Trending Jobs: Senior Programme Officer – Social Sciences at African Academy of Sciences

Tuesday, 2 March 2021

Senior Programme Officer – Social Sciences at African Academy of Sciences

The AAS is a pan African organisation headquartered in Kenya, which aims to drive sustainable development in Africa through science technology and innovation. It has a tripartite mandate of pursuing excellence by recognising scholars and achievers; providing advisory and think tank functions for shaping the continent’s strategies and policies; and implementing key science, technology and innovation programmes. The AAS utilises its membership pool which consists of a community of scientists to engage with governments and policy makers on the continent. The membership comprises individuals who have reached the highest level of excellence in their field of expertise and have made contributions to the advancement of the field on the continent. To date AAS has recognised 330 AAS Fellows and Associate and Honorary Fellows who are proven science, technology and innovation leaders, policy advisors and thinkers most of whom live and work throughout the continent.

ID:AAS/SPOSS21/01

Department:Programmes

Reporting To:Deputy Programmes Director

Duration:3 Years Renewable

Initiative Overview

The Developing Excellence in Leadership, Training and Science (DELTAS Africa) is a 10-year (2015-2025) programme of the AAS being implemented under AESA. This is with the support of Wellcome and other funding partners to train and develop world-class researchers and research leaders in Africa. The vision of DELTAS Africa is to support the Africa-led development of a critical mass of world-class researchers and research leaders in Africa. This new generation of scientists and research leaders will play a major part in shaping and driving a locally relevant research agenda in Africa, contributing to improved sustainable development on the continent. To achieve its vision, DELTAS Africa funds programmes that address four broad strategic areas: scientific quality, research training, scientific citizenship, and research management and environment. These strategic areas are recognised as necessary for strengthening, sustaining, attracting and retaining excellence in research. The first five years of DELTAS Africa from 2015 to 2020 have focused largely on biomedical and health research on the continent. While significant progress has been made in this area, the AAS has taken a strategic decision to include the social sciences and humanities as a new component of the DELTAS Africa programme during its second phase from 2020 to 2025 and beyond, with the intention of improving social science and humanities research leadership capacity on the continent to be more responsive to Africa’s persistent and emerging sustainable development challenges. It is expected that DELTAS Africa II will continue to support a large portfolio of networks that will be implementing various projects in health research, biomedical, biosciences and related transdisciplinary sciences. The incumbent will also be expected to work closely with the Senior Programme Officer (Social Sciences and Humanities) to ensure the overall aims of the DELTAS Africa Initiative are effectively and efficiently met.

Position Overview

The overall aim of the Senior Programme Officer (Social Sciences and Humanities) is to support the delivery of a vibrant social sciences and humanities research leadership capacity development programme on the continent. In the short term, this will be delivered as a component of the DELTAS Africa programme, promoting excellence in social science and humanities research leadership capacity on the continent based on the DELTAS Africa model or a variant thereof, and in the long term contributing to its development as an independent flagship programme of The AAS.

The Senior Programme Officer has as his/her primary responsibility the management of the DELTAS Africa programme’s social sciences and humanities remit, including overseeing national, multinational and trans-national DELTAS Africa social science consortia, liaising with comparative research networks, as well as thematic and issue-specific research programmes, special initiatives and projects. In this connection, the Senior Programme Officer will be responsible for managing all aspects of the portfolio of the DELTAS Africa social science programmes, and overseeing the work of programme officers managing aspects of the social science programmes within DELTAS Africa, each of which may include several of the following aspects:

Leverage sector-specific knowledge and skills in the effective implementation of programmes and the development of new initiatives
Overseeing the development and implementation of pre-award, award and post-award processes,
Gender equity diversity and inclusion strategies with the programme,
monitoring, evaluation and learning,
Design and implement risks assessment and management strategies for the programme,
Work with GFGP team to ensure integration and update of good finance grant practice by programme beneficiaries,
budget control and reviews,
management and scientific meetings,
open-access publishing,
capacity development interventions,
community and public engagement,
research management,
impact measurement and reporting,
financial and programmatic reporting,
and other due diligence interventions.
initiate, develop and, where appropriate, manage new projects and programmes;
lend support for the realisation of other scientific activities of the AAS;
organise academic and policy meetings;
promote contacts with researchers, professional associations and regional organisations;
prepare research and funding proposals on themes connected to his/her areas of expertise as may be requested by the Deputy Programmes Director,
and where appropriate, liaise with funding organisations under the direction of both the Deputy Programmes Director, Director of Programmes and Executive Director.

The postholder will also be expected to work in close collaboration with other AESA managed programmes through the provision of operational and research support in order to achieve the overall strategic goals of the AAS.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

1. Define and deliver the benefits of the Social Sciences and Humanities component of the DELTAS Africa programme in time, within budget and at the required quality, including:

Planning and budgeting;
Leading in effective technical and financial management to ensure VFM throughout the programme cycle, including using evidence to enhance program learning and development, seeking out and implementing solutions that achieve a good mix of quality and effectiveness for the least outlay, financial tracking of spend against budget, accurate forecasting, asset management, timely payment of invoices/claims, and timely submission of financial reports and Annual Audited Statements where required, in line with grant and donor requirements.
Ensuring that technical outputs throughout the program cycle including reports are of high quality and respond to donor guidelines and requirements
Promoting and marketing, this may include social media, website page management and/or article writing, working in collaboration with The AAS Communications team;
Support in identifying, tracking and mitigating programme management risks and issues;
Identification of experts for peer review and selection panels;
Planning and delivery of large-scale events, potentially including events in other countries on the continent
Monitoring and evaluation of scheme outcomes and impacts, and communicating outcomes and learnings to key stakeholders
Preparing consolidated technical and financial reports from grantees. This involves reviewing reporting templates, liaising with grantees M&E teams during reporting periods to support their reporting needs, consolidating the reports for internal use and for sharing with relevant funders; and data mining from reports to prepare outcomes and impact reports
Liaising and managing relationships with key stakeholders (other AAS funding and delivery partners, relevant steering groups, partners throughout the continent, Fellows of the Academy and grant beneficiaries);
Financial tracking of spend against budget;
Management of scheme activities and awards;

2. Assist in the provision of secretariat support to relevant steering groups.

3. Assist in utilising the outputs, networks and relationships created through the DELTAS Africa programme to further the Academy’s strategic objectives.

4. Contribute, as required, to the development of evidence-based positions on research and innovation policy issues linked to the scheme.

5. Contribute to the establishment of systems to enable the Academy to maintain and derive value from contact with past beneficiaries or alumni, and to manage these relationships where appropriate.

6. Contribute to the effective use of administrative resources across the AESA platform, including by providing colleagues with clear and timely information about requirements for administrative support.

7. Contribute to the effective use of the AAS Ishango electronic Grants Management System, and other Academy information systems.

8. Contribute to a culture of continuous improvement at the AAS and to support line manager in achieving other teams, departmental and Academy objectives, as required.

Research

Perform programme relevant research to inform the development, implementation and delivery of the social sciences and humanities component of the DELTAS Africa programme
Work in close collaboration with the AAS M&E team to identify, collate, track, assess quality, analyse and validate, and report on programme-related data from DELTAS Africa Social Sciences and Humanities programmes.
Identify and build relationships with relevant stakeholders involved in social sciences and humanities research and research leadership capacity development on the continent and globally but not limited to universities and other research institutions, relevant African government departments and policymakers, Africa based and international Think Tanks, and intergovernmental organisations etc
Prepare reports, articles and presentations during programme inception meetings, annual grantee meetings and site visits.
Track and perform relevant analyses on various aspects of programme implementation to identify and address important challenges to ensure effective and efficient programme delivery

Programme Support

Represent The AAS and/or programmes at internal and external meetings when required;
Work in close collaboration with The AAS Communications Manager to develop a media and campaign Strategy for social sciences and humanities research programme to ensure maximum exposure and coverage on the continent and beyond and to generate keen interest from potential stakeholders
Work in close collaboration with The AAS Communications Manager to ensure all content (reports, images, videos, social media posts) is relevant and updated on a timely basis.
Supervise relevant administrative team duties in support of the DELTAS Africa social science and humanities programme
Work with The AAS Procurement team to monitor deliverables (including supplies), and being the contact person for clients on the DELTAS social science and humanities programme;
Plan and organise relevant workshops and other activities in furtherance of the objectives of the DELTAS Africa social science and humanities programme;
Work with The AAS M&E team to develop and implement an M&E framework for the DELTAS Africa social science and humanities programme;
Develop a risk management framework for the DELTAS social science and humanities programme, including developing and maintaining a risk register for the programme and a system to document, track and ensure programme issues and challenges are resolved in a timely manner;
Support other AAS programmes and departments in the delivery of their mandate especially for cross-cutting programmatic activities when requested

Key Results and Outcomes Area

Benefits of all assigned activities delivered within budget, to time and consistent with commitments to funders and agreed targets;
Schemes delivered following best practice in scheme management, steering group secretarial support, and effective use of the AAS Ishango electronic Grants Management System.
Strong working relationships with all key stakeholders including staff, Fellows of the AAS, other delivery partners, and beneficiaries;
Maintaining an attractive and accurate outward profile of activities through the website and other materials;
Strong knowledge of AAS policies and procedures, and their application in grants management

Qualifications and Experience and Knowledge

A PhD degree in a relevant Social Science/Humanities research field obtained over the past 10 years with proven research leadership qualities and experience of carrying out key research work for priority social science and humanities agendas.
A proven record of research capabilities in social science/humanities research as demonstrated by peer-reviewed publications and other quality outputs.
At least 3 years’ experience working in research/research leadership capacity development programme design and implementation on the African continent
Knowledge of funding/how research is funded/grants or research management
A professional qualification and relevant experience in large scale programme/project management or training in research administration, ethics, leadership or related will be an added advantage
Excellent presentation and public speaking skills
Proficiency in standard office and collaboration tools such as Microsoft Office, SharePoint
Project/ Programme management skills (essential)

Key Competencies

Communication: Makes self visible to staff by listening to them and by communicating at all levels within the organization and with external counterparts
Teamwork: Understands the roles of different business units and sub-units in won department; recognizes the importance of other business teams and their interdependence to achieve organizational objectives
Planning and organizing: Understands drivers and constraints of execution in terms of time and resource allocation, reviews and prioritizes activities in line with changing work requirement.
Achieving results: Continuously sets challenging goals for the teams and provides support to the team by proactively anticipating challenges and looking at means to overcome them.
Leading and supervising: Manages the performance of the team and promotes a culture of learning and development.
Knowledge sharing and learning: Takes an active interest in developing others by creating opportunities for capability building at the unit.
Judgement/decision making: Identifies, analyzes and discusses decision making alternatives with multiple stakeholders. Evaluates past decisions for insight and improved decision making.
Technical/Scientific credibility: Keeps abreast of latest developments and provides authoritative advice to senior management in the field of his /her expertise.
Commitment to continuous process improvement: Develops and applies effective approaches to programme development and implementation. Identifies ways to improve systems and structures to deliver services with streamlined resources.
Partnership building: Makes use of various forums (professional and social) to network within and outside the organization with a view to leverage these networks for organizational interests.
Analytical thinking: Draws analogies based on available information/data that result in increased understanding. Reframes issues and challenges so that they are input for future action/change.