Research Lead – Mixed Method / Social Research AYANA (Indonesia)

Contract type: Full-time, fixed-term contract (PKWT)
Time commitment: 40 hours / week
Location: Indonesia, Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya
Start: Immediate / April 2026
Reports functionally to: Director of Operation and Treasury

Reports administratively to: Ayana Executive Director

Works closely with:

• Ayana Executive Director

• Ayana Program Director

• Ayana Research Project Manager

• External research agency (data collection)

• OCH Global Research Team - including internal OCH quantitative / cluster analysis team

About Ayana:

Yayasan Amanah Daya Nusantara (AYANA) was established as a value-based platform to support climate and environmental action that is rooted in community, culture, faith, and lived experience.

Our approach draws on the tradition of conservative environmentalism, emphasising stewardship of the land we inherit and our responsibility to pass it on in good condition to future generations. We support practical, market-based approaches that encourage innovation, responsible use of resources, and reduced environmental impact, while recognising the importance of national energy security and economic resilience.

A central part of AYANA’s work is strategic communication, grassroots engagement, and ecosystem building. We work directly with community groups, religious institutions, local leaders, women’s groups, youth networks, and rural organisations to strengthen trusted local voices and create durable networks that can grow over time. By finding common ground and reducing political polarisation, AYANA aims to move climate discussions away from division and towards shared responsibility.

AYANA is part of the global Our Common Home (OCH) network, which supports initiatives that seek to build political and social consensus for climate action through locally grounded institutions.

Research is a core pillar of och’s work. Ayana’s research programme applies values-based audience segmentation to generate deep, actionable insight into public worldviews and narratives, enabling more effective and culturally grounded engagement strategies.

Purpose of the Role

The Research Lead will lead the technical, analytical, and interpretive delivery of Ayana’s values-based audience research in Indonesia. The role will begin in Phase 2 (quantitative survey and segmentation) of a multi-phase research programme.

The research uses a values-based segmentation approach to identify distinct worldview groups, narratives, motivations, and engagement opportunities. The work will start with a regional focus on the island of Java, recognising Indonesia’s significant cultural, political, religious, and social diversity, with the intention to adapt and scale the approach to other regions over time.

We are looking for a mid-level to senior profile – someone with solid applied research experience and strong analytical judgement, working on a hands-on, delivery-focused role. The individual will be the lead authority on research design, technical decision-making, analysis, interpretation, and insight development, while working closely with a Research Project Manager who supports planning, timelines, and coordination.

The engagement is initially a full-time fixed-term role, with potential to evolve into a longer-term position supporting Ayana’s wider research portfolio and MEL (Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning) function including, but not limited to: monitoring and assessing specific outcome indicators during program/ campaigns to ensure co-created initiatives successfully deliver a lasting, self-sustaining environmental impact.

Key Responsibilities

1. Research Design & Technical Leadership (Phase 2 onwards)

• Act as the overall technical lead for the research, responsible for methodological integrity, analytical coherence, and continuity across phases.

• Hold primary responsibility for technical decision-making on research design, instruments, sampling, and analytical framing, balancing:

  • OCH research standards and methodological protocols

  • The political, cultural, and practical realities of Indonesia (starting with Java)

  • Ayana’s strategic, and operational needs

All technical decisions are made collaboratively, with final sign-off by the Ayana Executive Director and OCH Research Directors.

• Lead the design, localisation, and governance of all research instruments including:

  • A values-based master survey questionnaire (core modules + Java-specific modules, designed for future regional adaptation)

  • Interview and focus group discussion guides for qual phases

• Ensure that all research tools and sampling approaches are methodologically sound, feasible, and fit for purpose, making and documenting trade-offs where necessary.

• Provide technical and quality oversight of the external research agency, including review of tools, translations, and fieldwork protocols, and ongoing quality monitoring during data collection.

• Ensure that learning, insights, and constraints from each phase inform the design, focus, and methods of subsequent phases.

• Adapt workflows, and processes as needed to reflect contextual realities while maintaining timeliness and adherence to internal protocols

2. Analysis, Interpretation & Sense-Making

• Act as the lead analyst and sense-maker across qualitative and quantitative phases.

• Together with the OCH research team, define the analytical questions, priorities, and specifications for quantitative analysis (including descriptive analysis, indexes, and cluster / segmentation analysis)

• Assess robustness, coherence, and strategic value of segmentation solutions and analytical outputs.

• Integrate qualitative and quantitative findings into clear values-based audience segments, narratives, and personas.

3. Outputs & Deliverables

• Lead the conceptual framing, narrative structure, and strategic interpretation of all major research outputs.

• Lead the development of key research outputs, including:

  • Descriptive analysis summaries (internal and funder-facing)

  • Segmentation insight decks

  • Integrated research reports (long-form document and presentation formats)
    
    

• Work closely with the Ayana team to identify strategic implications, tensions, and engagement opportunities for Ayana’s campaigns and regional work.

• Collaborate with designers on data visualisation and storytelling, ensuring analytical accuracy and narrative clarity (design production handled separately).

• Support the preparation and delivery of briefings, workshops, and sense-making sessions with Ayana, OCH, and external stakeholders.

4. Collaboration, Quality Assurance & Learning

• Work in close partnership with the Research Project Manager, who supports: work planning and timelines, coordination and communication across teams and partners, tracking delivery and dependencies

• Collaborate with Ayana’s strategists and director to ensure research outputs are contextually sound, mission aligned and actionable

• Maintaining active coordination with och global research team to ensure alignment with och standards

• Document key analytical decisions, assumptions, learnings to support organisational memory and future research cycles

Experience & Qualifications

We are looking for a mid-level to senior researcher – someone with meaningful hands-on experience and strong analytical capability, but who is motivated by and suited to a delivery-focused, applied role. Candidates who are significantly overqualified or looking primarily for advisory/strategic roles may not be the right fit.

Essential

• 5 to 7 years of experience in applied qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods research, ideally in public opinion or political research.
  

• Demonstrated hands-on experience across the research cycle, including:

  • Sampling qualitative and quantitative design and recruitment strategies

  • Design and adaptation of survey questionnaires

  • Design of interview and/or focus group discussion guides

  • Analysis and synthesis of qualitative data (e.g. thematic, narrative, ethnographic approaches)

  • Interpretation of quantitative outputs (including descriptive analysis and segmentation results)

• Experience working with or alongside non-researchers (e.g. strategists, campaigners, advocates, programme teams), with the ability to translate research into insights that are understandable, relevant, and usable.

• Excellent analysis, synthesis, and storytelling skills, with experience producing high-quality reports and presentations.

• Proven ability to balance technical rigor with real-world constraints, making sound methodological trade-offs in complex or resource-constrained contexts.

• Deep understanding of Indonesian socio-cultural, political, and religious contexts, with sensitivity to regional diversity, particularly within Java.

• Ability to work autonomously and with initiative, while collaborating across multiple teams and partners

• High level of judgement, reliability, and comfort working with complexity.
  

Desirable

• Experience with behavioral, social, political sciences, or leveraging psychographic and value-based frameworks in quant/qual research

• Experience with cluster / segmentation analysis

• Experience working with NGOs, civil society organisations, or movement-oriented research.

• Familiarity with campaign strategy, advocacy, or public engagement work.

Competencies & Attributes

• Strong analytical thinker with the ability to connect data to meaning and action.

• Comfortable moving between detail and big-picture insight.

• Collaborative, adaptable, and solutions-oriented

• Culturally grounded, politically aware, and context-sensitive.

• Passionate about research as a tool for understanding people and supporting change.
  
  

Contract & Growth Path

• This is a full-time, fixed-term 12 month contract (PKWT) based in Indonesia.

• The role begins in Phase 2 (quantitative survey and segmentation) of the research programme.

• Subject to performance and organisational needs, the role may evolve into a longer-term permanent position within Ayana leading other research projects and MEL activities.

Note: Application closed: 15 April 2026

We are interviewing on a rolling basis and might close earlier if we find suitable candidates