Research Analyst - Public Policy

What you will be expected to do

• Conduct qualitative and quantitative research to support policy review, advocacy, and strategy development.
• Collect, clean, and analyze large datasets (household surveys, energy access data, trade and investment data, etc.) to generate insights.
• Apply geospatial analysis and GIS tools to assess market opportunities, customer distribution, infrastructure gaps, and policy impacts.
• Develop clear, concise briefs, reports, presentations, and visualizations to communicate findings to senior Management, policymakers, and external stakeholders.
• Track global and regional policy developments in energy, trade, industrialization, and sustainable development, providing timely updates and recommendations.
• Support preparation for high-level meetings with governments, MDBs/DFIs, and development partners through background research and talking points.
• Contribute to the development of evidence-based policy positions and thought leadership pieces.
• Work collaboratively with cross-functional teams (data, operations, communications) to integrate insights into strategy and delivery.

You might be a strong candidate if you have/are

• Bachelor’s/HND or Master’s degree in economics, public policy, development studies, or related field.
• 2–4 years’ experience in research, policy analysis, consulting, or related role.
• Strong foundation in both qualitative and quantitative research methods.
• Proficiency in data analysis tools (e.g., Stata, R, Python, or equivalent).
• Experience with GIS platforms (e.g., QGIS, ArcGIS) and spatial analysis.
• Strong skills in data visualization and presentation (Tableau, PowerBI, or equivalent).
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to tailor outputs for technical and non-technical audiences.
• Demonstrated interest in energy access, renewable energy, and/or economic development policy.

• World-class research expertise in socioeconomic fields, with demonstrated experience in household survey design, sampling methods, and econometric modeling.
• Experience working in or with emerging markets, especially Africa .
• Familiarity with global energy access debates, trade and industrialization strategies and policies, and development finance.
• Ability to translate complex findings into actionable policy recommendations.
• Curious, able to absorb complex information quickly and translate it into actionable insights.
• Hands-on and collaborative, willing to take on both strategic and detailed tasks with equal commitment.
• Strong work ethic, resilience, and comfort with ambiguity.
• Fluency in English is mandatory, French or Portugese would be an added advantage.

What Sun King Offers

• Professional growth in a dynamic, rapidly expanding, high-social-impact industry
• An open-minded, collaborative culture made up of enthusiastic colleagues who are driven by the challenge of innovation towards profound impact on people and the planet.
• A truly multicultural experience: you will have the chance to work with and learn from people from different geographies, nationalities, and backgrounds.
• Structured, tailored learning and development programs that help you become a better leader, manager, and professional through the Sun Center for Leadership.

About
Sun King is the world’s leading off-grid solar energy company, combining cutting-edge product design, fintech, and field operations to deliver energy access for the 1.8 billion people who live without an affordable and reliable electric-grid connection.Sun King has built a new kind of energy utility: distributed, green, customer-centric, and affordable. We bring clean, reliable, decentralized energy directly into people’s lives — from solar kits that provide first-time energy access to multi-kilowatt systems that serve both off-grid users and grid-connected customers powering larger homes, schools, hospitals, farms, offices, and light manufacturing.Already, 25 million homes and businesses rely on Sun King for electricity supply and the appliances and services it enables: lighting, televisions, fans, refrigeration, and smartphones. Sun King combines energy generation, energy-efficient appliances, installation, and financing into one seamless offering. Think of it as a distributed utility, designed for wherever energy is needed and designed to scale with its users as incomes and energy needs grow.Sun King makes solar products affordable to low-income households and businesses via ‘pay-as-you-go’ (PAYG) purchase financing. Sun King installs solar after customers pay a small deposit. Customers then make small, manageable payments of as little as US $0.14 a day via mobile money or cash.Instead of paying for expensive, polluting, and health-damaging kerosene for lighting or diesel for power, customers unlock savings through accessing solar power and after one to two years of payments, customers own their solar equipment outright.Sun King collects payments digitally through mobile money systems and its 35,000 field agents — over 1 million payments each day. To date, Sun King has extended more than $1.4 billion in PAYG loans to customers.Sun King began by powering homes and businesses with solar systems delivered through PAYG financing. Now, we’re using the same model to make smartphones and clean cooking equipment affordable: helping households connect to the digital economy and transition from wood-based fuels to modern, sustainable alternatives.Sun King employs 3,500 full-time staff in 14 countries, with specialties spanning product design, data science, logistics, customer service, sales, software, operations, and more — all with a passion to serve off-grid families. Sun King is committed to gender diversity in the workplace. Women represent 42% of Sun King’s workforce.