Rationale for the recruitment

The African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) is a premier research-to-policy institution, generating evidence, strengthening research and related capacity in the African research and development ecosystem, and engaging policy to inform action on health and development. The Center is Africa-based and African-led, with its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, and a West Africa Regional Office (WARO), in Dakar, Senegal. APHRC seeks to drive change by developing strong African research leadership and promoting evidence-informed decision-making (EIDM) across sub-Saharan Africa.

APHRC co-leads, the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA). CARTA is an Africa-based, Africa-led initiative which rebuilds and strengthens the capacity of African universities to produce well-trained and skilled researchers and scholars in Africa by Africans. The program addresses an important challenge facing the African academy i.e. the scarcity of a robust research and training infrastructure capable of offering the type of vibrant and sustained doctoral training necessary to attract, train and retain the continent’s brightest minds.

We are looking for a highly motivated person committed to building the African research ecosystem to join our research management team. This person will focus on three aspects of CARTA: maintaining the pipeline of early career researchers, creation of research hubs, and enhancing the engagement of the CARTA community with society. The new team member will be in place to welcome in CARTA’s 11th cohorts of PhD fellows and tell CARTA’s story of impact.

Duties/Responsibilities

1. Support the academic development of PhD and postdoctoral fellows:
   1. Coordinate fellowship calls, selection processes, and provision of fellowship support.
   2. Coordinate the training activities for PhD and postdoctoral awardees.
2. Coordinate the implementation of the Research Hubs:
   1. Coordinate the calls, review and selection processes, and provision of grants for CARTA Research Hubs.
3. Liaise with the CARTA Monitoring & Evaluation Officer to ensure effective monitoring of all activities related to the CARTA Early Career Researcher awards and training, and the CARTA Research Hubs.
4. Ensure timely and complete reporting on the CARTA Early Career Researcher awards and training, and the CARTA Research Hubs activities, outputs and outcomes.
5. Lead the development, update and implementation of the CARTA stakeholder engagement and advocacy strategy.
6. Liaise with the CARTA communications officer and Policy Engagement & Communications (PEC) Division to produce content to enhance the visibility of CARTA’s impact.
7. Contribute to CARTA’s fundraising efforts, especially in the programmatic areas of support to early career researchers, establishment of research hubs, and community engagement and advocacy.
8. Conduct research on impact of CARTA training interventions and the CARTA program in general.

Qualifications and Experience

Minimum qualifications required

• PhD in Health, Education, Communications or related fields.
• At least two years post-PhD experience in capacity strengthening or research projects.
• Experience in project impact evaluation and communication.

Desired

Familiarity with higher education in health sciences and related fields.