Market Research Officer at BURN

About the role

• The Market Research Officer will be involved in managing active research projects, focusing on producing regular deliverables, interpreting analyses, and using analysis software.

Duties and Responsibilities
 Market Research and Consumer Insights:

• Conduct primary and secondary research to size and segment demand for institutional cooking solutions (schools, colleges, prisons, hospitals and other large-scale kitchens), with scope to extend to household biomass products.
• Map the competitive landscape — stove technologies, fuels (firewood, charcoal, briquettes, LPG, pellets and electric), pricing and positioning — and track market share and emerging trends.
• Assess customer needs, cooking practices, fuel consumption and willingness to pay to inform product and commercial strategy.
• Analyze policy, regulatory and funding developments (e.g. carbon finance, school-feeding and energy programmes) affecting institutional and biomass cooking demand.
• Translate findings into clear, evidence-based recommendations for product development, pricing and go-to-market decisions.

   School Profiling and Solution Definition:

• Build detailed profiles of target schools and institutions — enrolment and meals served, kitchen setup, current stoves and fuels, fuel volumes and costs, cooking schedules and operating constraints.
• Gather this information through site visits, key informant interviews and observation, and validate it against real cooking needs and pain points.
• Segment schools by size, fuel type, geography and purchasing model to prioritize the most viable opportunities.
• Define the target solution profile — capacity, fuel type, efficiency, durability, safety and price point — that best fits the profiled institutions.
• Feed institution profiles and solution requirements into product development and commercial planning.

  Reporting and Stakeholder Engagement:

• Prepare and present reports, dashboards and briefs that turn research and field data into actionable insights for management and stakeholders.
• Provide regular status updates on the progress, outcomes and budgets of research activities.
• Support investor-, partner- and donor-facing materials with validated market and field evidence.

 Risk Management and Problem-Solving:

• Proactively identify risks and issues within research and profiling activities, and develop mitigation and contingency plans to keep studies on track.
•  Address technical or operational challenges related to research design or data collection.
• Work closely with product development and commercial teams to resolve issues identified during research.

 Skills and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Statistics, Economics, Social Sciences, Business, Environmental or Energy Studies, or a related field; a relevant postgraduate qualification is an added advantage.
• 2–4 years of experience in market research, consumer insights or monitoring and evaluation, preferably in the clean cooking, renewable energy or development sectors.
• Demonstrated experience designing and executing both quantitative and qualitative research, including survey design and sampling.
• Proficiency with mobile data collection tools (KoboCollect) and data analysis software (Excel and one of SPSS, Stata, R or Python; familiarity with Power BI or Metabase an advantage).
• Strong analytical, report-writing and presentation skills, with the ability to turn data into actionable business recommendations.
• Willingness to travel for fieldwork across Kenya; fluency in English and Kiswahili.
• Knowledge of the clean cooking sector, cookstove testing protocols, or carbon MRV is an added advantage.