Location: London, candidates must have existing right to work in the UK
Position type: Fixed Term Contract until March 2028, Full Time
What the hiring manager says
"The ideal candidate is someone who pairs a strong ability to develop and lead impactful research with genuine technical fluency across the AI ecosystem, from infrastructure, compute and data through to models, applications and the distribution layer needed for impact-driven AI innovations to scale sustainably and responsibly. They're as comfortable articulating global trends as they are looking under the hood of an innovation to spot where frugal, responsible AI can unlock socioeconomic, financial and climate resilience in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)."
~Ibrahim Sajid, Senior Insights Manager, Emerging Tech
About the Team
GSMA Mobile for Development (M4D) is a dedicated global team within the GSMA, which brings together our mobile operator members, tech innovators, the development community and governments, to realise the impact of mobile in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
The mission of the Emerging Tech programme at GSMA Mobile for Development (M4D) is to accelerate impact and climate action by fostering the adoption of AI and emerging technologies in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). To achieve our mission, we work with public, private and third sector innovators to develop scalable and sustainable solutions that have at the core inclusive and responsible AI.
About the Role
The Emerging Tech team is looking for a researcher and technical generalist, with demonstrable experience in creating outstanding analytical pieces on AI and emerging technologies for development and the ability to identify gaps, risks and opportunities for impactful AI innovations in resource-constrained settings.
Responsibilities for this role will include:
- Conduct comprehensive global-level research to identify best practices and opportunities for M4D to support innovators (e.g. startups, social enterprises) seeking to leverage AI and other emerging technologies (e.g. mobile tech, IoT, GIS, blockchain) to advance socioeconomic development, financial and climate resilience in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
- Define scope and methodology of research projects that respond to real-world challenges faced by innovators, industry practitioners, and development actors, while aligning with the strategic objectives of funders and GSMA programmes.
- Produce high-quality written outputs including policy reports, research briefs, slide decks, blogs, and case studies, ready for public dissemination and aligned with GSMA's quality and editorial standards.
- Monitor and analyse trends in emerging technologies for development to identify high-impact opportunities, innovations, and business models suitable for scaling across LMICs.
- Collaborate with internal teams, including other M4D Insights, Innovation Fund, and the AI for Impact team, to ensure coherence across research agendas, messaging, and dissemination strategies.
- Assess the technical and commercial architecture of AI-enabled solutions, spanning infrastructure, data pipelines, models (LLMs/SLMs), local-language capability, compute and inference, and the application and distribution layers, to identify gaps and opportunities for impact-driven innovation in low-resource settings.
- Translate technical understanding into actionable insight by advising where AI investment, capability-building or partnerships can advance socioeconomic impact, financial inclusion and climate resilience across LMICs.
- Provide expertise and guidance to innovators in implementing AI and other emerging technologies as they seek to scale up their solutions.
- Support, as required, the Innovation Fund portfolio of grantees by providing technical assistance, identifying strategic engagements and new growth opportunities.
- Engage and coordinate with stakeholders across the ecosystem, including donors, mobile operators, startups, government agencies, NGOs, and multilateral institutions-to gather insights, validate findings, and amplify research relevance.
- Identify and pursue opportunities to promote research through blogs, events (e.g. MWC Barcelona, M360 APAC, AI for Good), webinars, and thought leadership pieces.
- Contribute to shaping the research agenda, proposing relevant themes, use cases, and strategic focus areas based on trends in digital development.
About You
You will have most or all of the following:
- A working understanding of the AI for international development ecosystem is essential, supported by a strong foundation in artificial intelligence, machine learning and related technologies, and how they are applied in development contexts. Broader te
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