Job Description

• Conduct primary and secondary research to size and segment demand for institutional cooking solutions (schools, colleges, prisons, hospitals and other large-scale kitchens), with scope to extend to household biomass products.
• Map the competitive landscape — stove technologies, fuels (firewood, charcoal, briquettes, LPG, pellets and electric), pricing and positioning — and track market share and emerging trends.
• Assess customer needs, cooking practices, fuel consumption and willingness to pay to inform product and commercial strategy.
• Analyze policy, regulatory and funding developments (e.g. carbon finance, school-feeding and energy programmes) affecting institutional and biomass cooking demand.
• Translate findings into clear, evidence-based recommendations for product development, pricing and go-to-market decisions.

• Build detailed profiles of target schools and institutions — enrolment and meals served, kitchen setup, current stoves and fuels, fuel volumes and costs, cooking schedules and operating constraints.
• Gather this information through site visits, key informant interviews and observation, and validate it against real cooking needs and pain points.
• Segment schools by size, fuel type, geography and purchasing model to prioritize the most viable opportunities.
• Define the target solution profile — capacity, fuel type, efficiency, durability, safety and price point — that best fits the profiled institutions.
• Feed institution profiles and solution requirements into product development and commercial planning.

• Prepare and present reports, dashboards and briefs that turn research and field data into actionable insights for management and stakeholders.
• Provide regular status updates on the progress, outcomes and budgets of research activities.
• Support investor-, partner- and donor-facing materials with validated market and field evidence.

• • Proactively identify risks and issues within research and profiling activities, and develop mitigation and contingency plans to keep studies on track.
  •     Address technical or operational challenges related to research design or data collection.
  • Work closely with product development and commercial teams to resolve issues identified during research.

• Bachelor's degree in Statistics, Economics, Social Sciences, Business, Environmental or Energy Studies, or a related field; a relevant postgraduate qualification is an added advantage.
• 2–4 years of experience in market research, consumer insights or monitoring and evaluation, preferably in the clean cooking, renewable energy or development sectors.
• Demonstrated experience designing and executing both quantitative and qualitative research, including survey design and sampling.
• Proficiency with mobile data collection tools (KoboCollect) and data analysis software (Excel and one of SPSS, Stata, R or Python; familiarity with Power BI or Metabase an advantage).
• Strong analytical, report-writing and presentation skills, with the ability to turn data into actionable business recommendations.
• Willingness to travel for fieldwork across Kenya; fluency in English and Kiswahili.
• Knowledge of the clean cooking sector, cookstove testing protocols, or carbon MRV is an added advantage.