Vice President - Research Advisory & Practice

Key Accountabilities/Responsibilities The Vice President, Research, Advisory & Practice will provide enterprise-level leadership across Busara’s practice areas, with responsibility for translating strategy into sustainable growth, high-quality delivery, strong partnerships, and organizational capability. The role will work across practices, geographies, and functions to ensure that Busara operates as an integrated organization and continues to deliver meaningful impact at scale.  The key areas of responsibility include and not limited to:

Strategy and Practice Leadership

Define and lead Busara’s overall research, advisory & practice strategy across sectors and regions in alignment with Busara’s overall organizational strategy

Ensure coherence and integration across practices, geographies, and portfolios 

Identify and develop new practice areas, service lines, and strategic opportunities in development and adjacent sectors.

Translate research, delivery experience, and learning into scalable tools, frameworks, and approaches to strengthen institutional adoption

Design and model the norms that ensure different portfolios operate as a unit towards a singular mission

Ensure the overall sustainability of every practice area, measured against revenue, margin, utilization, share of practice partnerships and overall contribution to Busara's mission.

Commercial Leadership and Partnerships

Own revenue growth, margin performance, utilization, and renewal targets across practice areas

Oversee the full business development lifecycle, including pipeline management, forecasting, and conversion

Lead or support the development of major proposals, partnerships, and contracts

Build and maintain senior relationships with funders, governments, multilaterals, and implementing partners

Strengthen commercial discipline, including pricing, opportunity selection, and portfolio balance

Coach and support senior leaders in business development and account management

Allocate resources strategically across practices.

Delivery Excellence and Impact

Hold overall accountability for the quality, rigor, and impact of program delivery

Strengthen and enforce quality assurance systems across all projects and portfolios

Improve delivery reliability, including timelines, staffing models, and execution consistency

Monitor portfolio performance and address delivery risks proactively

Strengthen implementation capability across teams and geographies

Build and maintain knowledge management systems to support learning and reuse

Drive continuous improvement based on performance data and feedback

Leadership and Organizational Development

Lead, coach, and develop senior leaders across practices and portfolios

Build a strong leadership pipeline and succession plans for critical roles

Clarify roles, decision-making structures, and accountability across teams

Strengthen management capability, including performance management and delegation

Partner with the People function on recruitment, retention, and talent development

Partner with Director Voice on designing and co-creating impact strategies that are rooted in practice area relationships but can be supported with voice outputs

Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous learning

Knowledge, Skills, and Experience

Experience

12–15+ years of experience in global development, consulting, research, or advisory environments with at least 5 years at the senior executive level

Proven track record of leading strategy, business development, and delivery at scale

Experience managing complex, multi-country portfolios or programs

Demonstrated success in building partnerships with funders, governments, or multilaterals

Experience leading and developing senior teams

Deep familiarity with applied behavioral science, psychology, economics, or a related discipline.

Experience working across Africa and South Asia strongly preferred; lived or worked