Freelance Sr. Behavioral UX Consultant to Help Smallholder Farmers in E Africa

at  Appleseed

• ️This position may be based anywhere in the world (not necessarily Denmark).

  Appleseed is seeking a seasoned and well-rounded freelance behavioral practitioner (design / marketing / ethnographic researcher & strategist). This team member would be a client-facing consultant and ready to conduct research & strategy, both remotely and in the field. Ideally (but not required), this would also be someone interested in joining the Appleseed core team in the future, should the initial collaboration go well (more detail on that is included at the very bottom of this JD).

• Type of Role: Project-specific Independent Contractor

• Exploration of Fit: mid-August to mid-September
• Start Date: September 18, 2023
• Project Location / Estimated Duration: 4 months total
• 6 weeks remote part-time (1.5-2 days/week)
• 3 weeks in November, in-person full-time, travel to Africa
• 6 weeks remote part-time (1.5-2 days/week)
• Fee range: USD $10,000 to $18,000 (negotiable)

QUALIFICATIONS

• The Craft and Expertise of Changing Behavior: pursuing mastery in the art and skill of fostering positive and sustainable behavior change. Significant practical experience and theoretical knowledge in a related field, such as marketing or design. Considered a true expert in this field within the industry. This requirement is non-negotiable, and candidates will be tested.
• B2B Consulting Ability: ideally demonstrated with years of proven track record, great client relationships, and experience showing the diverse skill set required to run the full project lifecycle. By “consultant” we mean you were hired by a client (typically another organization) to deliver services and solve problems on their behalf, and NOT as part of an academic endeavor.
• Field-Readiness: ideally this would be demonstrated by having led field investigations researching people in places analogous to where we work (e.g. rural villages, informal settlements, etc. of Africa, Asia, and Latin America). Researchers must be ready to live for several days with and among those living in extreme poverty (possibly in places with no running water, electricity, or toilets, sleeping on concrete floors, while dealing with mosquitoes and the risk of stomach bugs, etc.)
• Remote Teamwork Ability: being self-starting, communicative, accountable, and able to foster trust and belonging within a small remote team.

PLEASE DO NOT APPLY IF…

• Your familiarity with the work of changing behavior (however you call it) is more theoretical than practical. I.e. it comes more from books, school, academia, or the experiences of others, instead of your own past efforts
• You’re looking for an entry-level or mid-level position (in the future, we’ll be adding and training less experienced Behavioral Consultants that fit a similar profile as described here. If this interests you, please use this form instead: https://team350377.typeform.com/to/guXQ0vq6).
• You cannot name several different teams that you’d be happy for us to call and ask about how you’ve collaborated and added value
• Adventure isn’t in your DNA
• It would be very jarring for you to spend time on a research trip (and possibly spend the night) in a village or urban slum without running water, electricity, or a toilet, while dealing with mosquitoes and the risk of stomach bugs
• You take significant pride in being a perfectionist or workaholic
• You consider yourself to be very wise
• You feel uncomfortable giving/receiving candid feedback and being vulnerable with team members
• This “please do not apply if” section rubs you the wrong way

PLEASE DO APPLY IF… ✅

• Practical behavior change (however you call it) is your craft, and it has been for many years, approaching or exceeding a decade or more. You enjoy and practice all aspects (research, strategy, design), and you always start with the audience
• If you’ve worked as a consultant, you’ve built authentic and lasting relationships with your clients
• You’d like to join a small remote team doing hard things, and to participate in its growth
• You thrive in small tight-knit groups, and would help tighten the knitting
• You’re a generalist, even if you’re very good at certain things
• There is no work you consider beneath you
• You’re always seeking wisdom
• You consider feedback a gift, even when it is hard to give or receive
• You’re an avid reader and would be excited to join Appleseed’s Book Club

THE ROLE

We are searching for a generalist of a certain type: a seasoned and well-rounded behavioral practitioner (background in design / marketing / ethnography) who shares our core values. This must be a proven consultant who is field-ready and has the passion, experience, and disposition needed to thrive on a globally-distributed small team. As mentioned previously, we are hoping to find someone interested in joining the Appleseed core team in the future, should our initial collaboration go well.
As a Senior Behavioral / UX Consultant, you would deliver world-class service to our clients around the world - first on the client project described above, and hopefully on others in the future. To do this, you would serve in a Deputy role, helping the team leader to carry out client engagements from end-to-end. This would entail preparing for and conducting investigative research in the field, analyzing data and reporting insights, producing strategic recommendations, and always upholding Appleseed’s brand promise to clients.
You would report directly to and work in close partnership with our ED and Co-Founder, Philip Kao. You would also collaborate with, train, and possibly manage other team members on the project. Working on Appleseed projects, you would have the chance to learn from and contribute to our model, org culture, aspects of service delivery, and the various techniques we use to uncover and communicate behavioral insights.
After successfully exploring a fit with Appleseed, even if we do not decide to collaborate on this particular engagement, you would be part of Appleseed’s inner circle of collaborators, and have future chances to work on diverse issue areas, from agriculture, financial inclusion, WASH, infectious diseases, vision, and more, all while getting a privileged behind-the-scenes look at the operations of various impact organizations.
If you find all of this exciting, we now invite you to consider our requirements and expectations for this role.

️ RESPONSIBILITIES

• Client Success: delivering impact and client satisfaction, by supporting the Project Lead and executing engagements from start to finish, via the following tasks:
• Unbiased, mostly qualitative, ethnographic research (field and remote)
• Development of strategic recommendations
• Leading clients to internalize findings and accept recommendations
• Guidance on lean experimentation (if scoped)
• Client management
• Note: our engagements focus much more on research & strategy, vs. design/build & implementation
• Team and Project Management: maintaining a healthy culture and staying true to Appleseed’s core values; managing and training yourself, junior team members, and possibly other freelancers—to achieve objectives on-method, on-time, on-budget.

MORE ABOUT THE CORE TEAM MEMBER ROLE

As a Core Team Member, your primary mandate would be to establish a thriving behavioral consultancy in the international development space, able to bring about our core vision: every impact organization designing for their audiences to make critical solutions stick. You would help shape various facets of the organization (team-building and culture, strategy, customer listening, service design, marketing, etc.)
In this role, not only would you be part of building a movement from a still relatively early-stage, you will also have endless opportunities to learn and grow. First, you would learn tremendously by innovating on our model, org culture, aspects of service delivery, and various techniques to uncover and communicate behavioral insights. Through our projects, you would learn deeply about and contribute meaningfully on diverse issue areas, from agriculture, financial inclusion, WASH, infectious diseases, vision, and more, all while getting a privileged behind-the-scenes look at the operations of various impact organizations. Through this work and at conferences, you would grow your network with the best and brightest doers and funders in the space. In various communities around the world, you would connect with people of all walks of life across many different cultures, expanding your understanding of the world and our place in it.

QUALIFICATIONS & RESPONSIBILITIES FOR A CORE TEAM MEMBER

Compared to the JD for the freelance deputy position above, Core Team Members must meet the same qualifications, and would take on these additional responsibilities:

• Leading Client Engagements: taking the lead on projects from end-to-end; owning the client relationship, team staffing, leading project teams to conduct research, strategy, and lean experimentation
• Training: teaching other consultants so they may maintain our standard of quality when delivering our methodology on client engagements
• Building the Business: helping to hone a consulting model that continues to sustain and starts to earn higher margins; helping to evolve our model, as needed, to bring about our envisioned future. This means constantly seeking validated learning about our customers / model and navigating subsequent changes and challenges.