Manager, Impact, Strategy, and Research at Food Health Systems Advisory (FHSA)

• We are seeking an experienced Manager, Impact, Strategy & Research to lead the strategy, research, and MEL functions. This role will be critical in shaping our direction as an organization, ensuring our research is rigorous, our advisory work is impactful, our programs are adaptive, and our strategic engagements are forward-looking. This is an exciting opportunity to join a mission-driven team at the forefront of food systems transformation in Africa.

Key Responsibilities:

Impact, Research, and Evidence Generation

• Lead the design and execution of research and evidence-generation activities (qualitative and quantitative).
• Oversee MERL frameworks and theories of change for all projects, ensuring alignment with client expectations and best practices.
• Develop learning agendas and translate findings into strategy, program design, and policy recommendations.
• Embed an impact and sustainability lens across FHSA’s advisory, research, and program activities.
• Ensure all outputs, reports, briefs, dashboards, and publications, are rigorous, relevant, and actionable.

Strategy Development & Organisational Direction 

• Convert evidence and market insights into clear strategic recommendations for FHSA’s leadership.
• Lead strategy refresh processes and annual planning.
• Guide strategy development across FHSA’s key focus areas and workstreams.
• Identify opportunities for service expansion or refinement based on data, performance trends, and emerging market needs.

Advisory Services & Client Engagement

• Lead multi-stakeholder advisory engagements involving donors, governments, NGOs, and private sector players.
• Facilitate strategy workshops, stakeholder consultations, and advisory sessions to co-develop solutions.
• Serve as a subject matter expert in areas such as food systems, nutrition, agriculture, or health

Thought Leadership & Proposal Development 

• Position FHSA as a recognised source of food systems insights and thought leadership.
• Lead or support proposal writing, concept notes, and technical inputs for new funding opportunities.
• Work collaboratively with internal teams to shape fundable ideas aligned with FHSA’s thematic areas.
• Represent FHSA in high-level convenings, conferences, and publications to elevate the organisation’s visibility and influence.

Team Leadership & Capacity Strengthening

• Supervise, mentor, and support the development of junior staff across research, strategy, advisory, and MEL.
• Promote knowledge sharing and collaboration across teams.
• Strengthen internal systems for quality assurance, knowledge management, and continuous improvement.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in international development, food systems, public health, agriculture, economics, evaluation, or a related field.
• 7+ years of progressive experience in research, MEL, and strategy roles within development, consulting, or private organizations.
• Deep experience in designing and managing complex research projects and MEL systems.
• Proven ability to lead client engagements and provide strategic guidance.
• Prior experience working with consulting, donors, foundations, governments, NGOs, and/or private-sector actors is an advantage.
• Experience supervising teams and managing cross-functional workflows

Key Skills & Attributes:

• Ability to lead, mentor, and develop teams across research, M&E, advisory, and strategy functions.
• Strong facilitation skills, with experience running workshops, consultations, and multi-stakeholder meetings.
• Strong strategic thinking, with the ability to connect evidence, impact, and sustainability considerations to decision-making.
• Strong quantitative and qualitative analysis skills, with experience cleaning, analysing, and interpreting complex datasets.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including pivot tables, lookups, charts, and building dashboards.
• Proficiency in Power BI for data visualisation, dashboards, and performance tracking across projects and portfolios.
• Ability to translate data and dashboards into clear insights, narratives, and recommendations for non-technical audiences.
• Familiarity with statistical or analytical tools (for example, R, STATA, SPSS, or similar) is an advantage.
• Strong writing skills with the ability to produce clear, well-structured reports, briefs, and presentations.