Senior Insights Manager, ClimateTech

About the team

The Mobile for Development Foundation operates at the intersection of the mobile ecosystem and the development sector.

Within Mobile for Development, the GSMA ClimateTech programme unlocks the power of digital technology in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs), to enable their transition towards a low-carbon and climate-resilient future. We do this through the collective support of the mobile industry, as well as public and private actors.

The ClimateTech programme is uniquely placed within Mobile for Development in GSMA to encourage integration between digital technology and climate mitigation, adaptation and resilience strategies in LMICs. Through our research activities, we identify, promote and inform opportunities for digital innovation, developing pathways for aligning climate action with the sustainable development agenda.

What the hiring manager says

“This is an exciting moment to join the team as we are commencing the third 5-year phase of a long-standing partnership with the UK FCDO. This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced research and insights professional to lead our insights function at the intersection of digital innovation and climate impact. You’ll be working alongside knowledgeable and driven colleagues passionate about the role of innovation in charting pathways for inclusive development and climate impact. The ideal candidate will have built a professional foundation in the programmes core areas of focus and the skills to deliver insights projects independently.”

About the Role

In this role, you will lead the insights function of our ClimateTech team to deliver new and persuasive research that identifies, promotes, informs and advances digital innovations that enable LMICs to transition to low-carbon and climate-resilient economies. The role will report to the Senior Director, Insights & Advocacy, but you will work closely with all colleagues in the GSMA Climate Tech and Digital Utilities programmes. This requires remote collaboration with colleagues based in the UK, Africa and Asia.

You will work alongside the broader insights and advocacy team to deliver new and persuasive research that identifies, promotes, informs and advances digital innovations that promote climate mitigation, adaptation and resilience in LMICs. The programme’s research agenda has three major components: i) drawing and disseminating insights from our innovation funding, ii) delivering discrete research projects at the frontier of digital innovation within the markets we work, and iii) providing technical inputs to the work of other global organisations’ research.

The GSMA recently entered the third phase of a long-standing partnership with the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development office, the details of which are here. This role is based in London but has a global remit. You will be working alongside insights colleagues based in the UK, Kenya, and India, and joining other team members from the Climate Tech and Digital Utilities teams working from London.

Prospective applicants are strongly encouraged to review the team’s past recent research outputs as this provides a good guide to the type of work the Senior Insights Manager will be expected to lead.

Your key responsibilities will include:

• Formulate the programme’s learning agenda. This will include: building a strong understanding of the climatetech ecosystem in LMICs, identifying key stakeholders and trends, and recognising nascent opportunities; formulating and communicating strategic and business frameworks to inform programme’s future implementation work on key topics and use-cases
• Develop and disseminate programme insights. This will include: leading discrete research projects across the programme’s priority areas, and developing report, blog, web, video and other outputs about grantees, programme research, industry events and relevant industry news for internal blogs, as well as guest blogs to share with partners.
• Present our insights to key stakeholders. This will include: presenting at key industry events, tailoring our insights to the needs of specific stakeholder groups including mobile operators, government organisations, donors, and enabling organisations.
• Position the programme as a thought leader and valuable research partner for advancing climate tech solutions in LMICs. This will include: building a strong community of practitioners with a shared vision of leveraging private sector and digital technology capabilities to solve the environmental challenges of our time, elevating the profile of our work among key stakeholders, and highlighting the programme’s unique offer at the intersection of digital innovation, climate action, and the mobile industry.
• Provide mentorship and management to the wider insights team. This will include: Managing an Insights Manager and a Climate Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Manager based in India and the UK.
• Collaborate within the wider team. This will include: supporting market engagement, and advocacy teams to delivery key insights for relevant stakeholder engagements in the form of outputs such as presentations, case studies, toolkits, blogs, events and meetings; collaborating with the market engagement team to leverage existing programme relationships and engagement to generate insights; working with the advocacy team to ensure key programme messages are included in relevant external publications and outputs.
• Collaborate within the wider GSMA. This will include: serving as a key point of entry for other GSMA Mobile for Development teams aiming to explore the climate impact of their work and ensuring that all of Mobile for Development is aligned on key messaging points and technical approaches; collaborate with the GSMA’s Climate Action team to support the industry’s transition to net zero and build on ongoing activities in LMICs.
• Engaging in a range of personal growth opportunities. Continuous learning is critical to the success of our work, and it can take many forms whether it is taking a short course on a frontier technology, exploring a novel use case through stakeholder interviews/visits, or exploring a new topic through internal or external collaborations.

About You

The right candidate will be able to draw on a solid foundation of commercial expertise and industry knowledge and be excited to join a diverse team that shares a passion for the ways mobile phones can empower people. We welcome applications from professionals with the following demonstrated qualifications

We welcome applications from those that can demonstrate the following:

• Excellent writing skills, with an ability to structure reports coherently with minimal guidance. Additional language skills are advantageous, but not essential.
• You can work on an emerging opportunity area without a defined blueprint. You are experienced in providing strategic thinking as well as day-to-day support to external research organisations and contractors.
• You have strong communication abilities to deliver complex and technical content clearly to a broad audience through blogs, reports, power points and verbal presentations. You complement these skills with a proven ability to influence different types of stakeholders, including C-level management, and policymakers through an evidence-based approach.  
• You have excellent analytical skills, including the ability to generate frameworks and structured analysis, and high attention to detail.
• You are a quick learner, and are able to grasp the complexities of new emerging technologies (e.g. IoT, Big Data etc.) and business models. You have experience in working towards sustainability outcomes within a commercial domain.
• You have thematic experience linked to several of the ClimateTech programme areas of focus (climate resilience and adaptation, natural resource management, urban resilience, circular economy solutions, climate finance, carbon credits, essential service delivery).  The role will require developing programme positions and standpoints together with our advocacy team on these subjects and therefore subject matter expertise will be key.
• You are a team player and can achieve results through your excellent relationship management skills, collaboration and your ability to consider the interests of multiple stakeholders in your day-to-day work.
• Proactivity is an essential skill for this role. Climate action is a topic that needs urgent attention and swift response. Thinking ahead of the curve, bringing the right set of public and private sector stakeholders together are paramount to succeeding in this role. You should be a self-starter with a passion for helping the underserved in developing countries improve their lives and combat climate change by leveraging digital technologies.
• Understanding of the mobile industry, key industry trends, commercial drivers and challenges faced by mobile operators in LMICS is advantage.
• You have excellent project and people management skills, with the ability to handle multiple tasks at the same time, and work as part of a diverse international team, including regular travel.

Contract type

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What We Offer

Working at the GSMA offers you unparalleled access to the mobile industry. We offer a chance to truly shape the direction of mobile, whatever your role. By joining the GSMA, you will be exposed to a fast-paced rapidly evolving environment, working on global solutions, genuinely fascinating and industry-changing projects and a stimulating and dynamic environment designed to enable you to flourish.

In addition to architect-designed offices and competitive compensation, our benefits include fantastic learning & development opportunities, generous holiday allowances, four additional days off for professional development and many others.

To learn more about the GSMA, visit our career site, our LinkedIn page and our Twitter page.

Being You at the GSMA

We care deeply about diversity, equity and inclusivity and aspire to be the best at it. Your well-being and work/life balance is important, so flexi-time and remote working is available to all staff. We're keen to ensure everyone is equal, represented and connected so we particularly encourage applications from all demographics. The sucess of the GSMA year on year will continue to be contributed by people from all walks of life.

GSMA Values

Our values not only drive our culture – they shape how we work and interact inside and outside our global organisation.

Passionately driven

We approach everything we do with unparalleled capability, tenacity and commitment, knowing that the challenging scale, pace and complexity of our work is what leads to its world-changing impact.

Insightful leaders

We continually develop and engage our expertise, insight and creativity so that we’re always ready to respond to the changing landscape with authority, agility and nuance.

Stronger together

We lean on each other so the industry can lean on us, embracing our diversity by actively seeking out perspectives and skill sets beyond our own, fuelling each other’s successes and constantly asking how we can help.

Underpinning our values is our collective mindset to show up purposefully as good human beings every day, in every situation. When we’re at our best – we are collaborative, considerate and compassionate to others, and we create a safe space for one another to thrive, assuming positive intent in our colleagues. And if we aren’t at our best and the pressure is on – we feel free to be ourselves but still remain curious, lean into the tough stuff and we are always respectful to others and accountable for the part we play.