Position: Government Engagement Consultant — Botswana
Reports to: Directors, Radius Institute for Road Safety
Engagement: Short-term, part-time — approximately 2–4 weeks to begin with, hours flexible depending on availability, with potential to convert into a longer-term part-time contract.
Compensation: $25–$40 per hour depending on experience. Compensation for exceptional candidates is negotiable.
Start Date: As soon as possible.
Location: Based in Gaborone preferred, or elsewhere in Botswana, provided you can travel to the capital regularly and at short notice for meetings.
Application Deadline: 20 July
Disclaimer: This recruitment process is led by Health Progress Hub on behalf of Radius Institute for Road Safety, therefore applicant data will be processed by Health Progress Hub.
About us
The Radius Institute for Road Safety works to reduce deaths and injuries from road traffic crashes, especially across Africa. Road traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for young people aged 5–29 worldwide, and a disproportionate share of that burden falls on low- and middle-income countries.
Speed is one of the biggest factors in road traffic deaths and injuries, so we help countries assess, improve, and scale their automated speed enforcement programs to curb unsafe speeds.
We are currently assessing automated speed enforcement pilots across a shortlist of African countries before choosing a few for in-depth impact and readiness assessments. Botswana is one of our priority countries, and we are looking for a well-connected local consultant to help us understand the landscape and reach the right people quickly.
About the Role
We are seeking a consultant to support stakeholder identification and engagement on road safety in Botswana, starting as soon as possible. We are looking for a well-connected, experienced local professional with the expertise and network to help us build an accurate understanding of the road safety and broader government landscape, and connect us to key stakeholders.
This is a short-term, part-time engagement of approximately two to four weeks, with working hours arranged flexibly around your availability. The role suits a resourceful, self-directed professional who combines strong institutional connections with sound judgment and can make meaningful progress quickly.
There is potential for the engagement to convert into a longer-term part-time contract. Should the Radius Institute proceed with road safety work in Botswana, we expect to retain a strong consultant on an ongoing basis to lead in-country government engagement and implementation support.
Role, Responsibilities, and Deliverables
In July/August, one of our directors will visit Gaborone to evaluate whether to engage in work in longer-term work in Botswana. The initial, short-term role is to provide expertise, advice, and introductions related to this trip. Where we decide to move forward in a country, we are interested in retaining successful candidates for ongoing consultancy to build relationships and buy-in from more senior stakeholders to support our full study.
The consultant will work closely with Radius Institute's leadership to:
- Build an accurate picture of the road safety landscape: identifying and mapping relevant stakeholders and institutions, and clarifying the roles of and interplay between key government bodies — including the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund, the Botswana Police Service, and the leadership of the Greater Gaborone Traffic Management System — including where their responsibilities overlap.
- Establish what is genuinely in place on the ground: understanding local policies, enforcement levels, ticket issuance and collection rates, and crash data. This will take well-judged outreach to transport authorities, road safety bodies, police, and other officials who hold the relevant information.
- Advise on engagement strategy: informing the Radius Institute's strategy on when and how to approach government stakeholders, who the right people are to reach, and what we should have prepared before key conversations.
- Secure the right meetings: reaching out and lining up warm introductions to priority government and institutional contacts.
- Support Radius’ engagement: attending in-person and remote meetings, helping read institutional and political dynamics, and advising on approach in the moment.
- Handle follow-up: ensuring relationships are maintained and that any remaining data is collected after the visit.
- Our area of focus is automated speed enforcement: speed cameras and the legal, administrative, social, and physical infrastructure behind them. Early work will center on understanding what is actually deployed and operational — for example, how many cameras are genuinely in use, whether tickets are being issued, and what enforcement and collection look like in practice.
- Expertise in automated speed enforcement or road safety is not required; we can fill in the technical content. We are primarily looking for someone with sound judgment, strong connections, and experience navigating local policy environments, who understands the institutional landscape, the interplay between departments, and how to reach the right people.
Qualifications
Required:
- Relevant experience in government relations, public-sector consulting, or stakeholder engagement in Botswana, even if not with the specific departments named above.
- Strong, credible connections to national government, ideally including transport, road safety, and/or police/security institutions.
- Demonstrated experience engaging and coordinating across multiple government departments, including navigating where their mandates overlap (can include at a junior level).
- A demonstrated ability to work independently, take initiative, and deliver under tight timelines.
- Fluent in written and spoken English.
- Based in Botswana (see location note above).
Preferred:
- Prior direct engagement with the specific departments named above.
- Previous experience with stakeholder mapping projects.
- Previous experience working with international organizations in-country.
- Interest in a longer-term in-country role should Radius Institute proceed.
- If you don't meet every one of these, please still err on the side of applying — we'd rather hear from you and decide together whether it's a fit.
Key Attributes
- Unwavering integrity and the highest ethical standards.
- Sound political judgment and discretion.
- A go-getter. You treat a closed door as a routing problem, not a dead end. You are resourceful, persistent, and able to find a way in.
- Passion for saving lives and doing good at scale.
Application Process
- This recruitment is led by Health Progress Hub on behalf of the Radius Institute for Road Safety.
- Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis — we encourage early submission for priority consideration.
- The process may include an initial application, a short test task, one or more interviews, and the provision of professional references.
- Only candidates who meet the location requirement (Botswana) will be considered.
- Please note that only candidates selected to move forward to the interview stage will be contacted. You can expect to hear from us within three weeks after the application deadline. While we are unable to provide individual updates to all applicants, the hiring team may reach out if they have specific, constructive feedback to share about your application.
Apply here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeqj9ruoLSBfE-pKbWSC7oqQTMy7bbHoukzSUqOLdDgUJESyg/viewform?usp=header