Capacity Building Officer

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) works to enhance the roles livestock play in pathways out of poverty in developing countries. ILRI has two main campuses in East Africa and other hubs in East, West and southern Africa and South, Southeast and East Asia. http://www.ilri.org/.

CGIAR is a global agricultural research partnership for a food-secure future. Its science is carried out by 15 research centres that are members of the CGIAR Consortium in collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations. http://www.cgiar.org/

ILRI also manages the Biosciences eastern and central Africa (BecA) Hub, the centre for excellence in modern plant and animal biology in Africa.  BecA is an initiative developed within the framework of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)/ African Union African Biosciences initiative. It consists of a Hub based on the ILRI campus in Nairobi, Kenya and a network of regional nodes and other affiliated laboratories and organizations throughout the region.  The BecA Hub facilities are world class, including a range of molecular, plant transformation, and genomics laboratories and equipment (e.g. 454 sequencing, Biosafety level 3 laboratory, plant growth facilities).  The Hub hosts and conducts research in crop, microbe and livestock areas where new developments in science offer promise to address previously intractable problems constraining Africa’s development.  Capacity building is a major goal of all activities. The scope covers agriculture and food security and their intersections with human health and nutrition, and the sustainable use of Africa’s natural resources.  Further information is available athttp://hub.africabiosciences.org/

Job purpose

In hosting the BecA Hub on a shared research platform, ILRI seeks to recruit a Capacity Building Officer under the BecA-ILRI Hub capacity building program. Under the supervision of the Team Leader the Capacity Building Officer is responsible for the   coordination of the capacity building program at the BecA-ILRI Hub. The Capacity Building Officer will mainly be involved in the implementation of the BecA Hub’s capacity building activities including management of the Hub’s Fellowship Programme, which is funded through the BecA Africa Biosciences Challenge Fund (ABCF).

Responsibility

• Management of the ABCF Fellowship Programme:
  • Development and dissemination of fellowship announcements through website and mailing lists;
  • Coordination of the fellowship application review process;
  • Preparation and dissemination of fellowship offers to the successful candidates;
  • Coordination of the placement logistics including travel, accommodation, contracts, induction, progress reports, seminars;
  • Preparation of reports;
  • Preparation of publicity materials. 
• Overall coordination of the BecA Hub’s annual capacity building workshop activities including
  • Development and dissemination of workshop announcements through website and mailing lists;
  • Development and consolidation of workshop materials;
  • Workshop logistics;
  • Preparation of workshop reports. 
• Support project leaders in capacity building proposal development including participating in proposal development meetings, reviewing of technical proposals to ensure compliance with donor proposal development guidelines, overall responsibility of reviewing capacity building proposal budgets to ensure compliance with ILRI and donor financial guidelines and collating all supporting documents as may be required;
• Provide support to the team leader in the implementation of different donor funded capacity building projects including following up with sub-grantees and project consultants to ensure achievement of contract deliverables;
• Work with the project accountant on the financial reports to ensure that all costs are included and all donor requirements are met;
• Work with the team leader to ensure all technical reports on capacity building are submitted on time;
• Work with different ILRI departments including health and safety (research compliance), legal, budgets and grants and capacity development to ensure that the BecA Hub capacity building programme activities are implemented in line with ILRI policies and donors legal and financial requirements;
• Review of activity project budgets including workshop, training and/or field activity budgets, prior to approval by project leaders and implementation of the project activities. This is to ensure that the all projects are implemented within the approved budgets and also in line with donor and ILRI financial requirements;
• Manage the capacity building web page on the BecA Hub web site;
• Oversee the maintenance of the capacity building database.

Requirements

• Degree in Business Administration, Program Management or related field;
• At least 5 years relevant experience in program and project management working at an international scientific research organization, preferably in agriculture and/or biosciences;
• Added advantage is a background in management of a science fellowship programme and biosciences research compliance;
• Knowledge of administrative and financial management of development programs and/or donor funded projects/programs;
• Ability to manage multiple projects and timelines;
• Excellent Microsoft Office skills;
• Excellent record keeping and computer data management skills;
• Ability to supervise and manage staff;
• Ability to communicate effectively with scientists and multiple interdisciplinary teams;
• Good presentation and oral/written communication and skills;
• Creative and dynamic person who can operate both individually and as part of a team. 

Terms of Appointment

This is a Nationally Recruited Staff (NRS) position based at ILRI’s Nairobi campus.  The position is on a 2 year contract with the possibility of renewal, contingent upon individual performance and continued funding.

Job level and salary

This position is job Grade 3A with a starting salary of KES 173,617 per month. This is exclusive of other benefits provided by ILRI.

How to ApplyApplicants should send a cover letter and CV combined as one document explaining their interest in the position, what they can bring to the job and the names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees who are knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience. Applications should be submitted online to the Human Resources Director at our recruitment portal: http://ilri.simplicant.com/job/board  on or before midnight Nairobi time on 30 August 2013. Only online applications will be considered, and only short listed candidates will be contacted.