Head of Bioscience at KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme (KWTRP)

The Head of Biosciences will be a critical part of the new leadership team. The Head of Biosciences will be responsible for:

• Scientific strategy including core renewal plans.
• Personal research portfolio as an independent PI.
• Oversight of a Laboratory Management team.

Description:

Biosciences

Our biosciences work is based in the Kilifi campus, supported by an integrated surveillance system linking demographic surveillance of 0.25M residents, clinical phenotyping of hospital admissions continuously for 27 years, a biobank and a state-of-the-art immunology and molecular biology facility including next generation sequencing facilities, cell sorting, multi-colour flow and multi-dimensional serological platforms.

The Head of Biosciences will be responsible for setting strategic priorities and plans for Biosciences. The post holder will be an independent Principal Investogator, allocated substantial time for developing independent research leveraging the facilities described above. The Head of Biosciences will be supported by a team of laboratory managers covering all laboratory areas to support oversight and planning.

The post requires a scientist with a track record of extensive and noteworthy independent scientific output, with proven capacity to attract funds for research relevant to LMIC settings. Experience of leadership in research is essential, reaching at least group level. External coaching in leadership skills will be made available to the successful applicant.

REPORTS TO:

• Programme Executive Director

DIRECTLY SUPERVISES:

• Laboratory Managers.
• Biobank Fellow.

INDIRECTLY SUPERVISES:

• Staff in Biosciences Department, directly supervised by Lab Managers and Biobank Fellow.

BUDGET AND RESOURCE RESPONSIBILITY:

• Laboratory Core Budget
• Personal Project Grants

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Leading the Programme Biosciences scientific strategy including chairing Departmental strategy and management meetings.
• Active participation as part of the senior leadership team in shaping Programme-wide scientific strategy and acting as co-applicant for the Programme core grant.
• Developing proposals for new research initiatives, with ongoing leadership responsibilities for these areas of personal research
• Membership of the Heads of Scientific Departments committee, and in a broad range of governance structures and committees.
• Planning the overall budget and setting targets for development of the laboratory and wider bioscience platform on a yearly basis, and negotiating and agreeing the plans with the Scientific Departments Committee responsible for overall scientific strategy in the programme.
• Ongoing strategic decisions underpinning biosciences work, such as purchase or upgrading of major laboratory equipment, reprofiling of the laboratory budget, new research initiatives including the design of field or ward surveillance work to optimize sample collection and integration with clinical data.
• Line management of the Laboratory Manager and Laboratory Section Heads, supervision of the Biobank Fellow.
• Providing input on laboratory aspects of developing proposals and funding applications, and willing to be a co-applicant on funding proposals from other PIs where relevant.
• Mentorship of early career scientists across the Programme with related interests, and training input for selected PhD students/ Masters students where relevant.
• Oversight of all laboratory work across the programme, in conjunction with the Laboratory Manager and/or relevant Section Head.
• To guide and support the development of collaborative linkages with other local and international health research institutions to develop synergistic and equitable partnerships.

QUALIFICATIONS:

Essential Requirements:

• A PhD or equivalent post-graduate qualification relevant to biomedical research.
• Experience in biomedical research with significant impactful research outputs.
• Significant productivity in peer reviewed journals.
• Evidence of the capacity to win independent research funding.
• Leadership experience in research or related areas, at minimum to leading a group.
• Demonstrated ability to manage and lead complex projects
• Significant experience of line management
• Experience of PhD and/or Masters supervision with positive outcomes.

Desirable Requirements:

• Experience of clinical trials
• Ability in key scientific themes in the current Programme strategy, including vaccines, genomics and transmission or clinical translational research.
• Experience of inter-disciplinary work.

COMPETENCIES:

• Evidence of supervisory ability and negotiation skills
• Evidence of an ability to operate and lead in a federalized environment with decentralized authority.
• Strong skills in budgeting, development and oversight of project proposals, leadership of meetings, and writing skills.
• Ability to work across cultures and evidence of communications skills in that context.
• Willingness to respond within tight timelines and to cope with changing assignments.
• Strong leadership skills and managerial ability
• Strong planning, administrative and organisation ability
• Confidentiality, integrity, patience and calm disposition
• Team working and ability to work in a multi-cultural environment

Note: A competitive salary will be offered to attract an outstanding candidate