Insights Manager, Central Insights Unit in London

Department: Mobile for Development

Team: Central Insights Unit

Location: London (hybrid)

Position type: Fixed Term Contract until March 2027

The ideal candidate will bring a curious and analytical mindset, strong research skills, excellent written communication, and a deep interest in how digital technologies can advance sustainable development in low- and middle-income countries. They will be skilled at generating evidence-based insights and communicating both global trends and local perspectives with clarity and impact. This role offers the opportunity to develop thought leadership and deliver actionable insights to inform inclusive and sustainable development, working in a collaborative, diverse team passionate about leveraging digital technologies to reduce global inequalities.

The Central Insights Unit (CIU) sits at the core of GSMA Mobile for Development (M4D) and produces country- and region-specific research and analysis on the role and impact of digital technologies in advancing sustainable and inclusive development. Our work spans across many themes and verticals including digital inclusion, gender, financial inclusion, agriculture, health, utilities, humanitarian action and climate action. The thematically cross-cutting nature of our research means that our knowledge base is wide-ranging as we bring clarity to emerging opportunities in digital development. Our work directly supports international donors to build expertise and capacity as they seek to advance digitalisation initiatives in low- and middle-income countries.

This role offers an opportunity to contribute to research that informs sustainable development initiatives, shapes global development discourse, informs programmes and policy, and supports the responsible scaling of digital innovation across sectors such as humanitarian action, agriculture, health, climate resilience, and digital and financial inclusion. Working as part of an interdisciplinary team, the postholder will lead primary and secondary research and produce high-quality outputs for a range of stakeholders, including donor and development partners, governments, and private sector actors. The role will play a key part in advancing how digital technologies are understood and applied to tackle critical development challenges.

Specifically you will:

• Develop clear, well-structured scopes of work to drive holistic research projects across different contexts.
• Ensure research outputs are tailored to context and audience, including policy makers, industry leaders and development practitioners.
• Convening and guiding diverse groups of stakeholders to shape and steer research projects.
• Identify, commission, and manage external researchers and suppliers to deliver robust, timely research products.
• Work across M4D teams to draw on thematic expertise from across the programme portfolio.
• Conduct rigorous quantitative and qualitative analysis to generate clear, insight driven narratives.
• Produce high quality written outputs, including reports, blogs and briefs.
• Present and disseminate research findings at events, webinars and other forums.

You will bring a strong foundation in research and a passion for using digital technologies to advance development outcomes. You will thrive in a diverse team dedicated to empowering people via mobile and emerging tech.

Must-have experience and capabilities for this role are:

• Excellent analytical skills, including a demonstrated ability to design and frame research questions, design analytical frameworks, interrogate data and extract actionable insights.
• Proven experience designing and conducting mixed-methods research, combining qualitative and quantitative approaches (e.g. key informant interviews, surveys, case studies, landscape analysis, and secondary data analysis) to generate actionable insights for programme, policy, and industry audiences.
• Demonstrated expertise in how AI is a transformative power, including limitations and risks, for gender and digital inclusion, digital public infrastructure, digital health, climate resilience, or financial inclusion.
• Strong understanding and proven experience of conducting research related to the mobile and digital ecosystem in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
• Demonstrated experience applying analytical and systems-based frameworks in research and programme analysis.
• Strong ecosystem and stakeholder analysis skills, with the ability to map market systems, identify key actors and incentives.
• Demonstrated ability to plan and manage research projects end-to-end, including managing external partners and delivering on time and on budget.
• Fluent and compelling written and verbal communication skills in English.

Additional desirable experience and capabilities for this role include:

• A track record of delivering results both independently and as part of a team.
• A proactive, solutions-oriented approach and willingness to propose and test new ideas.
• Experience supervising or mentoring junior researchers and analysts.
• Experience presenting research findings at high-level or global events.
• Working proficiency in another language (e.g. French, Arabic).

About Your Skills:

• Analysis – Excellent data analysis skills, primarily qualitative with some quantitative.
• Communication – An excellent communicator, with a strong ability to translate complex issues into plain language.
• Delivery – Strong delivery skills to manage multiple research projects in an organised and timely manner.
• Project management – Proven ability to plan and oversee end-to-end research projects.
• Stakeholder management – Skilled at building and maintaining productive relationships with a wide range of stakeholders.
• Teamwork – A team player, happy to work in a matrixed environment or large multi-disciplinary group.