User Research Manager

The scale and impact of our work is massive. M-KOPA is a fast-growing Fin Tech company offering millions of underbanked customers across Africa access to life-enhancing products and services. From our roots as the pioneer in pay-as-you-go “PayGo’” solar energy for off grid homes, we have grown into one of the most advanced connected assets financing platforms in the world, empowering a broad range of customers to achieve progress in their lives.

• Are a collaborative team of smart and ambitious people who are dedicated to serving our customers and agents

• Make magic happen to help the business solve hard problems and always come with solutions when challenges arise

• Are considerate listeners and take the time to deeply understand and seek out ideas from the people around us

• Offer a dynamic environment that fosters talent, collaboration, and growth

• Back up our talk with a competitive compensation and benefits package.

You can join our journey too.

We’re looking for a User Research Manager to join our Customer Insights team.

The Customer Insights Team at M-KOPA is part of the wider Product team - and are responsible for ensuring that M-KOPA delivers maximum value to its customers. As a User Research Manager, you will generate insights into the minds of our customers across both our physical and digital product suite. Your team will capture the voice of our customers and agents, and your insights will inform product development opportunities and innovation.

The User Research Manager supports the team across multiple projects by engaging in both qualitative and quantitative research activities. They will lead a team of 10 Research Associates and Leads, this role can be based any of our operating markets; Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, or South Africa.

As the primary project manager they will quickly gains an expert understanding of the project, challenges, and research questions and uses best practices and tools within M-KOPA to execute research to the highest degree, with careful consideration of timelines.

User experience research leadership (80%)

• You will have responsibility for ensuring we meet our high standards in research scoping, data collection and reporting.

• You will guide the team on best-in-class research methods - especially on gathering feedback on our app and digital product experience.

• Produce research reports that clearly and compellingly summarize results draw insights and make data-driven recommendations.

• Together with the Research Ops associate, you will own the data collection quotas and ensure that

People Management (20%)

• Contribute to skills-building for Customer Insights teams and other teams as required

• Manage the team’s performance by offering guidance, coaching, and coordinating performance discussions

• Conduct team meetings to receive, give feedback and disseminate important information

• Maintain team morale and organizational alignment

• Coordinate hiring and onboarding of Associates

• Have 5+ years of work experience in market research, UX research, design, product management, or comparable roles, particularly at a fast-moving tech startup

• Are excited to be a champion for our customers in everything you do

• Technical understanding and practical experience of quantitative and qualitative research techniques

• Love figuring out how to ask the right questions and structure surveys to achieve a desired insight

• Are confident analyzing, interpreting, and storytelling with data

• Can manage team members to deliver high-quality research outputs and to grow professionally

• Love fast-moving environments with a sense of urgency to get the job done.

At M-KOPA, we empower our people to own their careers through diverse development programs, coaching partnerships, and on-the-job training. We support individual journeys with family-friendly policies, prioritize well-being, and embrace flexibility.

Join us in shaping the future of M-KOPA as we grow together. Explore more at m-kopa.com.

Recognized four times by the Financial Times as one Africa's fastest growing companies (2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025) and by TIME100 Most influential companies in the world 2023 and 2024 , we've served over 5 million customers, unlocking $1.5 billion in cumulative credit for the unbanked across Africa.

Important Notice
M-KOPA is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer committed to assembling a diverse, broadly trained staff. Women, minorities, and people with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.

M-KOPA explicitly prohibits the use of Forced or Child Labour and respects the rights of its employees to agree to terms and conditions of employment voluntarily, without coercion, and freely terminate their employment on appropriate notice. M-KOPA shall ensure that its Employees are of legal working age and shall comply with local laws for youth employment or student work, such as internships or apprenticeships. 

M-KOPA does not collect/charge any money as a pre-employment or post-employment requirement. This means that we never ask for ‘recruitment fees’, ‘processing fees’, ‘interview fees’, or any other kind of money in exchange for offer letters or interviews at any time during the hiring process.

Applications for this position will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Shortlisting and interviews will take place at any stage during the recruitment process. We reserve the right to close the vacancy early if a suitable candidate is selected before the advertised closing date.