Senior Consultant, Insights

Senior Consultant, Insights & Advocacy

Contract:
Full-time; one-year fixed term, renewable

Remuneration:
Competitive, based on experience and competence

Location:
Lagos/Abuja

Reports to:
Lead Advisor

About us

Africa Practice is a mission-led strategic consulting firm advising investors and development partners across the continent. Our mission is to shape a prosperous Africa that inspires the world. For over 20 years, we have been partnering with global investors, policy-makers, development partners and other changemakers to drive transformation on the continent.

Our insights and advocacy solutions are rooted in detailed systems and stakeholder understanding. We identify, generate, and analyse human-centred systems data to design impactful advocacy interventions. We deliver our world-class insights and advocacy solutions through our local presence, which transcends the African continent.

We operate as one company, with a diverse team working on a hybrid basis in Abuja, Cape Town, Dakar, Dar es Salaam, Gaborone, Johannesburg, Lagos, Nairobi, and London. We are risk analysts, development economists, advocates, storytellers, data scientists, policy experts, systems thinkers and creative minds. Over 80% of our staff are African and over 50% are women. We have been a signatory to the UN Global Compact since 2021 and achieved B-Corp status in 2024.

About the role

The ideal candidate is an expert Senior Consultant specialising in African markets, with a proven ability to design and deliver strategic policy advice, manage complex stakeholder coalitions, and execute impactful advocacy programs across the continent. The successful candidate will help support the delivery of complex advocacy and engagement projects for both commercial and philanthropic clients. Experience in climate advocacy, or a related field, will be an advantage. Their responsibilities are as follows:

Consulting services

• Lead strategic advocacy efforts leveraging an understanding of the national and sub-national (county-level) political economy shaping the policymaking process for specific issues (energy regulation, climate policy)
• Maintain a detailed and deep stakeholder network, orchestrate coalition building and direct stakeholder engagements to advance clients' policy objectives with key decision makers and Africa Practice teams
• Proactively influence policy design in Africa through actively monitoring global and continental policy and institutional trends across critical areas such as climate, energy and sustainable development
• Guide meticulous policy tracking on designated issues and direct robust analysis of complex public policy, regulation and legislation
• Deliver high-impact policy advocacy and advisory for clients, translating complex policy analysis into compelling arguments through highly visual multimedia formats, engaging and persuasive verbal presentations, and concise, written output that drives policy outcomes.
• Advise on and drive execution of policy advocacy and public campaigning strategy, including grasstops and grassroots engagement to champion and enable broad participation in the policy-shaping process
• Lead client and project teams in the co-creation of innovative, inclusive and evidence-based policy solutions, involving a range of stakeholders potentially impacted by the policy
• Lead in the design and delivery of progressive policy testing methods, including smart use of data and the development of creative multimedia assets and immersive experiences to capture stakeholders' attention and motivate action.
• Ensure that consulting projects are delivered within the required timeframe and budgeted hours while simultaneously satisfying Africa Practice's high quality standards
• Contribute to the development of our insights and advocacy practice and the continual evolution of our policy advocacy value propositions, including supporting marketing and thought leadership initiatives

Leadership

• Provide clear guidance and proactive coaching and support to colleagues
• Demonstrate emotional intelligence and empathy in managing relationships
• Contribute to a healthy, inclusive and sustainable working culture

Business development

• Proactively identify new business opportunities and methodically qualify leads
• Develop targeted and compelling proposals that respond to clients' stated and unstated needs and add value
• Develop and maintain a network that yields high-value insights, new business opportunities and technical expertise across multiple sectors and geographies

Project management

• Serve as the Project Manager for pan-African, regional and/or national advocacy and communications assignments, managing client relationships and leading teams to ensure effective and efficient delivery.
• Excellent communicator with the ability to identify and manage multiple stakeholders in an agile setting
• Ensure quality and timely execution and project monitoring, evaluation and learning.
• Proven experience in project management functions including planning, budgeting, team coordination, and risk tracking, to ensure projects are delivered on time and within scope.
• Drive designated advocacy and consulting projects from inception to completion, demonstrating a self-starting, proactive approach to problem-solving and delivery with minimal day-to-day oversight.

What we are looking for

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• At least 8 years of professional experience advising on complex policy and regulatory issues in Africa
• Strong grasp of Africa's political, economic, and development dynamics
• Experience supporting pan-continental initiatives and working with or within multilateral organisations, regional institutions, donor programmes, or development partners
• Proficient in stakeholder mapping, coalition coordination, relationship management at senior levels and cross-sector engagement across multiple geographies
• Skilled in designing and monitoring advocacy strategies and outcomes and applying learning to refine strategies (experience in climate advocacy, particularly within the energy sector is advantageous)
• Demonstrable experience in conceptualising and successful implementation of narrative building and campaigning initiatives in issue-based, or corporate settings is essential
• Strong analytical capability to gather and synthesise policy, market, and industry intelligence for strategic insight - Confidence in handling data sets, digital analytics and new technologies
• Outstanding critical thinking, highly creative solution design and proactivity in execution
• Highly organised, with a record of managing multi-partner work plans, timelines, and deliverables in an agile environment
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to convey technical content clearly and persuasively
• Degree in a relevant discipline (public policy, law, sustainable development, economics, energy, environmental or related social sciences); postgraduate degree preferred

What we offer

We offer the successful candidate an opportunity to develop a rewarding career within a dynamic pan-African consultancy advising a prestigious portfolio of clients. This position offers:

• Competitive remuneration
• Immediate opportunities for growth
• Collaboration with a diverse and experienced team of colleagues

Don't meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of colour are much less likely to apply for a position unless they meet every single qualification. So this notwithstanding, if you are excited about this role, we would love to hear from you. At Africa Practice, we are dedicated to building an inclusive, diverse and authentic workplace. You might just be the new team member we are looking for – for this or other roles.

Do you want to contribute to an influential and prosperous Africa, inspiring the world? We're looking for Africa's changemakers – smart people with strong analytical, advocacy, digital and problem-solving skills who can reconcile diverse perspectives to deliver sustainable change.

Please send in your application by clicking on the "apply" button.

Do include a cover letter explaining why you think you are suited to this position and indicating your availability. Your documents must be entitled with "*your name* Senior Consultant, Insights & Advocacy, Africa".

The vacancy is immediately open for suitable applications and will be closed as soon as a suitable candidate is identified. Early applications are advised.