East Africa Lead at Sofala Partners

• A client-facing, leadership role with responsibility for leading our office in Nairobi. In this role, you will be responsible for managing our Kenya-based client relationships, and designing and delivering complex projects – primarily political economy analysis, policy/regulatory intelligence and analysis, and stakeholder engagement projects – some of which will require travel within Africa. As a small, close-knit and non-hierarchical team, this role will be more entrepreneurial than any equivalent at a larger firm, and there will be opportunities to contribute directly to the strategy and growth of the company as a whole.

What we’re looking for

• Minimum 8-10 years’ experience working in a related field
• Master’s degree in related discipline preferred (e.g., political science, international relations, political economy)
• Strong Africa-focused professional experience and existing professional network.
• Deep experience running end-to-end integrity due diligence and/or political economy analysis, ideally with in-depth knowledge of the investment and regulatory environment in specific African jurisdictions
• Exceptional analytical, project management, problem-solving, and presentational skills
• Strong writing skills and an ability to communicate complex ideas concisely in writing
• Experience managing client relationships and accounts
• Willingness to travel
• Foreign language skills preferred (e.g., Swahili, French, Portuguese)
• Strong technical skills in using Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel)

What you’ll do

• Play a lead role on political economy analysis, policy intelligence/advisory and development sector projects, particularly in support of our retained political intelligence monitors.
• Manage day-to-day client liaison and present our reporting and analysis to clients.
• Manage subcontractors professionally and effectively, including development of clear research briefs; build new subcontractor relationships.
• Peer review of outputs by other members of the team.
• Build professional networks beyond existing client relationships.
• Development of new business.