Fintech Gender Advisor

Role: Fintech Gender Advisor 

Employment Type: Contract Based (Freelance)

Location: Nairobi, Kenya (first choice) or Cape Town, South Africa (second choice)

Start Date: February-March 2025 

A bit about us, and how we’re different

Digital Disruptions is a boutique US-based strategy and design innovation consulting firm focusing on fintech and digital financial services (DFS) in emerging markets. Since our founding in 2014, we’ve been re-thinking – and re-doing – the way fintech consulting work is done. [Read more about our unique traits].  Our mission is to apply and adapt best-in-class innovation tools, methods, and mindsets to the fintech sector, and work diligently yet swiftly from research and design to build and launch phases.

We take a start-up style approach that fuses analytical and creative thinking and use our proprietary frameworks and workflows we have developed in-house. The result is tangible progress for our clients – and meaningful impact for the people and communities they serve.

​We’ve been trusted by top-tier clients in both the private sector (Amazon Web Services, Vodafone M-Pesa, Mastercard, Ecobank, BRAC Microfinance, VC-backed start-ups) and public domain (e.g., World Bank, IFC, International Monetary Fund, United Nations, World Economic Forum). [See our clients’ testimonials on 20+ case studies on our website’s Work section.]

Our work is guided by 5 core values:

1. Integrity: doing the right thing – even when no one is looking;

2. Quality: serving as experts in our craft and taking pride in delivering high-quality work;

3. User-Centricity: keeping the client and the end-user at the center of our engagements;

4. Bias to Action and Urgency: taking decisive action rather than overanalyzing scenarios;

5. Solution-Oriented Mindset: looking for optimal solutions, while being aware – rather than dwelling on – risks, unknowns, and obstacles.

What we’re looking for

We’re seeking an Africa-based Gender Advisor who will work with us on a project basis. The successful candidate will be an expert in gender studies and up to date with the latest thinking and research. They will advise the team and stakeholders how to incorporate gender-intentional frameworks in designing fintech products and services, particularly those serving underbanked and unbanked consumers and businesses.  The Gender Advisor will also have an understanding of the intersectionality of gender and other underrepresented segments, such as low income individuals, visibility minorities, rural populations, youth, and migrants.  

The role is both internally facing (i.e. mentoring and advising the team during projects) as well as externally facing (i.e. supporting our clients in need of gender expertise). You should have a passion for social impact, fintech, and a fascination with emerging markets. On one hand, you should be ​proactive and self-motivated to work independently; on the other, you’ll work collaboratively with cross-functional teams in different time zones. Most importantly, we are looking for someone who is both a thinker and doer, with a strong bias to execution.

What you’ll be doing

Digital Disruptions works on a wide variety of exciting, meaningful projects. Some of the ways you will support include:

• Advise on gender intentional design and brainstorm with the team during design sprints.

• Analyze reports and conduct stakeholder interviews to write a thought-leadership piece on key gender themes.

• Support the team with research by identifying and eliminating gender bias in research guides.

• Apply gender knowledge and frameworks to strategy and innovation processes.

• Advise team and stakeholders on the implications of gender bias in project outcomes.

• Help increase gender knowledge maturity amongst team members through mentorship and training.

Note that at the moment, this is a project-based role, so engagements last anywhere from two weeks to several months. You'll work closely with a broader team of specialists in marketing, design, product, user research, and strategy, depending on the engagement.

What we offer

• Impact-driven work: Opportunity to collaborate on innovation projects that improve lives in developing countries, focusing on low-income individuals and SMEs.

• Top-tier client engagement: Work with a range of leading clients in fintech from around the world.

• Flexible work arrangements: fully remote, and flexible work schedule (i.e., you can work around your other engagements).

• Competitive compensation, based on quality of experience, potential impact, and local market rates.

• Professional growth with focus on development opportunities and learning from expert colleagues in various fields such as marketing, design, research, and data analysis.

Sound interesting? You should have:

• Excellent verbal and written skills in English.

• Hands-on experience applying gender frameworks in financial inclusion / fintech products and services.

• Ability to develop strategies and methods for integrating gender equality frameworks to broader innovation projects.

• Ability to clearly and effectively communicate insights, ideas and recommendations to internal teams and clients;

• Strong collaborative problem-solving skills.

• Strong organizational and management skills.

• Ability to effectively network and communicate with a wide range of stakeholders to advance gender equality and empowerment.

• Based in Nairobi, Kenya (first choice) or Cape Town, South Africa (second choice), and legal permission to work.

It would be a bonus if you also had:

• Experience working in the fintech or Digital Financial Services sector (ideally B2C); specific experience in payments, credit, remittances, or e-commerce highly desirable;

• Professional experience in multiple markets in one or more advanced economies;

• Working proficiency in French or local languages a bonus;

• Experience or exposure to multiple markets in Africa.  

• A portfolio of written publications you have authored, co-authored, and/or supported in a research capacity;

• Master’s degree in Gender Studies or related field

Please note that due to the volume of applications received, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. We also encourage you to sign up for our Associate Consultant network here as other project-based opportunities arise.