BURN is hiring a Market Research Officer skilled in consumer insights, survey design, data analysis, field research, and market intelligence.
About the role
The Market
Research Officer will be involved in managing active research
projects, focusing on producing regular deliverables, interpreting analyses,
and using analysis software.
Duties and Responsibilities
Market
Research and Consumer Insights:
- 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.
School Profiling and
Solution Definition:
- 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.
Reporting and
Stakeholder Engagement:
- 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.
Risk
Management and Problem-Solving:
- 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.
Skills and Experience
- 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.
How to Apply
