The Role

Natural Justice works and Stands with Communities to help them Affirm and Defend their rights to social and environmental justice. We support the pursuit of secure land tenure and believe that land rights are integral to protecting these social and environmental justice rights. Kenya has dedicated law and policy that is meant to strengthen the access to justice for its citizens. One such law is the Community Land Act 2016 (CLA2016). The CLA2016 has been in force for nearly five years and has assisted three communities in registering their land as communally owned and managed. As we approach the law’s 5-year milestone, we are searching for a research consultant to examine the current lacunas that are hindering the effective implementation of this Act. In this role, you will be required to plan and implement research for our organisation and ensure that the best research methodologies, design, and practices are adhered to.

The Responsibilities

To ensure success as a research consultant, you should be highly skilled at planning and conducting qualitative and quantitative research tasks. A top-notch research consultant will have a demonstrable track record of successful research projects to their name and a wide array of research skills and strategies to apply to the tasks given by the organisation.

• Developing evidence-based research on CLA2016, its successes and failures after five years.
• Selecting appropriate data and literary sources for research purposes.
• Designing questionnaires and research sub-tasks.
• Conducting interviews, survey sessions, and data collection.
• Analysing and organising gathered information.
• Drafting and finalising research reports for presentation.
• Identifying key areas of concern and areas of improvement in research design and implementation and presenting achievable recommendations.
• Discussing findings with other researchers and members of the organisation.
• Presenting your work in written and verbal form to be disseminated among different stakeholders.

The Person:

We are looking for someone capable of planning and conducting qualitative and quantitative research tasks. The ideal candidate will consequently have a demonstrable track record of successful research projects to their name and a wide array of research skills and strategies to apply to the tasks given by the organisation. We believe in close working relationships with communities to ensure our work match community aspirations. The ideal candidate will therefore demonstrate evidence of working with communities and commitment to social and environmental justice. You will also have:

• A minimum of a master’s degree in your area of research specialisation.
• Three years experience as a researcher or study leader.
• Demonstrable research skills such as data analytics, statistics, or survey design.
• Impeccable writing and organisational skills.
• Proficiency in research design, research report writing, and source analysis.
• Thorough knowledge of research procedures and best practices.
• Team-working and communication skills.
• Ability to conduct research independently.
• Knowledge of established research and experimental techniques for gathering both qualitative and quantitative data.
• History of published articles, studies, or research work.

How to apply

Applications should be submitted via email to maryama@naturaljustice.org  with ‘Research Consultant: Auditing the Community Land Act 2016’ in the subject line. Include a motivation letter when applying.

The successful candidate can look forward to working with a team of passionate, collaborative and team committed to utilising evidence-based research to secure positive social and environmental justice outcomes.