Summary
Date Posted: Tuesday, February 22, 2022 , Base Salary: Not Disclosed

JOB DETAILS:
Who are we looking for?
We are looking for a Design Strategist (Ideally based in Africa) with international work experience to join a team of enthusiastic designers, researchers and change makers from around the world. Ideally, you are someone that is a rock star managing innovation projects, conducting field research, building strategic designs, prototyping and testing activities and isn’t afraid to make a difference.
The current ten-person team at the iDE Innovation Lab, located in different countries, have all been working together for a number of years, so this is a rare opportunity to join a well-established team working on a broad range of projects in Asia and Africa with a social innovation focus.

Who will you be working for?
You will be working with the non-profit iDE Innovation Lab with a mission to champion an integrated approach to innovation that drives lasting impact for iDE’s multi-sectoral programs.
The iDE Innovation Lab also functions as a strategy and innovation consultancy working in focus areas of water, sanitation & hygiene, climate change (clean energy, conservation), agriculture, and maternal health & nutrition. Over the years we have worked with a portfolio of international development organizations such as Care International, Hellen Keller, USAID, UNICEF, World Bank Group, Plant and Food Research, Save the Children, and SNV.
We are in the mission of driving lasting, impactful change through a market systems approach and human centered design methodologies, so we are looking for a world class expert in design and innovation to join our multidisciplinary and multicultural team to solve development challenges.

iDE Innovation Lab is a part of iDE. iDE is a non-government organization dedicated to empowering entrepreneurs to end poverty. Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, our global work within agriculture, sanitation, and gender equality, iDE stands out in the international development sector because we don’t simply hand out money or supplies. Instead, we believe in powering small-scale entrepreneurs and building robust market ecosystems that are financially competitive, resilient to changing climates, and inclusive of marginalized people. Given access to simple technology, market links and microfinance, iDE has demonstrated that entrepreneurs can lift themselves out of poverty and become change agents in their communities. Founded in 1982, and with operations in 10 developing countries, iDE has made an impact in the lives of more than 35 million people, providing access to markets, boosting incomes and improving wellbeing. By listening to every stakeholder—producers, suppliers, retailers and customers—iDE designs programs that overcome critical bottlenecks and develop lasting solutions. We employ over 1,200 staff globally, 96 percent of whom are nationals or field based. Our 2021 budget of $28.1 million includes funding from nearly 40 institutional donors, including USAID, SIDA, GAC, Unicef, DFAT, MFAT, EU, and SDC.

What you will be doing:
• Managing multiple end to end social innovation projects, which includes:
• Project & client management, collaborating with peers throughout the process
• Building a project plan, meeting deadlines, and delegating tasks
• Conducting desk research, expert interviews, designing research plans required to solve the design problem we want to tackle
• Conducting ethnographic research in diverse contexts
• Synthesizing findings and presenting them in digestible and visual ways for the client
• Coming up with actionable ideas and strategies that are easy to operationalise for the client
• Engaging with stakeholders, leading and facilitating alignment meetings and strategy workshops
• Running fun and engaging co-creation/brainstorming workshops in the field and in the office
• Building and developing prototypes and testing loops that will inform the design of the final solution (strategy, product, digital product, businesses or services).
• Making confident and timely decisions in order to move the project forward
• Inspiring your peers within iDE to apply innovation methodologies and approaches in their programmes
• Establishing and nurturing client relationships
• Supporting proposal writing and business development efforts

Requirements
Your experience level:
• Someone with at least 4 years of experience working for an international design firm/innovation lab or design consultancy
• Background (sociologist, design, product/industrial design, etc)
• Someone passionate about empathetic design
• Someone driven by making meaningful solutions to solve complex development problems.
• Experience working in different countries, across diverse cultural environments, or remote areas

The type of experience that we are looking for:
• Solid experience managing projects and co-team members (great time management skills and people management skills)
• Experience in applying various innovation methodologies to project (human centered design, behaviour change methodologies, behavioural economics, rapid prototyping and testing)
• Experience with conducting ethnographic research in diverse contexts
• Experience in synthesizing large amounts of qualitative data into a digestible and visual story
• Experience in converting research findings into actionable strategies that are easy to operationalise
• Visual design or product design skills
• Experience in developing creative directions, and communicating this effectively with a client and team
• Experience in facilitating offline and online workshops (HCD, co-creations, stakeholder alignments)
• Experience in presenting in front of large audiences
• Possess knowledge and experience in WASH sector
• Skilled in using Adobe Creative Suite and other design software like Mural
• Skilled using project management tools like Clickup or Asana
• High proficiency in English and French reading, writing and speaking

Bonus points if you have:
• A business/marketing background, or experience supporting entrepreneurs
• Experience in product/service development
• Experience working on digital solutions (UX Design, ICT tools)

Ideally, we would love to find someone that:
• Is highly professional, responsible and accountable for
• Is passionate, positive, dynamic, curious and caring person
• Is an autonomous problem-solver with a mind full of ideas ready to be tested
• Is driven by a social mission
• Has cultural sensitivity and respect towards unfamiliar contexts
• Has a flexible mindset, is agile and adaptive, and at the same time takes into account their capacity, deadlines and limitations
• Has excellent time management skills
• Can embrace uncertainty and manage stress
• Is able to challenge the status quo in order to create creative solution

Benefits
Our intention is to pay our staff a competitive salary benchmarked with market pay scales, and commensurate with experience. In addition, we will cover both health and accident insurance.

Would you like to apply?
iDE takes pride in our talented and diverse workforce. Minorities, women, and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply. Hiring, promotion, and compensation of employees are conducted without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, or age.

Education Requirement: No Requirements

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: 48

Job application procedure
Please apply for the position through Workable with these requirements listed below:
• CV
• Portfolio with your previous projects
• Through a video, a poster, a sketch/other creative medium, tell us about yourself, your practice, your motivations to work at the iDE’s Innovation Lab, and why you are the best candidate. Just be creative and tell us a good story!

Please submit your application by March 9th, 2022.
Please click here to apply

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