YLabs Deputy Director of Design Research Job 2026 | Remote Africa | $48,500–$72,143 Salary

Are you an experienced design researcher looking for a senior research leadership opportunity with a global organization? YLabs is hiring a Deputy Director of Design Research to lead its Deep Listening function and strengthen its organization-wide approach to design research, user research, and ethnographic field research.

The YLabs Deputy Director of Design Research position is a full-time senior-level opportunity within the Design Department. The role offers a salary range of $48,500–$72,143, is remote, and is ideally based in East Africa or another African country within the GMT+0 to GMT+4 time zone.

The successful Deputy Director of Design Research at YLabs will lead complex research initiatives, oversee research systems, manage Institutional Review Board (IRB) processes, support local Principal Investigators (PIs), and translate research findings into strategic recommendations for senior stakeholders.

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YLabs Deputy Director of Design Research Job Overview

Job Detail	Information
Organization	YLabs
Position	Deputy Director of Design Research
Department	Design
Employment Type	Full-Time
Work Arrangement	Remote
Job Level	P6 – Deputy Director
Experience Level	Senior Manager/Supervisor
Salary	$48,500–$72,143
Preferred Location	East Africa
Eligible Time Zones	GMT+0 to GMT+4 in Africa
Contract	Initial 12 months, with possibility of extension
Working Hours	40 hours per week
Travel	Up to 50%
Application Deadline	Open until filled
Start Date	As soon as possible

About YLabs

YLabs is a global design and research organization focused on improving health and economic opportunity for young people aged 10–24.

Founded in 2016 at the Harvard Innovation Lab, YLabs works across Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Central America. The organization partners with young people to design products and services that address important challenges affecting youth.

YLabs’ work includes areas such as:

• Sexual and reproductive health
• HIV/AIDS
• Mental health
• Financial inclusion
• Economic opportunity
• Climate resilience

The YLabs Deputy Director of Design Research will therefore play an important role in ensuring that research is grounded in the experiences, needs, and perspectives of young people and communities.

YLabs Deputy Director of Design Research Role

The Deputy Director of Design Research will lead YLabs’ Deep Listening function and help establish the organization’s vision, methodology, and operational approach to user and ethnographic field research.

This is a senior research leadership position for an experienced professional who can manage the entire research process.

The role covers research from:

Research ideation → Protocol development → Fieldwork → Data collection → Analysis → Insight synthesis → Strategic recommendations → Executive presentation

The successful candidate will also establish institutional research systems, develop frameworks for multiple teams, oversee IRB processes, and manage field teams and local Principal Investigators.

YLabs Deputy Director of Design Research Salary

The YLabs Deputy Director of Design Research salary is $48,500–$72,143.

The compensation range is regionally benchmarked against the P6 level within YLabs’ Africa salary bands.

YLabs states that full-time staff salaries are paid in the local currency of the employee’s permanent work location.

Therefore, applicants should consider the salary range in relation to their permanent work location and applicable local currency.

YLabs Deputy Director of Design Research Responsibilities

1. Research Strategy and Systems Leadership

The Deputy Director will help shape the strategic direction of research planning and execution.

Responsibilities include:

• Informing and implementing research strategies aligned with organizational priorities.
• Building and scaling institutional research systems.
• Developing research toolkits and operational blueprints.
• Standardizing research approaches across multiple teams.
• Synthesizing qualitative and quantitative research findings.
• Supporting strategic decisions and program development.
• Acting as a subject matter expert in evidence-based design research.

2. IRB, Ethics and Governance Management

A major component of the YLabs Deputy Director of Design Research job involves ethical research and governance.

The successful candidate will:

• Oversee Institutional Review Board (IRB) submissions.
• Provide guidance on research protocol adaptations.
• Ensure ethics compliance.
• Develop rigorous research protocols.
• Support literature reviews and sampling strategies.
• Develop appropriate consent mechanisms.
• Recruit and oversee local Principal Investigators.
• Navigate regional research approval requirements.
• Support Human Subjects standards.
• Follow safeguarding and data protection requirements.

Experience with IRB applications, ethics committees, human subjects protection, and research governance is therefore particularly important for this position.

3. End-to-End Field Research

The YLabs Deputy Director of Design Research will lead rapid-cycle field research sprints.

Research methods may include:

• Immersive observation
• Semi-structured one-on-one interviews
• Participatory focus group discussions
• Ethnographic research
• Community-based research
• Youth-led research

The Deputy Director will also build pipelines for recruiting and training community researchers and youth field listeners.

Additional responsibilities include:

• Managing daily field debriefs.
• Conducting reflexivity and positionality checks.
• Identifying and mitigating researcher bias.
• Responding to unexpected field challenges.
• Considering security issues during fieldwork.
• Adjusting research plans when circumstances change.

4. Research Synthesis and Senior Stakeholder Engagement

Another major responsibility is turning complex research information into clear and actionable insights.

The Deputy Director will translate qualitative field data into frameworks such as:

• Root-cause analyses
• Ecosystem maps
• Personas
• User journey maps
• Strategic opportunity areas

The successful candidate will also collaborate with field teams and community partners to develop research narratives.

Research findings may then be presented through:

• Executive summaries
• Strategic reports
• Senior leadership presentations
• Donor presentations
• C-suite presentations

The goal is to transform youth-driven research insights into actionable recommendations for innovation.

YLabs Deputy Director of Design Research Requirements

Candidates applying for the YLabs Deputy Director of Design Research job should demonstrate strong experience in design research, qualitative research, ethnographic research, and research leadership.

Required Competencies

Design Research and Mixed-Method Research

Candidates should demonstrate mastery of:

• Design research
• User research
• Qualitative research
• Quantitative synthesis
• Ethnographic field methods
• Research project management

The successful candidate should be comfortable managing multiple complex research projects simultaneously.

Strategic Leadership

The role requires a high level of independence.

The Deputy Director should be able to:

• Make strategic decisions independently.
• Lead complex organizational initiatives.
• Work with minimal supervision.
• Prioritize competing demands.
• Provide strategic research leadership.

IRB and Compliance Expertise

Strong knowledge of research ethics is essential.

Candidates should understand:

• IRB applications
• Research protocols
• Informed consent
• Human subjects protection
• Ethics compliance
• Research governance

Research Systems Building

The successful candidate should have experience building systems that make research easier to manage across teams.

This includes:

• Research frameworks
• Toolkits
• Operational systems
• Delegation structures
• Team management processes

Adaptability and Problem Solving

Because the role involves field research across complex environments, candidates should be able to adapt research approaches when unexpected challenges arise.

Emotional Intelligence and Mentorship

YLabs is looking for someone capable of building strong professional relationships and mentoring researchers and project teams.

Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

The role requires culturally competent research practices and an ability to recognize and address personal and structural biases.

The successful candidate should be able to create safe research environments and ethically elevate marginalized voices.

YLabs Deputy Director of Design Research Qualifications

Required Qualifications

Applicants should have:

• At least 7 years of professional experience in design research, user research, qualitative field research, or ethnographic research.
• Experience leading end-to-end design research initiatives.
• Experience with field immersion and research protocol design.
• Experience presenting research findings to senior executives.
• Experience preparing and managing IRB applications.
• Experience working with local Principal Investigators, ethics committees, or research approval boards.
• Experience building research systems, toolkits, or operational frameworks.
• Experience supervising, training, and mentoring researchers.
• Excellent verbal, written, and visual communication skills.
• A portfolio demonstrating complex research synthesis.
• Willingness to travel up to 50% for fieldwork across Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Proficiency with collaborative research tools.

Examples of relevant research tools include:

• Miro
• Mural
• Figma
• Dedoose
• NVivo

Nice-to-Have Qualifications

YLabs also lists the following as desirable:

• Master’s or PhD in Anthropology, Design Research, Human-Centered Design, Sociology, UX Research, or a related field.
• Experience living and working in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Particularly, experience working in East Africa.
• Experience working with vulnerable or marginalized youth populations.

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Who Is the YLabs Deputy Director of Design Research Job For?

The YLabs Deputy Director of Design Research job is particularly suitable for a senior research professional who has extensive experience managing complex research programs.

This opportunity may be a strong fit for professionals with backgrounds in:

• Design research
• UX research
• User research
• Ethnographic research
• Human-centered design
• Anthropology
• Sociology
• Qualitative research
• Mixed-method research
• Research strategy
• Social impact research

Candidates with experience working across Sub-Saharan Africa and with young or marginalized communities may find the role especially relevant.

YLabs Deputy Director of Design Research Location

The position is listed as Remote.

YLabs ideally wants the successful candidate to be based in East Africa. However, candidates located elsewhere on the African continent may also apply if they are within the GMT+0 to GMT+4 time zones.

The role also requires a willingness to travel up to 50% of the time for field research sprints and stakeholder alignment.

This makes the position particularly relevant to experienced researchers already working within Africa.

YLabs Deputy Director of Design Research Contract

The position is a full-time role within the YLabs Design Department.

The role is scoped for 40 hours per week.

The initial contract term is 12 months, with the possibility of extension.

YLabs expects the successful candidate to start as soon as possible.

YLabs Deputy Director of Design Research Application Deadline

There is no fixed application deadline listed for this opportunity.

The YLabs Deputy Director of Design Research vacancy is open until filled, and applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.

Candidates are therefore encouraged to apply as early as possible rather than waiting for a specific closing date.

How to Apply for the YLabs Deputy Director of Design Research Job

Interested candidates should apply through the official YLabs careers platform.

The application should demonstrate relevant experience in design research, ethnographic research, research leadership, IRB processes, field research, and research synthesis.

Applicants should also ensure their portfolio clearly demonstrates their ability to turn complex research findings into actionable insights.

Official application: YLabs Careers – Deputy Director of Design Research

Why Consider the YLabs Deputy Director of Design Research Opportunity?

The YLabs Deputy Director of Design Research position offers experienced research professionals an opportunity to contribute to an organization working on major health and economic challenges affecting young people.

Key highlights include:

• $48,500–$72,143 salary range
• Full-time employment
• Remote working arrangement
• Senior P6 leadership position
• Opportunity to lead organization-wide research strategy
• Work across Sub-Saharan Africa and other global regions
• Opportunity to influence youth-focused programs
• Leadership of Deep Listening research
• Strategic engagement with senior stakeholders
• Opportunity to build research systems and frameworks
• Initial 12-month contract with possible extension

Final Thoughts

The YLabs Deputy Director of Design Research job is a senior-level opportunity for an experienced design researcher, UX researcher, ethnographer, or qualitative research leader who wants to work on youth-focused global development challenges.

With a salary of $48,500–$72,143, remote working arrangements, an East Africa preference, and responsibility for leading complex research initiatives, the position could be particularly attractive to experienced professionals based in Africa.

Candidates with 7+ years of research experience, strong IRB and ethics expertise, field research experience, research leadership skills, and experience working with communities should consider applying.

Because the YLabs Deputy Director of Design Research vacancy is open until filled, interested candidates should submit their applications as early as possible.