CARTA PROJECT COORDINATOR

The African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) is a leading Africa-based, African-led, international research institution headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya and with a West Africa Regional Office (WARO) in Dakar, Senegal. APHRC conducts policy-relevant research on population, health, education, urbanization and related development issues in sub-Saharan Africa.

APHRC’s flagship program, The Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA) is an Africa-based, Africa-led initiative, which seeks to rebuild and strengthen 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.

CARTA has been engaging in discussions around strengthening the capacity of institutional-based facilitators to independently carry out the CARTA interventions in their respective institutions. In this respect, CARTA applied and received an award for the NORHED project iCARTA – Institutionalization of Advanced Research Training in Africa 2021-2026. iCARTA prioritized Training of Trainers (ToT) workshops for the Joint Advanced Seminars (JASes), Supervisors Workshops (SW), and the Faculty and Administrative Staff (FAS) Seminars. This project will be implemented by three CARTA partner institutions (University of Rwanda, University of Malawi and Makerere University, respectively), on behalf of the entire CARTA network. In addition, CARTA received a one-year mitigation grant by Sida to, among other activities, strengthen institutional facilitation capacities as we adapt to the new normal resulting from COVID-19. CARTA also engaged a virtual learning expert to facilitate ongoing transition of CARTA to blended learning space.

CARTA therefore seeks to recruit a Project Coordinator to coordinate course review, transition to blended and ToT development activities. S/he will also coordinate the CARTA activities in the Virtual Learning Academy and in the partner institutions that will be implementing the ToT course.

 Responsibilities:

1. Provide administrative support to the process of review of courses and development of ToT courses through:
   • Coordination of meetings, including town halls and team meetings;
   • Ensure documentation of resolutions made at meetings, taking charge personally or ensuring there is appropriate representation when the meetings conflict;
   • Liaison with the team coordinators and administrative officer on administrative and logistics matters of the process;
   • Carrying out follow-ups with team members on the review and ToT development processes;
   • Liaison with external experts who will be supporting the project; and
   • Compilation of outputs of the course review and ToT development processes.
2. Coordinate the ToT and local training activities at the partner implementing institutions according to the NORHED plan, in collaboration with the institutional-based coordinators:
   • Monitor implementation of ToT and local training activities at partner institutions and coordinate the Monitoring and Evaluation activities related to the NORHED activities, liaising with the M&E officer to ensure collection of complete data about the required indicators;
   • Be the liaison person between the implementing institutions and the CARTA Secretariat; and
   • Report on ToT and local training activities to the Program Managers.
3. Coordinate the Virtual Learning Academy activities that relate to CARTA including:
   • Coordinate participation of CARTA representatives in the Phase I of the transition to blended to inform the framework of competencies;
   • Coordinate the participation of CARTA facilitators in the needs assessment of Phase I of the transition to blended;
   • Coordinate participation of CARTA facilitators in Staff Academy capacity building activities;
   • Compile the outputs of the course development;
   • Liaise with consultant and IT support to load the generated courses in the APHRC Training Academy;
   • Liaise with consultant and IT support to coordinate the establishment of the CARTA Community of Practice; and
   • Manage the CARTA Community of Practice.
4. Support further institutionalization of CARTA interventions at partner institutions:
   • Support fundraising to facilitate institutionalization activities at CARTA partner institutions; and
   • Liaise with CARTA focal persons and university representatives to promote and support institutionalization activities at CARTA partner institutions.
5. Research on impact of CARTA training interventions and institutionalization activities of the CARTA program.

 Qualifications and Experience:

• Doctorate degree in Education related fields.
• Experience and strong interest in research, research capacity strengthening and instructional/curriculum design.
• Demonstrated prior experience in curriculum development, training, and implementation.
• Hands-on experience coordinating different short course training workshops.
• Experience with various training methods (including virtual, in-person training, and blended offering) and up-to-date with new training methods and techniques.
• Strong writing skills and good record of publications (at least 3 lead author publications in peer-reviewed journals and over 5 conference presentations in defined area of interest).
• Computer literacy in Microsoft packages (e.g. MS Word, MS PowerPoint, & MS Excel).

Desired           

• Familiarity with postgraduate training in health and/or social science related fields.
• Strong research quantitative skills and quantitative skills.
• Experience with e-learning platforms.
• Excellent interpersonal and organizational skills and ability to work in a culturally diverse team.

Interested candidates are invited to submit their application through our recruitment portal https://aphrc.org/vacancies/ by August 18, 2021. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted; shortlisted candidates will be required to have a Police Clearance Certificate. Cover letters should be addressed to:

The Human Resources Officer

African Population and Health Research Center, Inc

APHRC Campus, Manga Close, off Kirawa Road, Kitisuru

P.O. Box 10787-GPO, Nairobi

Website: www.aphrc.org

APHRC is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to the protection of vulnerable persons