JOB DESCRIPTION: Uganda Research and Development Manager
Company: EarthEnable
Reports to: Senior Research & Development (R&D) Manager
Location: Uganda (with in-country and international travel)
Compensation: Commensurate with experience
Timeframe: 3+ years
Net Salary: 1.5M-3M Net (take home) depending on experience
Deadline: Apply before 15 May, 2023
Who We Are
At EarthEnable, we believe that our clients deserve our very best, that the best ideas can come from any part of the company, and that failure is necessary for success. We celebrate each other’s wins, learn from our setbacks, and are deeply proud of the impact we make every day. We believe that a clean, dust-free home means more than good health. It means pride and dignity in the place our customers most treasure: their homes. Being a part of our team means more than building housing products: it means building an organization and building a better future for rural families.
What We Do
EarthEnable is transforming the way people live, by making homes healthier for families across rural Rwanda and Uganda. 65% of Rwandans and Ugandans live in homes with dirt floors and mud walls which are dusty, unsanitary, and fertile breeding grounds for parasites and germs. While replacing a dirt floor with concrete has significant health benefits (e.g. reducing diarrhea by 50% and parasitic infections by 80%), and upgrading a mud structure would be significantly safer, concrete and other modern building materials are unaffordable for many who need it. EarthEnable addresses this pressing and ubiquitous problem by selling high-quality, earthen housing products that are 80% cheaper than concrete equivalents with 90% less embedded energy. Earthen construction is already prevalent in modern homes across the world, and we have innovated on distribution models that make our products ultra-affordable. EarthEnable trains and certifies local franchisees to install our products which are sealed using our proprietary drying oil that makes them waterproof, strong, and beautiful.
About the Role
EarthEnable Uganda Research and Development Manager is a leader in research efforts to improve our existing flooring product, as well as innovate and develop new affordable, healthy and durable housing products. He or she will work closely with Uganda department Managers to discuss what is a potential way to improve the livelihood of the rural community we serve by providing affordable and sustainable products. The R&D Manager will then integrate key
learnings and product innovations into the company’s operating model to drive continued growth and success in the long -term.
Identify key R&D needs to prepare the workstream
● Travel to the field to meet clients to gather feedback in a structured way ( surveys, etc) on existing products and also gather their feedback to transition into the workstream
● Work with teammates ( department leader, franchises, master franchises, etc) to understand what drives perceived value in clients, in order to prioritize various initiatives in the R&D pipeline.
Develop Research Agenda
● Propose ideal research agenda ( monthly, and quarterly) by weighing priorities and considering criteria such as the potential for impact, cost-benefit, and the likelihood of success
● Allocate resources from the R&D budget towards this pipeline of research projects
● Create a team tracking performance to ensure efficiency and productivity while executing the agenda.
Execute Against R&D Agenda
● Manage team ( Associates, officers, assistants, masons) to execute the research agenda
● Create research or experiment protocol to ensure efficient plan and execution which leads to success
● Document failure or success with facts based ( qualitatively and quantitatively) for future reference.
● Track and push forward multiple research projects simultaneously
Communication and dissemination of learnings for Implementation
● Transition unsuccessful experiments to a new research avenue
● Communicate findings and tradeoffs effectively to fellow managers and your supervisor.
● Create a manual that serves as a guide to successful learning which relevant departments will take forward.
● Coordinate transition/ dissemination of successful experiments to implementation, partnering closely with Quality Assurance and Operations, and Construction departments to ensure smooth implementation.
● Any other duties assigned from time to time.
Qualification
● 3+ years of work experience in research of construction or design of housing products.
● Detail-oriented in overseeing proper data collection
● Bachelor’s degree in engineering or applied science, product design
● Willing to touch mud and work with them, and field grit / happy in the field
● Ability to be creative, strategic, analytical, and think outside the box to solve problems
● Attention to detail, commitment to excellence
● Always driven by a never-give-up mindset
● Flexible and collaborative with teammates to develop and disseminate new products successfully.
● Ability to work on a variety of tasks at the same time, and keep track of a variety of workstreams.
● Can ride a motorcycle or be willing to learn
To Apply
Send your CV, and a cover letter, to gloria@earthenable.org. Your cover letter should include why you are interested in the role, explain how your experience is relevant to the role, and answer the question of how you balance affordability and durability while designing a business model for the new product or improvement of existing ones
Tagged as: EarthEnable, Uganda
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