Research Executive - Futurist

About the role

Safaricom is looking for a Research Executive (Futurist) to report to the Research Manager. The role supports the identification and interpretation of future market, customer, technology, competitive and societal shifts by gathering and analysing evidence, maintaining intelligence tools and turning findings into practical insights for planning, innovation and risk management.

Key responsibilities

• Horizon scanning across social, technological, economic, environmental, political and regulatory domains, documenting trends, weak signals and potential disruptions, and preparing materials for future-thinking workshops (30%)
• Gathering, cleaning and analysing data on customer and market direction, tracking leading indicators and using approved analytics and AI-assisted tools to prepare evidence-based projections (20%)
• Monitoring competitors, adjacent industries, emerging technologies and new business models, maintaining competitor profiles and intelligence trackers, and drafting alerts on emerging threats and opportunities (40%)
• Synthesising findings into reports, presentations and executive summaries, supporting strategy and innovation teams and escalating important signals and risks (10%)

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in economics, data science, strategic management, anthropology, business, research or a related field
• Approximately 3-5 years of experience in research, market intelligence, analytics, strategy or a related discipline
• Practical exposure to trends, forecasting, futures thinking or predictive analysis is desirable
• A strategic foresight or analytics certification is an added advantage