Associate & Senior Associate (Kenya and Zambia)

Associate & Senior Associate (Kenya and Zambia)

Location: East and Southern Africa (Kenya and Zambia)

About IDinsight

We amplify social impact by partnering with leaders to develop tailored solutions. Our mission is to improve lives with data and evidence. We transform how the world fights poverty.

IDinsight is a global nonprofit that equips leaders with the data, evidence and technology to improve lives at scale. We partner with governments, NGOs, multilaterals, and funders to support decisions at every stage of their impact journey – from bold pilots to nationwide scale-ups. Our teams bring rigorous evidence and practical insights so leaders can make informed decisions that truly change lives. With our partners, we are pioneering the next frontier of social impact, where data and technology accelerate progress for millions. We help leaders overcome the three main barriers to impact:

1. Figuring out what works
2. Learning and improving
3. Reaching and operating at scale

We work in multiple countries across Asia and Africa. Our work spans a wide range of sectors, including agriculture, education, health, governance, sanitation, financial inclusion, and other areas.

We have expertise in a variety of rigorous approaches and methodologies, which we tailor to each client depending on their needs and constraints. To achieve a positive social impact, we:

• Support our partners with the full ‘data and evidence’ value chain – from primary data collection to data systems, monitoring evaluation and learning tools, and data science
• Inform funding decisions – toward high-impact initiatives and away from less effective programs or approaches
• Create cutting-edge AI-for-good products that make the delivery of social interventions and learning tools more cost-effective and scalable

Our diverse, growing team of roughly 250 outstanding colleagues operate in nearly two dozen countries around the world. Learn more about our mission, values, and principles at www.IDinsight.org.

About the Associate & Senior Associate Role

IDinsight's Associates and Senior Associates are high-performing early-career professionals passionate about experiencing the front-line realities of evidence-informed decision-making. These roles provide rich, varied experience with responsibilities ranging from in-depth research and analysis, data collection management, client interactions, and team building. We seek intellectually curious, resilient, and team-oriented individuals who are deeply motivated to improve lives at scale.

This is not a typical 9-to-5 job. You will work across time zones, manage competing deadlines, travel to remote project sites, and navigate real-world implementation challenges. Many find this balance to yield rich professional and personal rewards and progress to senior roles with IDinsight.

Key Responsibilities

Associates and Senior Associates are responsible for:

• Managing project team workflow, systems, and deliverables. Driving day-to-day execution of project work according to plans and leading internal coordination efforts.
• Conducting research design, data collection or acquisition, technical analysis, and results visualization/packaging for project tasks.
• Creating client deliverables, including reports, slide decks, and presentations to inform decisions and actions of clients.
• Developing strategic communications to build awareness of IDinsight projects and learnings, contributing to sectoral knowledge, and shifting the sector towards evidence-informed policy and practices.
• Supporting their team in developing strong client relationships and preparing talking points and presentations for client meetings.
• Leading data collection activities. Overseeing all data collection to ensure quality, including questionnaire development, sampling, managing data collection teams, analysis, and result synthesis.
• Traveling to project sites, IDinsight offices, embedded client locations, and other areas as per project needs.
• Contributing to internal team building, developing and implementing internal systems and organizational contributions in coordination with functional teams.
• Contributing to office life and culture building, such as facilitating All Hands Meetings, leading team building efforts, participating in committee events, and engaging with DEI Working Groups.
  
  

Examples of Recent Associate and Senior Associate Work Streams

• Working with several African governments to support evidence-based decision-making capabilities in areas like women's economic empowerment, education, and economic growth.
• Supporting multi-workstream engagement with health organizations on measurement and learning involving building cost models, synthesizing evidence, and estimating health system savings across multiple countries. Associates contribute through econometric analysis, client communication, and multi-country modeling.
• Working on randomized evaluations of development interventions. Associate workstreams include leading data cleaning, quantitative analysis, and report writing, while preparing for dissemination workshops with government partners and managing real-world implementation challenges.
• Supporting school-level RCTs evaluating education interventions. Associates produce school-level comparison reports that benchmark treatment schools against similar non-participating schools and include performance improvement recommendations.
• Participating in IDinsight's internal Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion working group on the Recruiting Committee, Careers & Promotions Committee, and/or the Work Culture Committee.
  
  

Qualifications

IDinsight Associates and Senior Associates come from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds. We are typically looking for candidates with the following qualifications:

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Economics, Policy Research, Development Studies, Engineering, Environmental Science, Political Science, Public Policy, or a related field.
• 2-5 years of relevant work experience in international development, research and evaluation, data analytics, consulting, or program management
• Strong analytical skills with exposure (via professional work or academic coursework) to econometrics, data, research analysis tools, and quantitative and qualitative research processes.
• Strong writing skills with the ability to translate technical jargon into well-structured, policy-oriented deliverables.
• Ability to understand complex concepts quickly even with limited prior knowledge, with a willingness to invest in learning new concepts, skills, and methods.

Behaviors and Mindsets

• Highly organized, attentive to deadlines, and able to manage a high volume of work efficiently.
• Excellent interpersonal skills. Can effectively engage with stakeholders ranging from school children to senior government officials and is a strong team player.
• Demonstrated ability to be a self-starter and fast learner; resourceful and resilient in the face of challenges.
• Intellectually curious with willingness to share opinions, question the status quo, and encourage others to expand perspectives.
• Excels in diverse team environments, treating colleagues across the global organization with respect.
• Deeply passionate about combating poverty worldwide and improving lives in disadvantaged populations.
• Willing to travel for extended periods to remote and rural areas where safety precautions allow.
  
  

Additional Preferred Qualifications

• Proficient in statistical analysis and data collection software, such as Stata, SPSS, R, SurveyCTO, and/or Open Data Kit.
• Familiarity with local context as well as working proficiency in local language(s) of the country of placement (Swahili or indigenous languages of Zambia).
• Prior professional or internship experience in East Africa or Southern Africa conducting research, program evaluation, or development work.
  
  

Career Development

Skill and career development are core to IDinsight's values and long-term impact strategy. Associates and Senior Associates receive significant mentorship from IDinsight leadership, support from talented peers, and considerable autonomy in their work. They maintain professional development plans and are given 'stretch' opportunities designed to strengthen a variety of skills. Real-time feedback and structured reviews are regularly provided to enable maximum professional growth. Additionally, Associates and Senior Associates have access to an annual professional development stipend that they are encouraged to utilize to explore their career interests and develop their skills.

Alumni Placement

The Associate and Senior Associate experience has prepared former IDinsighters for outstanding educational and professional paths. Associates have progressed to IDinsight management and leadership roles, started their own organizations, and joined leading private and non-profit institutions such as Bain & Company, Clinton Health Access Initiative, GiveDirectly, International Monetary Fund, McKinsey & Company, World Bank's Young Professional Program, and more.

Alumni have also enrolled in graduate and Ph.D. programs at leading universities including Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Cambridge, LSE, UC Berkeley, University of Chicago, and others.

Nuts & Bolts

Location

Associate positions will be based in IDinsight's offices in Lusaka, Zambia or Nairobi, Kenya with possible significant regional travel depending on project needs and organizational expansion.

Work Authorization

IDinsight is committed to building a diverse global team and sponsors employment visas for all nationalities. However, the organization prioritizes candidates who are Zambian or Kenyan citizens or already possess legal right to work in Zambia or Kenya, as they do not require IDinsight to sponsor work authorization.

Start Dates

Start dates for Associates and Senior Associates hired during this hiring process will fall between September and November 2026, with mutually agreed-upon start dates based on candidate availability and preferences and IDinsight project needs.

Compensation & Benefits

Compensation and benefits are commensurate with the qualifications and experiences IDinsight is hiring for. IDinsight offers comprehensive international health insurance with mental health coverage, paid vacation, sick leave, parental leave, relocation benefits, a travel stipend, technology and work-from-home stipends, a professional development budget, and more. While we aim to be competitive within the global development sector, we are non-profit and are usually unable to meet compensation brackets similar to leading private sector organizations.

How to Apply

Applications are due by September 4th, 2026.

The application asks various questions to get to know you and requires a CV and cover letter. Please ensure that your CV includes relevant professional and personal experience as well as details on academic qualifications. CVs can range from one to two pages. Please note that headshot photographs, parental details, birth dates, marital status, and other personal information are not relevant to the application and do not need to be included in your CV. We strongly encourage you to use your cover letter to highlight why you want to work for IDinsight and what has prepared you to succeed in the role you're applying for. A customized cover letter is an important part of IDinsight's recruiting process as it allows us to understand your motivations for the position, relevant skills, and clarity of writing.

If you've previously applied to an IDinsight Associate role, we encourage you to reapply only if you've gained additional relevant experience to strengthen your application since your previous application.

More information, including details on IDinsight's commitment to reducing power asymmetries, IDinsight's hiring process, and frequently asked questions, can be found online at www.IDinsight.org. Any questions should be directed to IDinsight's East Africa & Southern Africa recruitment team at [email protected].

IDinsight's Commitment to Reducing Power Asymmetries

IDinsight is committed to reducing power asymmetries in the social sector. Our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion reflects our understanding of the need for the sector to abandon unhealthy practices of the past. We wish to be part of a new generation of international NGOs who are honest about this history and transparent about our role in the present.

Our commitment is also aligned with the impact of our work. We seek a diverse workforce that inherently embodies our commitment to fostering inclusivity. This helps us refine and improve our methods and relationships and strengthen the services we provide our clients and their communities or constituencies.

The following commitments represent our vision for the IDinsight team:

1. IDinsight will have greater representation from the populations with whom we work and the clients we serve.
2. IDinsight will have greater representation from the countries in which we work.
3. Across all countries in which we recruit, we will seek greater representation from historically excluded communities.
4. IDinsight will foster an inclusive work culture that empowers a diverse workforce.

IDinsight is committed to non-discrimination in our recruitment, employment practices, and organizational culture, regardless of people’s age, disability, gender, gender identity, national origin, race, religion or belief, or sexual orientation, or any other status protected by applicable law