Post-doctoral Fellow: Education and Skills Development / Trade and Industrial Development at African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP)

AFIDEP is looking for an expert in Education and Skills Development or Industrial Development or Trade and Investment as a Post-Doctoral Fellow to join our research and policy teams to contribute to accelerating development progress in Africa through evidence generation and translation, and capacity development. The successful candidate will conduct research on education and skills development, trade, industrialisation and job creation policy and programmes in Africa. Immediate work will focus on research to inform policy and regulatory reforms that Africa needs to leverage the ongoing demographic transition, the 4th industrial revolution, and the evolving digital economy, to create meaning and dignified employment for youth. The ideal candidate must have a PhD in Education, or Industrial Development, or Trade and Investment, or, a related field, and at least 2 years of relevant research experience. 

Key Duties and Responsibilities  

• Take part in the conceptualization, design and implementation of research, capacity strengthening, and policy engagement programmes. 
• Design and conduct research on conduct research on education, trade, industrialisation and job creation policy and programmes in Africa to generate critical insights for informing policy and programmatic reforms. 
• Design and conduct systematic reviews of existing research and analysis of existing data to generate critical insights for informing policy and programmatic reforms. 
• Write different types of publications to present research results including scientific journal papers, research reports, policy briefs, and blogs.  
• Organise policy dialogues with relevant government officials and other stakeholders at regional and national levels to research findings to facilitate their uptake in policy decision-making  
• Conduct capacity development activities to strengthen the generation and use of research and other types of evidence in decision-making.  
• Establish and manage critical partnerships with relevant government agencies and other stakeholders to ensure ownership and support for the research work you are involved in. 
• Contribute to proposal writing and fundraising. 

Qualifications and Requirements  

• PhD in Education and Skills Development, or Industrial Development, or Trade and Investment, or, a related field, and at least 2 years of relevant research experience  
• Experience in the management and coordination of research programmes and partnerships, and monitoring and evaluation of programmes.  
• Strong and hands-on quantitative research approaches, methods, and analytical skills. 
• Experience in multidisciplinary approaches to research aimed at results for sustainable development.  
• Excellent writing skills, including policy-oriented reports and scientific papers for publication in peer-reviewed journals (must have some published some scientific peer-reviewed journal papers) 
• Knowledge translation and policy engagement. 
• Strong interpersonal skills with effective team management skills.  
• Deep and strategic thinking, with close attention to detail. 
• In-depth knowledge of emerging issues in African development. 
• Strong adaptability skills to changing research evidence environment.