Jobs at Acumen Academy

About the role

• You will work alongside the central Academy team, supporting the delivery of our program offerings to the Foundry.
• You will be responsible for providing end-to-end operational support to deliver major global Programs like Acumen Angels - an early-stage capital funding program designed to advance high-potential, early-stage entrepreneurs from the Foundry. 
• This involves collaborating with a cross-functional team across marketing and communications, data and insights, foundry engagement, and Acumen Academy regional teams to sustain the Foundry as a high-impact, highly-engaged community of builders with the tools and relationships they need to scale their solutions to the problems of poverty.
• This role will report to the Associate Director, Foundry.

The responsibilities include

• Oversee the end-to-end operational and administrative delivery of major global programs from outreach and selection to due diligence and announcement.
• Lead the data collection and review process of program reports, enabling evaluation of program effectiveness.
• Manage all global referral and nomination processes for existing partnership programs and emerging opportunities.
• Coordinate logistics for foundry programming: Info sessions, office hours, coaching calls, and masterclasses.
• In partnership with the audience and engagement team, maintain and oversee a program calendar for all Foundry initiatives.

Skills and Qualifications

• The role requires a structured doer with an appreciation for detail, organization, and the user perspective.
• Experience in program operations and supporting social entrepreneurs through structured programming is highly valuable. 
• As program operations typically involve multiple moving parts, you are very comfortable with operational details and process work; you implement, coordinate, and optimize to enable efficient delivery.
• 3 years of relevant professional working experience
• Ability to manage multiple work streams with a multiplicity of stakeholders, and to prioritize effectively 
• Process-minded and systems-oriented 
• Strong analytical and reporting skills, with experience translating data into insights.
• A commitment to Acumen’s mission of solving the toughest problems of poverty, and a passion for leadership development 
• Good organizational and planning skills (Foresight, organizes information in an actionable way)
• Follows through on commitments without needing reminders
• Proactive; Ability to take initiative and roll up the sleeves; anticipate needs before they arise, and take action without being asked
• Communication skills to work with global, cross-cultural colleagues, partners and community members
• Demonstrated success in building collaborative relationships with both external and internal stakeholders
• Effectively collaborates with and across teams, seeks, and provides constructive feedback
• Self-reflective and aligned with Acumen values.

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About the Role

• As the Senior Associate, Insights, you will support the execution of the program’s learning agenda, working across program teams and partners to generate actional insights that inform program delivery and strategy.
• This role sits within the Insights function, focusing on the ‘why’ and ‘so what’ behind program results. 
• You will lead qualitative and mixed-methods data collection and analyze findings. 
• You will also synthesize findings into clear insights and contribute to learning outputs that shape adaptive management and thought leadership.
• You will report to the Program Insights Lead and program teams across multiple workstreams.  The role requires strong execution, structured thinking, and the ability to translate complex data into meaningful insights.

Accountabilities include
Execution of the Program Learning Agenda:

• Support the implementation of the Program’s multi-year learning agenda, ensuring timely and high-quality delivery of learning activities
• Coordinate and execute qualitative and mixed-methods data collection across Program pillars, including surveys, interviews, focus group discussions, and feedback tools
• Support the design and development of data collection tools (e.g. surveys, interview guides, tracking tools) aligned with learning questions
• Manage data collection processes across multiple stakeholders, including program teams, partners, and enterprises
• Ensure data is collected, documents, and organized in a structured and usable way

Insight Generation and Analysis:

• Conduct qualitative and mixed methods analysis to identify patterns, trends, and key insights across program data
• Synthesize findings across multiple data sources to answer core learning questions
• Translate data into clear, concise, and actionable insights that inform program decision-making
• Identity emerging signals and insights to support adaptive learning and continuous program improvement

Adaptive Learning and Program Support:

• Provide input into adaptive learning processes, including after-action reviews and periodic learning sessions
• Support program teams in understanding and applying insights to improve program delivery
• Contribute to tracking learning questions and ensuring alignment between data collection and program priorities
• Surface insights to support strategic reflection and decision-making

Knowledge Products and Thought Leadership:

• Support the development of internal and external learning deliverables, including reports, briefs, and blogs.
• Contribute to drafting sections of program learning outputs, ensuring clarity, rigor, and strong narrative
• Help translate insights into compelling stories and evidence that contribute to broader conversations on green entrepreneurship, work quality, and women’s economic participation
• Ensure learning outputs are grounded in high-quality evidence and aligned with program priorities

Skills and Qualifications

• 5 – 8 years of relevant experience in consulting, development, research, or a related field
• Experience in qualitative or mixed-methods research, including designing tools and conducting interviews and surveys
• Strong analytical and synthesis skills, with the ability to translate complex information into clear insights and recommendations
• Strong writing skills, with the ability to contribute to reports and structured outputs with guidance
• Experience working on complex programs.
• Strong project management and organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple workstreams and stakeholders
• Ability to work independently with guidance, while contributing to team thinking and problem solving
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to collaborate across teams and functions
• Good presenter in public, strong voice in meetings

Desirable:

• Experience in entrepreneurship, MSMEs, or private sector development programs
• Familiarity with climate, green economy, or sustainability-related sectors
• Exposure to large, donor-funded, or multi-stakeholder programs
• Experience supporting the development of knowledge products or thought leadership outputs.

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About the role

• As the Impact Manager: Reporting, Data and Analytics you will be responsible for designing and implementing the technology solution for the programmatic MEL framework.
• That is potentially adapting existing solutions like Salesforce and Google sheets, or creating/identifying new technology solutions, to ensure that the MEL framework has a functioning and efficient technology platform, routine reporting on key data points.
• We expect the role to focus on continual identification of system and data management and reporting improvements. We expect candidates to be highly technically efficient with data and software solutions with growing skills in the use of AI. 
• You will work closely with the Impact Manager: Monitoring, Evaluation and learning. The Impact Manager: Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning will focus on MEL framework design and implementation and adaptive learning. 
• Additionally, you will work closely with other Impact & Insight staff based in the UK and in East and West Africa. 
• The postholder is expected to travel occasionally within the region. 

Accountabilities include
MEL framework design and implementation:

• Support the implementation of the programmatic MEL framework (including MEL plan, data collection plan, data management plan, quality assurance protocols, results framework) through providing a functioning technology solution to support data collection, management and reporting 
• Work collaboratively with the Impact Manager: Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning to co-develop quarterly reporting processes and reports on key metrics and KPIs (including financial KPIs for companies), for sharing with a range of stakeholders (This role to focus on the technology platform e.g. Power BI or Airtable and develop dashboards)
• Carry out data analysis to derive insights in collaboration with the Impact Manager: MEL 
• Develop infographics using data visualisation software and tools 
• Close collaboration with Finance to quality assure and integrate finance data with impact data - including reporting on Impact Linked Finance initiatives.

Programme data management:

• Ensure that data is collected and managed in line with best practices
• Liaise with Compliance and Legal team to ensure we are following best practices on data consent, use, management, retention, reporting, protection and security approaches. 
• Integrate data, from a range of data sources, to produce reports (through Power BI or similar)
• Be the point person for all impact data requests.

Knowledge Management and Learning:

• Set up an internal Knowledge Management system for the programme and co-develop the programme knowledge management system.
• Work closely with Programme Insights team to ensure lessons are captured and knowledge management processes are followed. 
• Work closely with the Programme Insights team to ensure qualitative data is managed in line with best practices. 
• Actively support any programmatic evaluations that are required by donors by ensuring all data needs are met.

Capacity building - team and partners:

• Capacity building team members to use technology for MEL implementation
• Capacity building partners (organisations) to engage with technology for reporting. 
• Development of training materials and training sessions to upskill staff and partners with a range of skills in this space
• Support lower capacity organisations to develop their own internal reporting systems in line with programmatic needs 
• Site visits to monitor partner data management and reporting systems
• Quarterly reporting on data quality from partners.

Skills and qualifications

• At least  8 years of professional experience, including at least 3 years of experience in developing and managing data systems, MEL databases, and reporting tools
• Strong hands-on experience in Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) for complex, multi-country programmes
• Demonstrated ability to strengthen the use of data for decision-making across different organisational levels
• Strong skills in data analysis and data visualisation
• Experience setting up routine reporting systems (actuals vs targets) for quarterly and annual reporting
• Experience using technology to support MEL in field and country contexts, including mobile data collection
• Experience working with compliance teams on data governance and best practices
• Experience building or using Salesforce-based data management and reporting systems
• Interest or experience in AI solutions or AI agents for MEL
• Experience in Impact Linked Finance / Value for Money / SROI / Cost–Benefit analysis
• Project management qualification
• Experience working in multi-country, matrix-managed environments
• Experience in gender and youth programmes or working with private sector partners
• Familiarity with Power BI, Airtable, Salesforce or similar tools.