Senior Insights Manager (Energy/ClimateTech)

Department: Mobile for Development

Department detail: ClimateTech and Digital Utilities

Location: London (hybrid working)

Position type: Fixed Term Contract until March 2027

About the team

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.

Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges facing humanity and we continue to see its impacts, including frequent extreme weather events, displacement of vulnerable populations, increase in temperatures, wildfires and droughts, reduction of wildlife populations and biodiversity, lower agricultural yields, sea-level rises and daily loss of forest.

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. Our Digital Utilities work supports urban resilience in low- and middle-income countries by enabling access to essential utility services through digital solutions and innovative partnerships. Inclusive utility services, such as energy, water, sanitation, waste management and transport support urban resilience, which allows cities in low-and-middle-income countries to better withstand challenges related to population growth, climate change, and inequality.

Through our Digital Utilities programme, we have contributed to over 60 innovation funding grants as shared in our report in our report Intelligent Utilities for All and more recently in our portfolio overview for our most recent round on Digital Urban Services.

In the energy sector, the programme has catalysed some of the most promising innovations for improving access to essential life services. Starting in 2013, the programme funded some of the first pay-as-you-go (PAYG) solar home system (SHS) companies — M-KOPA, Fenix, Mobisol and PEG — pioneers in what is now a fast-growing industry delivering energy to the underserved. Learnings from this experience have now been transferred to new verticals such as productive use appliances, clean cooking solutions, and portable battery models. The programme also published pioneering research that quantifies the value of PAYG approaches to the mobile industry.

The programme has also funded several mini-grid deployments including anchor-business-community models, where a telecom tower serves as an anchor client of a mini-grid which also providers power to the surrounding community. Recently, the GSMA has united some of the largest mobile operators in Africa as part of a working group to accelerate the transition to renewable energy across the industry. As part of this effort, the GSMA has identified initial priority markets (Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo) in which it will drive concrete industry action to scale renewable energy solutions for mobile operator infrastructure, and share learnings, blueprints, and replicable models with operators across the continent.

Finally, the GSMA has increasingly also supported B2G and B2B innovations focussed on improving energy utility finances, and service reliability. In Sri Lanka the GSMA supported Dialog Axiata to deploy a smart grid solution in partnership with Lanka Electricity Company. In Pakistan, the GSMA supported Jazz, along with its technology partner, and grid distributor Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO), to implement a metering solution to address line losses and electricity theft.

What the hiring manager says

“This is an excellent opportunity for a mid-career professional to apply their expertise at the intersection of energy, digital innovation, urban development, and climate resilience. You’ll be working alongside knowledgeable and driven colleagues passionate about the role of innovation in advancing sustainable development. The ideal candidate will have a strong professional foundation in the energy sector, a significant network, and the skills and drive to deliver inspiring and impactful research.”

About the Role

The Senior Insights Manager will be responsible for developing and disseminating programme insights. This role is based in London but with a global remit, you will be working alongside Digital Utilities and Climate Tech colleagues working from Delhi (India) and Nairobi (Kenya).

In this role, you will work to deliver new and persuasive research that identifies, promotes, informs and advances digital innovations for more reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy services in LMICs. The research agenda of the Digital Utilities programme 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 team’s current research priorities in energy are focused on 1) evaluating the impact of anchor-business-community models, where a telecom tower serves as the anchor client for mini-grids that also provide power to the surrounding settlement, 2) the role of digital innovation in increasing access to productive use appliances, 3) the role of digital technologies in promoting integrity, transparency in the voluntary carbon market, and 4) the role of digital innovation and public-private collaboration in supporting utilities in LMICs to operate more efficiently and transition towards renewables. Within these priority areas there is considerable scope for the Senior Insights Manager to direct and shape the team’s research agenda going forward. As such, you will also work to build and maintain the programme’s network of partners, identifying and building relationships with organisations that share our vision.

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. 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.

The Senior Insights Manager’s key responsibilities span four main areas:

• Develop and disseminate programme insights with a focus on energy. This will include leading discrete research projects across the programme’s priority areas and developing report, blog, web, video and other outputs about grantees.
• 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 and mentoring more junior staff, and providing feedback and leadership on energy-related research within the programme.
• 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 and the GSMA Africa policy 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

You are a mid-career research and insights professional with strong experience in energy looking for your next challenge and motivated by the opportunity to develop and lead projects independently. You will have practical professional experience delivering research products and presenting research outputs to a diverse range of stakeholders. The right candidate should be excited to join a diverse team that shares a passion for the ways digital technology can empower people.

We welcome applications from those that can demonstrate the following:

• Deep thematic experience linked to digital innovation in energy in low-and middle-income countries (SHS, productive use, mini-grids, utility innovation). Additional expertise in other Digital Utilities programme areas of focus (inclusive urban development, climate resilience, intermediary cities, water, sanitation, transport, waste management) are a strong plus.

• A strong research background. You will have: a strong track record of projects and publications; ether post-graduate study in a relevant area or equivalent professional experience; and you will have worked independently in an applied environment, producing work to publication quality.

• A sufficient technical background to speak on topics including IoT, digital payments, and AI, and be familiar with the challenges and opportunities in leveraging these tools for efficient energy- and utility service delivery.

• 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 can 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

• An understanding of both the commercial business models (mobile operators and start-ups) and utility services, and the barriers and enablers for partnerships between these groups.

• 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 know how to engage partner organisations, donors, government representatives, and other influential stakeholders to maximise the impact of your research and our wider programme objectives.

• You are used to, and value, working in multicultural and geographically dispersed teams. You have experience in managing relationships with global stakeholders, and bring with you your own network that adds value to the team.

• 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.

• Excellent writing skills, with an ability to structure reports coherently with minimal guidance. Additional language skills are advantageous, but not essential.

Contract type

Fixed Term Contract (Fixed Term)

Worker type

Employee

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.