Senior Associate - Food Systems, Agriculture and Climate Resilience Management

Job description

Busara Center for Behavioral Economics is hiring a Senior Associate for its Food Systems, Agriculture and Climate Resilience Management work in Nairobi, Kenya. The role sits within Busara's FaRM team and leads rigorous research and advisory engagements for donors, governments, NGOs and private-sector clients working on food security, climate adaptation, agricultural market systems and smallholder agriculture.

Responsibilities

• Own client relationships across the full engagement lifecycle, from scoping and contracting through delivery and dissemination.
• Lead senior-level conversations with donors, implementing partners, ministries and private-sector clients.
• Translate client problems into clear research and advisory briefs and contribute to proposals, concept notes and pitch decks.
• Represent Busara at conferences, technical working groups and client convenings.
• Design and lead qualitative research using in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, ethnographic observation and participatory methods.
• Synthesize qualitative evidence into actionable recommendations and identify behavioral drivers and barriers.
• Apply behavioral-science frameworks to agricultural and climate-adaptation challenges.
• Oversee mixed-method research design and maintain quality control across research outputs.
• Own project timelines, budgets, deliverables and staffing plans while managing project risks and scope.
• Directly manage and mentor Analysts and Project Leads and coordinate with Data, Programming and Operations teams.
• Contribute to FaRM team strategy, knowledge development, methodology innovation, hiring and onboarding.

Requirements

• 5-8 years of experience in research, advisory or program-design roles with meaningful focus on food systems, agriculture or climate resilience in sub-Saharan Africa or comparable contexts.
• Deep expertise in qualitative research methods including IDIs, FGDs, thematic analysis and synthesis, with strong fieldwork experience in low-resource settings.
• Demonstrated ability to manage senior client and partner relationships with confidence and professional maturity.
• Proven track record leading complex, multi-stakeholder projects from inception to delivery.
• Strong analytical and synthesis skills, with ability to turn complex qualitative evidence into clear and defensible recommendations.
• Excellent written and verbal communication in English for both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Bachelor's degree in Social Sciences, Development Studies, Agricultural Economics, Public Policy or a related field.
• Pre-existing legal authorization to work in Kenya is required by the official application form.

Skills

• Food Systems
• Agriculture
• Climate Resilience
• Behavioral Science
• Qualitative Research
• In-Depth Interviews
• Focus Group Discussions
• Thematic Analysis
• Ethnographic Research
• Mixed-Methods Research
• Research Design
• Client Advisory
• Project Management
• People Management
• Stakeholder Management
• Proposal Development
• Business Development
• Data Synthesis
• Technical Writing
• English Communication
• Field Research
• Smallholder Agriculture
• Climate Adaptation