Research Manager, Early Warning Systems

Location: London

Contract until end of Dec 2025

What the hiring manager says 

"This role offers a unique opportunity to contribute to thought leadership around integrating mobile technology with humanitarian efforts. The successful candidate will be instrumental in driving research on early warning systems (EWS) to contribute to the UN's Early Warnings for All (EW4All) Initiative and the role that mobile network operators (MNOs) play in EWS. They will help design, implement and work with external researchers to analyse the different partnership models that MNOs have in implementing EWS, draft and edit research reports and disseminate findings to different audiences. We are looking for someone who is passionate about leveraging digital solutions to tackle humanitarian challenges and has a proven track record in research. Experience in both the mobile industry and the humanitarian sector will be highly beneficial." 

Zoe Hamilton, Senior Research and Policy Manager  

About the Team 

The Mobile for Development (M4D) team drives innovation in digital technology to reduce inequalities in our world. Singularly positioned at the intersection of the mobile ecosystem and the development sector, we stimulate digital innovation to deliver both sustainable business and large-scale socio-economic impact for the underserved.  

The Mobile for Humanitarian Innovation (M4H) programme is funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) with a mission to accelerate the delivery and impact of digital humanitarian assistance. We have reached over 12 million people with improved access to and use of life-enhancing mobile-enabled services during humanitarian preparedness, response and recovery. We have achieved this by building a learning and research agenda to inform the future of digital humanitarian response, catalysing partnerships and innovation for new digital humanitarian services, advocating for enabling policy environments, monitoring and evaluating performance, disseminating insights and profiling achievements.  

About the Role 

In this role, you will be pivotal in supporting research on GSMA Members' participation in Early Warning Systems (EWS) as part of the GSMA’s engagement in the UN's Early Warnings for All Initiative (EW4All). This position will provide additional research capacity to the M4H Research and Policy team to develop further thought leadership on EWS. In particular the role will contribute to an ongoing major piece of research which will provide case studies and examples of the variety of ways MNOs have engaged in EWS around the world, as well as lessons and best practices of how those partnerships can be replicated and optimised. This may include, for example, outlining the various partnership, technical and financing models that exist for MNOs to engage in EWS with disaster management agencies, telecommunications regulators, and humanitarian partners. This role