Researcher 

Job Summary:

The Sana'a Center for Strategic Studies seeks a full-time Researcher to design and oversee comprehensive community consultations on transitional justice across five governorates in Yemen. The ongoing conflict has fundamentally disrupted mechanisms of justice and social cohesion, creating an urgent need for systematic documentation of community perspectives on accountability, reconciliation, and post-conflict reconstruction. This position sits at the critical intersection of participatory research methodologies and transitional justice practice, ensuring that historically marginalized voices shape Yemen's future justice framework.
We are a dynamic, highly mobile, multi-lingual team with diverse backgrounds and expertise. Our main office is in Yemen, while most of our team works remotely from locations across Yemen, the Middle East, and major cities around the world. Among our core strengths are our versatility, initiative, access, networks, and audacity. We are seeking new team members who would complement this dynamic.

Background and Objectives:

The Researcher will lead an initiative to capture diverse community perspectives on justice needs and pathways toward sustainable peace, working in collaboration with the Transitional Justice Program at Sana’a Center and local civil society organizations. Drawing on participatory methodologies for community consultations in conflict-affected settings, this role requires designing and implementing a comprehensive consultation process that prioritizes victim-centered approaches while ensuring inclusivity across gender, age, and social boundaries.
This initiative recognizes that effective transitional justice processes must be grounded in local realities and shaped by the communities most affected by conflict. The position demands both methodological rigor in qualitative research design and deep sensitivity to the complex dynamics of working in Yemen's conflict-affected communities. The findings will directly inform policy recommendations for Yemen's future transitional justice framework, bridging the gap between grassroots experiences and national-level policy formulation.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Develop culturally sensitive and conflict-aware methodologies for community consultations, incorporating trauma-informed and do-no-harm principles
• Design standardized data collection tools ensuring accessibility for diverse populations, including marginalized and vulnerable groups
• Build capacity of local partner organizations through intensive training on research methodology and conflict-sensitive data collection techniques
• Oversee rigorous data collection across 200 key informant interviews and 10 focus group discussions in five governorates
• Provide ongoing technical supervision to field teams, ensuring adherence to ethical standards and quality assurance protocols
• Conduct systematic thematic analysis of qualitative data, identifying cross-cutting themes and regional variations
• Produce five governorate-level analytical reports (2,000 words) capturing regional specificities and commonalities in justice perspectives
• Synthesize findings into a comprehensive report (15,000 words) with actionable policy recommendations for transitional justice design
• Develop comparative analysis frameworks examining regional variations in justice attitudes and community practices
• Support stakeholder engagement and dissemination activities to ensure research impacts policy dialogue.

Deliverables 

• Five 2,000-word analytical reports of the data collected from each governorate.
• One 15,000-word final report that synthesizes findings with policy recommendations.
• One knowledge product on justice needs in Yemen to be determined at a later point with the transitional justice team.
• One complete dataset.

Qualifications and Skills:

Essential Requirements:

• Master’s or Doctoral degree in social sciences, law, conflict studies, transitional justice, or a closely related discipline.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in qualitative research design and implementation in conflict-affected contexts.
• Demonstrated expertise in transitional justice, particularly community-based and victim-centered approaches.
• Proven track record managing large-scale data collection initiatives in Yemen or comparable fragile settings.
• Strong analytical and report writing skills with ability to synthesize complex qualitative data into policy-relevant insights.
• Arabic fluency required; English fluency preferred.
• Experience training and supervising local research teams in challenging operational environments.

Preferred Skills and Knowledge:

• Specific knowledge of Yemeni society, conflict dynamics, and traditional justice mechanisms
• Experience with Participatory Action Research (PAR) and trauma-informed research methodologies.
• Publications on transitional justice or related topics in peer-reviewed journals.
• Demonstrated commitment to gender-sensitive and inclusive research approaches.
• Established network among civil society organizations in Yemen.
• Understanding of protection protocols and ethical considerations in fragile contexts.

Position Details:

• Reports to: Program Coordinator
• Contract type: Full-Time Service Agreement
• Duration: 12 months
• Location: Remote, with potential travel to regional sites for training and/or workshops.
• Starting date: January 1, 2026

The Sana'a Center for Strategic Studies

Founded in 2014, the Sana’a Center is one of the few independent research centers that has continued to operate in Yemen throughout the ongoing conflict. While the Center maintains cordial relations with all key stakeholders, it has remained fiercely unaligned with any of the belligerent parties. The Sana’a Center has thus maintained a unique position and the ability to work throughout Yemen and beyond.

The Center maintains a strong network across Yemen with access to key political, military and security figures, tribal leaders, the financial sector, economists, journalists, humanitarian actors, civil society, and other important stakeholders. The Center has also established a broad network and presence within the international community, connecting it to international organizations, diplomatic circles, regional and international policymakers, research centers and global forums.

The Sana’a Center’s reports and researchers are widely quoted in local, regional, and international media outlets, while the analysis of the Center’s experts is regularly sought out by local and international stakeholders.