Research Assistant

Department: Strathmore Energy Research Centre
Reporting to: Project Manager

Basic job summary:

Conduct high quality research to meet the project deliverables

Duties & Responsibilities:

• Project Initiation:
  • Establish schools social, financial and technical requirements
  • Assist engineers with on-site technical surveys of the schools
  • Innovate survey approach to optimise off site survey method for future
  • Assist in data collection for school impact baselines
  • Innovate impact data collection approach for result gathering
  • Assist in business model communication method and materials
  • Assist in recruitment and management of additional fellow researchers (24 FTE in total)
• Research:
  • Help establish working methods for running the Community Energy Hubs covering the following daytime educational services:
  • IT and laboratory teaching
  • Classroom lighting provision
  • Clean cooking and refrigeration
  • STEM lesson planning and adoption
• Help establish working methods for running the Community Energy Hubs covering the following community and revenue earning services:
  • Adult IT classes
  • Security lighting provision
  • Clean cooking for street food vendors
  • Laundry services (washing, drying, ironing service washes)
  • Water pumping
  • Personal hygiene
• Trial the education and community services working methods with variations for each school as required
• Establish a best practice approach that allows each school’s working methods to be compared and improved over a number of trial iterations
• Run the research over a whole year via 4 quarterly cycles establishing hypothesis, operations and measuring finances (savings and revenues) and impact and learning for each cycle to improve best practice
• Help draw viability conclusions and necessary improvements.

Minimum Academic Qualifications:

• Masters/Bachelor’s degree in engineering, computer science, IT, social sciences, or a similar related field

Experience:

• One or two years of relevant work experience working in the field of renewable energy research, business development, data management, monitoring and evaluation or a related field

Competencies and Attributes

• Punctuality in accomplishing assigned tasks
• Sense of initiative in accomplishing tasks
• Sense of responsibility
• Good relationship with departmental workers and clients
• Possess analytical skills and creativity
• Team worker