updates (BFU, RFUs, allocation tables, etc), and support to drafting of donor reports or amendment requests; ensuring compliance of all IMPACT unit staff to ACTED FLAT and security procedures;
• Influencing and external engagement: leading research-related external engagement, product dissemination and evaluation, developing strategic partnerships with key humanitarian stakeholders and decision makers.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND TECHNICAL EXPERTISE

• Academic Excellent academic qualifications, including a Master’s degree in a relevant discipline (International Relations, Political Sciences, Social Research, Statistics, Economics, Development Studies, or similar)
• Management experience Previous experience in a management role in a INGO at field level. Proven track record in successful management of international and national teams in humanitarian contexts
• Familiarity aid system Familiarity with the aid system, and the research community;
• Communication/reporting skills Excellent communication and drafting skills for effective reporting, including proven experience in contributing to high level presentations/briefings.
• Years of work experience At least 5 years of relevant working experience or proven progression within IMPACT
• Research skills: Excellent research and analytical skills an asset. Experience in assessments. M&E, field research, evaluations an asset.
• Software skills: Proven knowledge of the Microsoft Office Suite, to include Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Familiarity with R, SPSS and/or STATA or other statistical analysis software an asset
• Multi-tasking skills Ability to multitask with tight deadlines, on numerous research cycles in complex environment;
• Level of independence A self-starter with a proven ability to work independently;
• Cross-cultural work environment Ability to operate in a cross-cultural environment requiring flexibility;
• Experience in geographical region Past experience in the Horn of Africa or Eastern Africa is desirable;
• Language skills Fluency in English required, competency in Somali or Swahili an asset;
• Security environment Ability to operate in a complex and challenging security environment

How to Apply:

Qualified national persons with the required skills are invited to submit their applications accompanied by detailed curriculum vitae and cover letter as a single document i.e. with the cover letter being on the first page and the CV starting on the second page, detailing three work related referees and contacts tokenya.jobs@acted.org and received on or before 5.00PM on 27.05.2025 with the subject line “REACH Research Manager, Nairobi”

Please do not attach any other documents while sending your applications, if required they will be requested at a later stage.

Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

ACTED will at no stage of recruitment process request candidate to make payments of any kind. Further, ACTED has not retained any agent in connection with recruitments.

– Acted has a zero-tolerance approach to sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (SEAH) and strives to recruit those who share our values.
– All candidates will be subject to a pre-employment check that includes satisfactory references, screening, and criminal checks in line with legal requirements.
– All candidates who have been offered a position will sign and respect Acted’s Code of Conduct and related policies as part of their work contract. All staff are expected to abide by the standards of behaviour outlined in those documents.
– Managers will have a special responsibility to foster a safe environment.
– Misconduct can lead to serious disciplinary sanctions.

ACTED is an Equal Opportunity Employer.