UX Researcher (Junior)

Ever observed a user in the field invent a clever workaround for a digital tool because the connection dropped, and wondered why no one designed for that real-world offline friction in the first place?

About Tiko

Tiko is an African nonprofit committed to strengthening the potential and resilience of adolescent girls across Africa. We address the “Triple Threat” of unintended pregnancy, HIV infection, and sexual and gender-based violence by building local health ecosystems that provide stigma-free, no-cost, quality-assured services.

Our model brings together key local actors: community-based organizations (CBO) with peer mobilisers who act as health companions to girls; public and private health clinics that deliver care; and retail partners that redeem Tiko Miles -our behaviour-change incentive programme that rewards service uptake and feedback.

We invest in partners by strengthening CBO capacity, training frontline workers and providers, supporting clinic quality improvement, and compensating partners based on performance. Our technology platform connects all actors by enabling referrals, verifying service delivery, facilitating payments, and generating real-time data.

Tiko operates in six countries: Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Burkina Faso, South Africa, and Nigeria, with additional offices in Portugal, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. For a clear overview of our work, we recommend watching this short video.

Globally, our team consists of +250 enthusiastic, international colleagues. Whether you are working from our biggest office in Nairobi, the fast-growing office in South Africa, or from home, our people are young, and our culture is global and dynamic. Our work environment is fast-paced, informal, and friendly. 

We are open to remote work for this position and will happily accept applicants from anywhere in Kenya.

The Job

As Tiko scales, operating as an empowered, evidence-led product organisation requires a direct, continuous connection with the people who rely on our software. As our Junior UX Researcher, you will establish an on-the-ground qualitative research capability in our primary market, ensuring every product decision is grounded in real-world user behaviour before code is written.

Embedded within the Product Excellence team, working alongside a Product Designer, Decision Scientist, and Product Managers, you will bridge the gap between field realities and product strategy in Kenya. You will observe, listen to, and learn from adolescent girls, peer mobilisers, health providers, and retailers to answer the "why" behind analytics, validate product hypotheses early, and protect engineering bandwidth.

Key responsibilities:

• On-the-Ground Qualitative Discovery: Conduct continuous field-based research—including interviews, observations, and usability testing to uncover real-world user friction and validate product priorities before code is written.
• Insight Synthesis & Storytelling: Synthesise field observations into actionable journey maps and clear product recommendations, bringing authentic user voices directly into discovery rituals to shape roadmap decisions.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration & Data Triangulation: Partner with Product Designers, Product Managers, and Decision Scientists to test early prototypes, validate hypotheses, and pair qualitative "why" insights with quantitative telemetry.
• Research Operations & Field Access: Build and manage an ethical panel of local research participants, ensuring all field activities strictly safeguard user privacy, safety, and dignity.

About you

You bring deep contextual knowledge of local community operations and a genuine hunger to develop a world-class Human-Centred Design (HCD) and UX research skillset. You are curious, respectful, and unbiased, entering field visits with a willingness to be proven wrong and a desire to uncover unsaid friction points. You prefer pragmatic, rapid insights over static, theoretical reports and love collaborating across multidisciplinary teams to solve hard problems.

Requirements

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in psychology, Anthropology, Sociology, Public Health, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), IT, or equivalent practical field experience.
• Field Experience: 1–2+ years of hands-on experience in field research, community-led pilots, innovation, field operations, or programme execution in Kenya.
• Frontline Track Record: Proven experience interacting directly with community frontline workers, peer mobilisers, or healthcare providers in local contexts.
• Data & Tool Literacy: Familiarity with basic digital tools (Figma, Google Workspace, digital survey tools) and a basic understanding of quantitative data metrics (e.g., drop-off rates, survey results).
• Communication: Excellent verbal and written English (fluency in local Kenyan languages is a strong plus).
• Location: Must be based in Kenya with willingness to travel locally for field observations.
  
  

Why Join Us?

• Real-World Impact: Your findings will directly shape digital tools used by adolescent girls, mobilisers, and healthcare workers—impacting millions of lives across Africa.
• Accelerated Growth: Receive dedicated coaching from senior product design, data science, and product management leads, alongside financial support for formal UX Research certification.
• Pioneering Tech for Good: Help build an evidence-led product culture that proves how human-centred design can succeed in offline-first, low-resource settings.

Compensation & Benefits

In addition to your monthly salary, we offer you:

• Benefits and allowances tailored to your location.
• Flexible work arrangements, including remote or hybrid options.
• A personal development budget of €500 per year to invest in your professional growth 
• Unlimited holiday days to use as you see fit - just coordinate with your team and take the time you need to recharge.
• The opportunity to shape a growing, impactful product and leave your mark on how we work
• A culture built on trust - we believe you’ll do your best without the need for unnecessary rules or micromanagement

The Details

Interested? Click Apply for This Job! Want more information? Check out our website Tiko – Do more with Tiko. We only accept applications through the apply links, not by email.

Important Recruitment Fraud Alert
Please be aware that Tiko maintains a professional and ethical recruitment process.

• Zero Fees: We do not charge candidates any fees for applications, interviews, or processing at any stage of the hiring journey.
• Fraud Prevention: If you receive a request for money, bank details, or "onboarding equipment" payments from someone claiming to represent us, this is not a legitimate request.
• Official Channels: We only communicate through our verified company email domain (@tiko.org).

If you are approached by anyone asking for payment in our name, please ignore the request.

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Tiko prioritizes integrity in our workplace and respects your privacy.

Tiko is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behaviour by its employees at work, including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity and financial misconduct. This is why we will do reference and background screening checks on successful candidates before hiring. Tiko also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. As part of this scheme, we will request information from your previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during your employment, or incidents under investigation when you left employment. By applying for this position, you confirm you have read and understood these recruitment procedures.

We value your privacy and understand the importance of safeguarding your personal data. We invite you to review our privacy notice for the recruitment process to understand how we collect, use, and protect your personal data during the recruitment process. Click here to view the document. By applying for this position, you acknowledge that you have read and understood our privacy notice.