The Principal (or Senior Principal) – Research will lead this development and we expect them to bring their own academic and intellectual agenda to this process.

Roles and Responsibilities

A summary of the general roles and responsibilities for the position is given below:

• Oversee and direct projects, jobs, and tasks for KDI Kenya’s research related projects and programmes, including research design and delivery;
• Shape the intellectual, academic, and practical aspects of KDI’s research work and agenda.
• Ensure research project adherence to research design, sample selection, data management and general research protocols, ethics and overall project management timelines;
• Oversee project financial management, including creation and monitoring of project budgets;
• Liaise with Project Leaders and Project Directors to support work planning, resourcing, and budgeting across Departments;
• Manage communications and reporting to KDI project and funding partners for projects and programs relevant to the department;
• Lead engagement with KDI’s community partners for research projects and programs in collaboration with the Community team;
• Work with research team and field staff to ensure sound human resource and operational management of projects;
• Serve on KDI Program and Governance Councils as part of the Senior Management Team of the Kenya office;
• Contribute to KDI Kenya’s fundraising and meeting with funders and prospective funders;
• Contribute to media, social media, and org. communications as related to research activities;
• Be available for regional and international travel as required for project and strategic engagements;
• Be an advocate for responsive design, planning, research and community development in Nairobi and further afield.

Specific responsibilities include:

• Coordinate survey design and delivery;
• Train and manage enumeration teams working on KDI research related work in the neighbourhoods we are active;
• Manage data collection and analysis for KDI projects and supporting ongoing development and implementation of KDI Open Data portal and geodatabase;
• Support GIS, Mapping and Spatial Data Analytics;
• Support spatial planning and spatial data analysis as required;
• Prepare various written outputs e.g. sections of reports, analysis, presentations;
• Lead and contribute to the production of high quality research outputs such as academic papers, publications and conference inputs;
• Participate in stakeholder meetings as required;
• Support project adherence to research and planning protocols including design, data management, protocols, ethics and overall timelines and deadlines;
• Provide technical inputs to community related work as appropriate to professional background and skills;
• Lead the design, facilitation and creation of engaging community workshops, focus group discussions and training;
• Lead data recording and input management for community workshops including taking detailed minutes, report writing, photo documentation, etc.;
• Support the dissemination of results via presentations and reports to academic and nonacademic audiences, nationally and internationally including the co-authorship of academic papers.

Desired Profile

• Experience and affinity with the mission of KDI to work towards justice in the built environment;
• Minimum of 8+ years of relevant experience across some combination of the non-profit, international development, design, planning, and research sectors;
• A doctoral degree (PhD) or equivalent qualification/comparable experience in one of the following fields: urban design, civil engineering, landscape architecture, spatial planning, environmental sciences, water management, urban anthropology, human geography, or a relevant social sciences field;
• A track record that demonstrates qualitative or quantitative research delivery expertise in one or more of the following topics: urban resilience, adaption planning, justice in the built environment, urban nature, infrastructure planning, mobility, inclusive design, evidenced by a strong project experience and ideally a strong publication list;
• Significant project and team management skills and experience required;
• Clear affinity with and preferably experience in inter and transdisciplinary research;
• Evidence of engagement with multiple stakeholders, including international and local academic researchers, NGO partners, and community participants;
• Preferably significant experience delivering research in Kenyan (or African) cities;
• Fluency in Swahili preferred;
• Advanced skills in ArcGIS or QGIS preferred.