PROGRAM MANAGER

The African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) is a leading Africa-based, African-led, international research institution headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. APHRC generates and supports the use of evidence for meaningful action to improve the lives of all Africans through:

• Research that emphasizes health and wellbeing;
• Capacity strengthening that deepens the skills of African researchers, scholars and institutions within the continent; and
• Policy engagement and communication that supports greater influence of evidence in policy – and decision-making across sub-Saharan Africa.

The APHRC seeks to recruit a Program Manager to work in the Research Capacity Strengthening (RCS) Division. The Program Manager will lead a large-scale initiative whose goals are to transform the (Research and Development) R&D ecosystem in Africa by:

• Designing and running a matching service between universities/research institutes based in all the regions of Africa and funding agencies for R&D.
• Configuring and running Africa-wide platform-based capacity building for universities/research institutes based in all of Africa’s regions, to increase their capabilities to do more and perform better on a sustained basis along the spectrum of implementation research.
• Designing and developing prototypes in selected countries, to link country decision-making systems with national research systems for adoption/scale-up of R&D innovations.
• Strengthening the African innovation-research ecosystem by developing and deploying connectors – platforms that have cross-cutting benefits to researchers and decision makers.

Responsibilities

• Build and manage relationships with African universities and research institutes across the continent to enhance their readiness for large-scale funding from R&D funding agencies;
• Build and manage relationships with multiple stakeholders in the Africa R&D ecosystem to create buy-in into the initiative and incorporate it into appropriate decision making mechanisms at national, regional and continental level;
• Lead the assessment of individual and institutional capacities, categorize institutions based on their research capacity strengths and needs,   and develop a capacity development plan in response to the needs assessments;
• Oversee the execution of assigned research capacity strengthening and evaluation projects to ensure timely and efficient implementation of activities;
• Enhance performance management and accountability of delivery systems in institutions selected for support;
• Secure and manage the necessary human, financial and material resources in the program. This includes sourcing consultants and overseeing their work as well as overseeing a large project team;
• Develop and roll out work plans, including tracking project implementation and expenditure plans and reporting schedules;
• Provide leadership in specific project activities including desk reviews, in depth analysis, partner mapping and capacity assessments;
• Produce technical reports from the various activities;
• Lead outreach efforts to various funding agencies, and create buy-in into the initiative;
• Represent the Center in high – level national, regional, continental and international forums including relevant technical working groups and expert committees on implementation research and research capacity strengthening;
• Lead in proposal development and fundraising for the program; and
• Lead efforts to publicize the initiative to relevant audiences.

 Qualifications and Desirable Experience

• PhD in Public Health, Public Policy, Health Systems or related field.
• 6-10 years’ post-doctoral experience in developing and managing research capacity strengthening programs or knowledge translation and advocacy programs or in commercialization of innovations.
• Experience managing large-scale (multi-year, multi-team, multi-country) projects in a leadership or senior management role.
• Good understanding of the Higher Education/ R&D/ Policy landscape in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Experience working in a research or academic institution conducting implementation research.
• Experience engaging policy makers at national, regional, continental or global levels.
• Excellent written communication and presentation skills.
• Strong grant writing skills and track record of winning grants.
• Bilingual language skills will be an added advantage.

Interested candidates are invited to submit their application in English and include:

1. A letter of application
2. A detailed CV

through our recruitment portal https://aphrc.org/vacancies/ by October 06, 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