Market Intelligence Expert

Role Overview

We are looking for a Market Intelligence Expert to act as the core analytical resource guiding strategic decisions in the East African residential solar market. The role focuses on converting raw market data into insightful intelligence by monitoring competitor activities, analyzing consumer behavior, assessing regulatory developments, and estimating market potential to empower leadership with a competitive edge in this rapidly growing off-grid solar industry.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain a detailed competitive intelligence database covering principal players in Kenya and the wider East African residential solar PV market.
• Continuously track competitor products, pricing methods, distribution channels, pay-as-you-go models, marketing initiatives, and partnerships.
• Perform regular profiling and benchmarking of competitors to reveal their strengths, weaknesses, strategic aims, and potential moves.
• Observe competitor hiring trends, funding events, and organizational shifts to anticipate strategic changes.
• Design and implement both quantitative and qualitative market research to uncover consumer needs, buying behaviors, brand perceptions, and price sensitivity for residential solar PV systems.
• Conduct fieldwork including household surveys, group discussions, distributor and installer interviews, and retail audits spanning urban to rural areas across Kenya.
• Segment the market based on income, energy access, region, and usage patterns to inform targeted strategies.
• Create and update a repository of consumer insights including buyer personas and customer journey maps.
• Build and refine market size and forecast models such as TAM, SAM, and projected market shares.
• Monitor indicators like household electrification, solar adoption rates, PAYG penetration, mobile money usage, and economic factors impacting buying power.
• Deliver quarterly market forecasts featuring scenario planning for base, optimistic, and conservative cases to aid business strategy.
• Track and analyze Kenya's renewable energy policies including regulations from EPRA, Ministry of Energy, KRA tax incentives, and EAC trade policies, plus regulatory changes in neighboring countries relevant to expansion plans.
• Provide timely intelligence on regulatory shifts affecting product compliance, pricing, or market access.
• Maintain an active pricing tracker for competitor products across retail, PAYG installment schemes, and online platforms.
• Analyze price elasticity, financing terms including PAYG deposits and installment durations, and seasonal pricing trends.
• Offer data-supported pricing strategies to optimize product placement and competitive positioning.
• Produce weekly briefs on competitor intelligence, monthly in-depth market reports, and quarterly strategic review presentations synthesizing insights for leadership decision-making.
• Serve as an internal consultant for ad-hoc intelligence requirements from product development, sales, and executive teams with rigorous analysis.

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Market Research, Economics, Business Analytics, Statistics, International Business, or a related field; Master’s degree preferred.
• Professional certifications in market research or data analysis add value.
• 3 to 5 years of relevant experience in market research, competitive intelligence, business analytics, or strategy consulting.
• Experience with renewable energy, FMCG, or consumer electronics sectors in Kenya or East Africa is highly desirable.
• Background working with off-grid or PAYG solar businesses is a strong advantage.
• Experience in African market research firms or strategy consultancies preferred.
• Fluency in English and Swahili (written and spoken) is essential; additional local languages are a plus.

Skills and Competencies

• Expertise in market research methodologies, both quantitative (designing surveys, sampling strategies, statistical analysis) and qualitative (focus group facilitation, interviews, ethnography).
• Advanced data analysis proficiency using tools like Excel (pivot tables, formulas, modeling) and BI platforms such as Tableau, Power BI, or Google Data Studio.
• Basic programming knowledge in Python or R for data manipulation is beneficial.
• Familiarity with competitive intelligence frameworks including Porter's Five Forces, PESTEL, SWOT, benchmarking, and scenario war-gaming.
• Capability in market sizing techniques like bottom-up and top-down estimating, demand modeling, and scenario forecasting.
• Strategic thinking to synthesize diverse data into coherent insights that inform business actions.
• Excellent communication skills for clear report writing and presentations targeting non-technical stakeholders.
• Strong collaborative approach to work across product, sales, marketing, and leadership teams as a trusted advisor.
• Self-driven with the ability to identify priorities, design research approaches, and conduct studies independently.
• Ethical conduct in intelligence gathering adhering to Kenya's Data Protection Act (2019).

Market Knowledge

• Deep understanding of Kenya’s residential solar PV ecosystem including pay-as-you-go models, last-mile distribution, mobile money integration, and rural electrification challenges.
• Knowledge of key energy sector institutions such as EPRA, REREC, Kenya Power, and prominent industry associations.
• Insight into the competitive landscape covering product positioning, pricing tiers, and distribution strategies of leading off-grid solar companies.