Research & Development Assistant Manager
About Fresh Life
Fresh Life is founding partner of The Sanergy Collaborative and an award-winning social enterprise dedicated to transforming urban sanitation in fast growing cities in Africa. Operating in Nairobi, Kisumu, and Eldoret, and Lusaka, Zambia, we provide non-sewered, end-to-end sanitation solutions that ensure urban residents living in informal settlements can access dignified sanitation services.
Our work is aligned to SDG 6 and we partner with the government to develop and deliver safe sanitation and waste management for urban residents. Fresh Life has been operational since 2011, and currently serves 300,000 urban residents daily across 4 cities. We safely remove approx. 20,000T of sanitation waste per year, and mitigate 30,000 tons of CO2 equivalent from being released into the atmosphere.
We have built a diverse team of 400+ professionals committed to making sanitation accessible for all. Our work has been recognized globally by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Fast Company as one of the world’s most innovative organizations doing social good.
About the role
The Research & Development Assistant Manager will lead Fresh Life’s innovation discovery and product development processes. The role is responsible for identifying opportunities for new sanitation products, services, and operational innovations, designing and running pilots, and generating evidence to inform strategic decisions.
The role will work closely with operations, customer experience, engineering, and commercial teams to ensure that new innovations are grounded in real customer needs and operational realities. Success in this role will be measured by the strength of the innovation pipeline, the quality of pilots conducted, and the successful transition of viable innovations into scalable programs or revenue-generating products.
Duties and Responsibilities
1. Innovation Discovery & Opportunity Identification
Conduct market research, customer insights, and ecosystem scanning to identify opportunities for new products, services, and operational improvements.
Analyse sanitation market trends, emerging technologies, and circular economy opportunities relevant to Fresh Life’s mission.
Work closely with operations and customer teams to identify innovation opportunities from field insights.
Develop problem statements and opportunity areas for innovation.
2. Pilot Design & Innovation Testing
Design, plan, and implement innovation pilots to test new sanitation solutions, services, and business models.
Develop pilot frameworks including hypotheses, testing methodologies, KPIs, and evaluation criteria.
Coordinate cross-functional teams to implement pilot projects effectively.
Monitor pilot performance and document learnings, successes, and failures.
3. Evidence Generation & Innovation Pipeline Management
Analyse pilot results and produce insights to inform scaling decisions.
Develop structured innovation reports and recommendations for leadership.
Manage Fresh Life’s innovation pipeline from concept through testing to scale readiness.
Support the transition of validated innovations to operational teams or the New Revenues function for commercialization.
Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Environmental Science, Business, Economics, Public Policy, or related field.
A master's degree in Innovation, Development Studies, Business, or Engineering is an advantage.
4–6 years of experience in innovation, research, product development, consulting, or program design.
Experience designing and implementing pilots or field experiments.
Experience working in emerging markets, social enterprises, or infrastructure services is an advantage.
Strong research and analytical capabilities.
Ability to design and manage pilot projects and experimentation frameworks.
Strong stakeholder management and cross-functional collaboration skills.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Data-driven decision-making and problem-solving ability.
Application Deadline
02 April 2026
If you experience any challenges while submitting your application, please reach out to us at talent@fresh-life.org for support.