Busara Center for Behavioral
Economics
Job Vacancy: Talent Acquisition Manager
The Manager will be responsible for
discovering top talent, building a strong employment brand, and ensuring great
relationships with candidates and employees.
Job Vacancy: Talent Acquisition Manager
Job Location: Nairobi County, Kenya
Job Description: The Talent Acquisition Manager is the primary member of
our People team in charge of executing Busara’s plans to attract, recruit, and
onboard top talent.
Based in Busara’s main operating hub
in Nairobi, the Manager will oversee the full cycle of recruitment and
employment branding, from initial job posting to full employee onboarding.
Busara is a behavioral science
organization that uses rigorous data and cutting-edge research methods in all
of its work, and our People team is no different. As a firm driven by human
capital, our people drive everything we do, from our engagements to our
culture.
Our value as a firm comes from our
exceptional people. We aim to eliminate bias in the hiring process and expect
our Talent Acquisition Manager to embrace a scientific and rigorous approach to
hiring.
The ideal candidate will be a
proactive, strong communicator both verbally and in writing and will be able to
quickly understand Busara’s brand and human capital needs.
The Manager will be able to partner
with senior management to determine current staffing needs, produce forecasts,
and develop talent acquisition plans. Additionally, the Manager will be the
primary person responsible for implementing employment branding initiatives.
To excel as Talent Acquisition
Manager, we expect you to be experienced in full-cycle recruiting and
employment branding. You should have a sharp eye for talented people and a
steady commitment to help them find success in our company.
Core Responsibilities
The Talent Acquisition Manager will
be responsible for the following:
·
In partnership with Busara’s senior
management, determine staffing needs across the Africa region and produce
forecasts.
·
Develop and implement talent
acquisition strategies and hiring plans for Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, and all
other countries where Busara is hiring staff.
·
Help Busara build a strong employer
brand and execute employment branding initiatives.
·
Maintain relationships with
candidates for future opportunities.
·
Build and maintain relationships with
organizations and individuals in Busara’s network who can help us find top talent.
·
Strategically source potential hires
from different backgrounds, helping Busara build a diverse, competitive team
across all its offices.
·
Propose, develop, and lead employment
branding initiatives.
·
Source to fill open positions through
social media and other online searches and anticipate Busara’s future needs.
·
Plan and conduct the recruitment and
selection process (interviews, screening calls, etc.), including coordinating
internally with selection committee members for key positions.
·
Actively take steps to ensure a
positive, consistent experience for all candidates.
·
Engage with and manage any external
recruiters Busara is working with for specific positions.
·
Host or participate in candidate
recruitment initiatives or partnerships with universities.
·
Assist in employee retention and
development.
·
Use metrics to create reports and
identify areas of improvement.
Requirements
·
Excellent communicator who engages
well externally and internally
·
Proven experience as talent
acquisition manager
Experience in full-cycle recruiting, sourcing and employment branding
Experience in full-cycle recruiting, sourcing and employment branding
·
Understanding of all selection
methods and techniques
·
Proficient in the use of social media
and job boards
·
Willingness to understand the duties
and competencies of different roles
·
Working knowledge of Applicant
Tracking Systems (ATS) and databases
·
Well-organized
·
A leader and strategic thinker
·
BSc/BA in business administration,
human resources or relevant field.
How to Apply
CLICK HERE to apply online
Job
Vacancy: Senior Operations Manager
Job Location: Nairobi County, Kenya
Job
Description: The Senior Operations Manager
plays a key role in managing Busara’s day to day operations globally.
Based in Busara’s main operating hub
in Nairobi, the Senior Manager supports the Director of Operations in
overseeing Busara’s global operations in Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania,
Ethiopia, and other countries where Busara has or is building a presence.
The Senior Manager is specifically
responsible for overseeing day to day facilities planning and management,
logistics and procurement, fleet management, security, and operations risk
management.
In five years, Busara has grown from
four people in one office to over 130 staff across the region, with active
projects across Africa. The Senior Operations Manager will play a leading role
in supporting Busara’s growth while helping to ensure smooth, efficiently run
operations in our existing offices.
The ideal candidate is extremely
proactive, a good communicator verbally and in writing, and able to manage and
prioritize multiple tasks. Additionally, the ideal candidate should have
experience with managing operations in the region, should have working
knowledge of best practices in procurement, and should demonstrate good
judgment with respect to all operational issues, particularly security.
Core
Responsibilities
The Senior Operations Manager will be
responsible for the following:
·
Oversee the running and day to day
management of all Busara offices through direct engagement with country
managers and facilities staff.
·
Where necessary, work with office
leads to harmonize Busara’s operational procedures across its Kenya and Uganda
offices, and help develop and implement procedures to be rolled out to all new
offices.
·
Manage all aspects of security, from
office security to the safety and security of each of our staff members who is
traveling. This will involve developing and implementing a system for tracking
individual staff who are traveling, assessing the security situation in various
countries where Busara works, serving as the first point of contact on security
matters, and advising the Director of Operations on key developments and
issues.
·
Support the Director of Operations by
preparing, reviewing, and editing documents including standard operating
procedures, policies, and staff communications.
·
Provide administrative support to the
Director of Operations as needed, including gathering documentation for new
country registration and liaising with key service providers.
·
Work with each country operations
manager to compile and analyze budgets and build purchasing and procurement
plans.
·
Build and implement a plan to make
sure that all visitors to every Busara office have a positive, on brand
experience from the moment they enter the door.
·
Support the Director of Operations by
compiling operations performance metrics, regularly assessing the operational
health of all Busara offices.
·
Working with each office manager,
develop a system to ensure that all local operational risks are addressed and
mitigated, including all local requirements and regulations affecting Busara’s
operations.
·
Assess the value provided by all
service providers serving Busara’s operations and make recommendations for new
providers where appropriate.
Requirements
·
Experience working managing
operations in a fast paced environment in Africa.
·
Experience with overseeing security
or working with an organization in high risk areas ideal.
·
Proven ability to work well in a fast
paced environment.
·
Ability to identify and address areas
for process or policy improvement.
·
Strong written and verbal
communication.
·
Solid knowledge of organizational
effectiveness and operations management.
·
Experience managing geographically
dispersed teams.
·
Strong IT skills, including the
ability to clearly, simply, and effectively represent information in
spreadsheets, slides, etc.
·
Working knowledge of budgets,
forecasting, and metrics.
·
Fast paced and extremely organized.
How to Apply
CLICK HERE to apply online
Job
Vacancy: Research Engagement Director (Labs)
Job Location: Nairobi County, Kenya
About Busara: The Busara Center for Behavioral Economics is an advisory
and research organization focused on advancing and applying behavioral science
in emerging markets.
Busara applies rigorous research
methods and evaluation tools to enable partners to improve program design,
assess existing interventions, and optimize internal processes.
Busara operates from its permanent
offices in Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania, and has worked on
projects with partners across the continent. We currently have 69 active
projects, 112 completed projects, 36 academic affiliations, 3 operational decision
labs, and 145 full time staff.
Busara is a non-profit organization
founded in 2012 by Professor Johannes Haushofer (Princeton University) and
operating under the leadership of Dr. Jeremy Shapiro.
We have worked on projects related to
agriculture, financial inclusion, savings, inequality, entrepreneurship, civic
engagement, and other questions central to development economics.
Position
Summary: The Research Engagement Director is
the primary leader in the Labs division at Busara, responsible for leading the
planning, strategy, and trajectory of Busara research projects.
This division supports pure academic
work as well as designing and implementing rigorous research for other projects
at Busara.
The Engagement Director has two
primary responsibilities at Busara — structuring and supervising an active
portfolio of projects (primarily composed of designing and implementing lab and
field experiments in collaboration with academics), and developing partnerships
to design and develop new research projects for their portfolio.
The Research Engagement Director will
primarily supervise a team of talented Labs Managers, Research Specialists, and
Labs Coordinators to design and implement lab and field experiments in
collaboration with external partners such as academics at universities,
researchers at policy units and think tanks, or clients.
The Research Engagement Director is
expected to quickly gain an expert understanding of a particular problem or
research question and use all tools at their disposal, both within and outside
Busara, to design, structure, and supervise a research project to the highest
standards.
The Research Engagement Director is
expected to have strong management skills and be comfortable driving all
aspects of potential Busara research projects.
Additionally, the Research Engagement
Director takes a larger role in supporting the growth and sustainability of
Busara’s global operations. As they grow their expertise in implementing and
conducting research at Busara, they will build relationships that generate
scientific opportunities.
The Research Engagement Director has
a great deal of autonomy in the partnerships they build, and as such plays a
crucial role in shaping the strategy for the organization as a whole.
Lastly, the Research Engagement Director
plays a crucial role in the organization as a member of the senior management
team. They will be both critical to developing and overseeing implementation of
organizational strategy, defining expansion and growth priorities, and playing
a key role in internal processes such as hiring, recruiting, and coaching.
Delivery
Responsibilities:
The Research Engagement Director will
assemble a team of Busara advisors and researchers to structure successful
projects that deliver data, value and knowledge to the client / PI.
Core delivery responsibilities
include, but are not limited to:
·
Manage and coordinate a portfolio of
projects across multiple client bases (primarily academic researchers, but also
private sector, government etc.).
·
Structure, design, and deliver
external and internal engagements to client’s / PI’s satisfaction
·
Manage, motivate, and coach staff in
the Labs Division (Research Specialists, Labs Managers, Labs Coordinators, Lab
Officers, and Labs Assistants) to execute projects in their portfolio.
·
Strategically assemble teams on
projects that maximize the probability of success, but also develop new skills
and competencies among Busara’s talent pool and supporting divisions.
·
Stay current on the latest research
in qualitative and quantitative methods, behavioral science, psychology,
economics, development and any other relevant field to provide creative
direction for engagements.
·
Ensure the overall operational
quality of the Labs division, including that research and data systems are
maintained and processes adhered to with the strictest standards. Also ensure
adherence to our ethical and open science standards.
·
Ensure quality on all work products
produced and drafted for research projects by giving regular feedback to Labs
teams, but also occasionally contributing to content.
·
Regularly coordinate across divisions
to ensure research and data systems are up-to-date and state of the art.
·
Serve as the primary relationship
manager for clients, partners, and PIs. Understand and preempt needs of
stakeholders through proactive communication and troubleshooting.
·
Structure successful project
onboarding and offboarding exercises to support knowledge management between
projects.
·
Design proposals, concept notes, and
pitch decks for new partnership opportunities and knowledge sharing. Present at
conferences, networking events, or client meetings.
·
Contribute to the design, execution,
and dissemination of Busara internal research projects.
Portfolio
Growth Responsibilities:
In addition to project
responsibilities, the Engagement Director also has the following growth
responsibilities to ensure the growth and sustainability of the organization:
·
Develop a portfolio of projects that
contributes to quarterly and annual business development targets for the
organization
·
Proactively design internal research,
thought pieces, and demos to help facilitate new research offerings and service
lines
·
Support Busara’s strategic planning
by identifying markets of interest, future service lines, high priority
partnerships and priority investments.
·
Develop lasting relationship with
researchers and others to build long-term partnerships and promote behavioral
science as an embedded tool within their organizations.
·
Serve as primary points of contact on
large, multi-year projects and support VPs to develop effective engagement
strategies for those projects.
Organizational
Responsibilities:
Lastly, Engagement Directors have the
following organizational responsibilities to ensure a healthy and functioning
workplace:
·
Drive the strategy of the Labs Division
by setting annual targets, managing any team building events, and ensuring
cross-division harmony on priorities for the organization.
·
Serve as a core member of the senior
management team, responsible for setting organizational strategy, holding other
team members accountable, and making senior hiring decisions.
·
Manage communications to ensure clear
internal knowledge management and harmonization across the Labs Division
·
Serve as Direct Managers to a team of
Research Specialists and Labs Managers
·
Serve on internal committees when
necessary.
Requirements
Required
Qualifications:
·
A Bachelor’s degree in Economics,
Social Sciences, Public Policy, or related fields.
·
Expertise in experimental approaches,
particularly social science experiments.
·
Previous experience designing and
running randomized controlled trials or lab experiments
·
Experience managing or mentoring
senior staff and young professionals (3+ years)
·
Strong previous experience in a
client-delivery role, particularly in the research implementation space (e.g.
IPA, JPAL, IFMR, Experimental Lab Manager)
·
Proven interest in behavioral science
·
5-7 years previous work experience
·
Demonstrated ability to develop
relationships with partner organizations
·
Excellent management and
organizational skills
·
Flexible, self-motivating, able to
manage multiple tasks efficiently, and a team player
·
Interest and experience working in a
fast-paced working environment
·
Fluency and excellent communication
and writing skills with a mastery of English
·
Ability to execute projects while
sustaining a global focus and vision for institutional planning and
decision-making
Desired
Qualifications:
·
A Master’s degree or PhD in
Economics, Social Sciences, Public Policy, or related fields.
·
Strong previous experience managing
teams of researchers or consultants in East Africa
·
Experience sitting on senior
management teams and developing organizational strategy
How to Apply
CLICK HERE to apply online
Job Vacancy: Engagement Director
Job Location: Nairobi County, Kenya
Job
Description: Engagement Directors are the primary
leaders in the projects division at Busara, responsible for leading the
planning, strategy, and trajectory of Busara engagements.
Engagement Directors have two primary
responsibilities at Busara — structuring and supervising an active portfolio of
projects, and developing partnerships to design and develop new engagements for
their portfolio.
Engagement Directors are the primary
portfolio managers for all external Busara projects, supervising a set of
engagements each staffed with different project management teams.
Engagement Directors are expected to
be able to quickly gain an expert understanding of a particular problem or
research question and use all tools at their disposal, both within and outside
Busara, to design, structure, and supervise an engagement to the highest
possible degree.
Engagement Directors are expected to
have strong management skills and be comfortable driving all aspects of
potential Busara engagements. Engagement Directors will manage projects that
apply rigorous research methods to identify novel, evidence-based solutions to
challenging client needs. Engagement Directors will primarily supervise a team
of talented associates to deliver research insights in a compelling way that
lead to action.
Additionally, Engagement Directors
take a larger role in supporting the growth and sustainability of the global
operations. As you start to hone your industry and technical expertise, you
will help build valuable relationships that generate business opportunities for
Busara. Engagement Directors have a great deal of autonomy in the partnerships
they build, and as such play a crucial role in shaping the strategy for the
organization going forward.
Lastly, Engagement Directors play a
crucial role in the organization as members of the senior management team. They
will be both critical to developing and overseeing implementation of
organizational strategy, defining expansion and growth priorities and playing a
key role in internal processes such as hiring, recruiting, and coaching.
Delivery
Responsibilities:
Engagement Directors will work to
assemble a team of Busara advisors and researchers to structure successful
projects that deliver value and knowledge to the client.
Core delivery responsibilities
include, but are limited to:
·
Manage and coordinate a portfolio of
projects across multiple client bases (researchers, private sector, government
etc. ).
·
Structure, design, and deliver
external and internal engagements to client’s satisfaction
·
Manage, motivate, and coach a team of
associates and analysts to execute projects in your portfolio.
·
Strategically assemble teams on
projects that maximize the probability of success, but also develop new skills
and competencies among Busara’s talent pool and supporting divisions.
·
Stay current on the latest research
in qualitative and quantitative methods, behavioral science, psychology,
economics, and development to provide creative direction for engagements.
·
Responsible for final quality
backstop on all work products produced and drafted for engagements by giving
regular feedback to project teams, but also occasionally contributing to
content.
·
Serve as the primary relationship
manager for clients and partners. Understand and preempt needs of stakeholders
through proactive communication and troubleshooting.
·
Structure successful project
onboarding and offboarding exercises to support knowledge management between
projects.
·
Design proposals, concept notes and
pitch decks for new business opportunities and knowledge sharing. Present at
conferences, networking events, or client meetings.
·
Contribute to the design, execution,
and dissemination of Busara internal research projects.
Portfolio
Growth Responsibilities:
In addition to project
responsibilities, Engagement Directors also have the following growth
responsibilities to ensure the growth and sustainability of the organization:
·
Develop a portfolio of projects that
contribute to quarterly and annual business development targets for the
organization
·
Proactively design internal research,
thought pieces, and demos to help facilitate new market offerings, service
lines, and potential revenue sources
·
Support Busara’s strategic planning
by identifying markets of interest, future service lines, and priority
investments.
·
Develop lasting relationship with
clients to build long-term partnerships and promote behavioral science as an
embedded tool within their organizations.
·
Serve as primary points of contact on
large, multi-year projects and support VPs to develop effective engagement
strategies for those projects.
Organizational
Responsibilities:
Lastly, Engagement Directors have the
following organizational responsibilities to ensure a healthy and functioning
workplace:
·
Drive the strategy of the Projects
Division by setting annual targets, managing any team building events, and
ensuring clear, division harmony on priorities for the organization.
·
Serve as a core member of the senior
management team, responsible for setting organizational strategy, holding other
team members accountable, and making senior hiring decisions.
·
Manage communications to ensure clear
internal knowledge management and harmonization across the Projects Division
·
Serve as Direct Managers to a team of
associates and/or research specialists
·
Serve on internal committees when
necessary.
Requirements
Required
Qualifications:
·
A Bachelor’s degree in Economics,
Social Sciences, Public Policy, or related fields.
·
Strong understanding and application
of rigorous research methods to industry.
·
Experience managing or mentoring
senior staff and young professionals (3+ years)
·
Strong previous experience in a
client-delivery role (e.g. management consulting, internal innovation team
etc.)
·
Proven interest in behavioral
science.
·
5-7 years previous work experience.
·
Demonstrated ability to develop
relationships with partner organizations.
·
Excellent management and
organizational skills.
·
Flexible, self-motivating, able to
manage multiple tasks efficiently and a team player.
·
Interest and experience working in a
fast-paced working environment.
·
Fluency and excellent communication
and writing skills with a mastery of English.
·
Ability to execute projects while
sustaining a global focus and vision for institutional planning and decision
making.
Desired
Qualifications:
·
A Master’s degree or PhD in
Economics, Social Sciences, Public Policy, or related fields.
·
Previous experience running
randomized controlled trials or lab experiments
·
Strong previous experience managing
teams of researchers or consultants in East Africa
·
Experience sitting on senior
management teams and developing organizational strategy
·
Extensive industry experience in a
sector of focus for Busara (health, financial services, energy, governance,
agriculture)
How to Apply
CLICK HERE to apply online
Job
Vacancy: Busara Associate (2018 Recruitment Cycle)
Job Location: Nairobi County, Kenya
Job
Description: The Busara Center is growing
once again. We are taking applications for new associates. This year we’ve
signed new projects in Egypt and Pakistan, started a Policy Innovation Unit in
Nigeria and grown our Ugandan office.
We’ve examined poverty through the
prism of aspirations, stress levels and cash transfers. We are now operating in
Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Nigeria, as well as Kenya. That’s all in pursuit
of our twin missions of advancing behavioral science and alleviating poverty.
Does this
sound interesting?
If so, are you
looking to:
·
Design and develop research and
advisory projects focused on using behavioral science to alleviate global
poverty
·
Recruit partners from academic
institutions, development banks, large NGOs, private companies and social
enterprises and manage the relationships
·
Implement qualitative and
quantitative behavioral research
·
Develop and pilot instruments
·
Manage large scale field and lab
projects with leading academics and institutions
·
Organise, clean and analyse data
·
Disseminate results, prepare project
reports and present results
·
Design future scope of works
·
Live, travel and work in Africa from
a base in Nairobi
Good.
So you’re
interested in the organisation and what the role entails.
But do you
have what we’re looking for?
·
A bachelor’s degree in economics,
social sciences, public policy, or related fields. Other fields will be
considered.
·
1-3 years previous work experience in
a related field
·
Excellent management and
organizational skills
·
Fluency and excellent communication
skills in English
·
Interest and experience working in a
fast-paced working environment
·
Flexible, self-motivating, able to
manage multiple tasks efficiently, a team player
·
Demonstrated ability to manage
high-level relationships with partner organizations
·
Strong quantitative skills including
knowledge of and experience working with data analysis software
And
preferably:
·
A Master’s degree in economics,
social sciences, public policy, or related fields
·
Experience managing and mentoring
staff
·
Familiarity with and interest in
behavioral economics or science
·
Familiarity in the contexts which we
work in
How to Apply
Interested and
qualified?
CLICK HERE to apply online
Job
Vacancies: Busara Research Specialist (2018
Recruitment Cycle)
Job Location: Nairobi County, Kenya
Job
Description: The Busara Center is growing
once again. We are taking applications for new associates. This year we’ve
signed new projects in Egypt and Pakistan, started a Policy Innovation Unit in
Nigeria and grown our Ugandan office.
We’ve examined poverty through the
prism of aspirations, stress levels and cash transfers. We are now operating in
Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Nigeria, as well as Kenya. That’s all in pursuit
of our twin missions of advancing behavioral science and alleviating poverty.
Does this
sound interesting?
If so, are you
looking to:
·
Work with world class academics to
design and develop research projects focused on using behavioral science to
alleviate global poverty
·
Design state-of-the-art research
systems to support field and lab research
·
Implement qualitative and
quantitative behavioral research
·
Develop and pilot instruments
·
Provide technical support to large
scale field lab and consulting projects with leading academics and institutions
·
Write academic white papers based on
internal research studies and our advisory work
·
Write pre-analysis plans, analyze
data
·
Disseminate results, prepare project
reports and present results
·
Live, travel and work in Africa from
a base in Nairobi
Good.
So you’re
interested in the organisation and what the role entails.
But do you
have what we’re looking for?
·
A bachelor’s degree in economics,
social sciences, public policy, or related fields. Other fields will be
considered.
·
1-3 years previous work experience in
a related field
·
Strong knowledge of experimental
social science literature (economics, political science, psychology)
·
Experience designing lab and field
experiments
·
Strong quantitative skills,
particularly econometrics and statistics
·
Excellent data analysis skills using
Stata and/or R
·
Excellent management and
organizational skills
·
Fluency and excellent communication
skills in English
·
Interest and experience working in a
fast-paced working environment
·
Flexible, self-motivating, able to
manage multiple tasks efficiently, a team player
And
preferably:
·
A Master’s degree in economics,
social sciences, public policy, or related fields
·
Experience managing and mentoring
staff
·
Familiarity with and interest in
behavioral economics or science
·
Familiarity in the contexts which we
work in
How to Apply
Interested and
qualified?
CLICK HERE to apply online.
Applications will be reviewed on a
rolling basis
What’s the
difference between an “Associate” and a “Research Specialist”?
If you’re looking for jobs, you might
notice that the Associate and Research Specialist look quite similar. That’s
because they are, but have a few subtle differences. Research Specialists sit
in our Labs division and focus on designing and implementing cutting edge
experimental research. They write papers and focus on the technical (science)
aspect of the work that we do.
Primarily Research Specialists
support internal research and academics, with technical assistance to other
Associates on their projects.
Associates on the other hand are more
focused on applied behavioral science with our partners. They manage and
execute the bulk of our projects with partners (typically applied behavioral
science), and will bring in Research Specialists when extra technical work is
needed.
If you’re more interested in working
with organizational clients, the Associate position is probably a better fit,
and if you are more interested in pure research, the Research Specialist
position is likely better for you.
Note that you can apply for both
positions, for which you will be independently evaluated, so if you’re not
sure, or like both, do apply!
Important
Information on Applying
At Busara we embed behavioral science
into everything we do, including the hiring process. In an effort to de-bias
ourselves from what we know can cause systematic hiring discrimination, we do
as many things as possible blindly and objectively.
For you, that means you have to fill
out the questions on the application as well as upload your CV. I know, this is
infuriating, but it’s not because we’re lazy — it’s because we are going to
blindly review candidates based on the answers to your questions as well as
their education and experience, and consider full CVs in future stages of the
process. Thus, it’s very important for you to fill out the questions
completely, without mention of your name or any other potentially biasing
information about yourself.