Project Officer, Institute for Human Development at Aga Khan University (AKU)

Job Summary

AKU-IHD is leading an effort to set up a research hub known as the UZIMA-HUB.  The Research Hub, UZIMA-DS (UtiliZing health Information for Meaningful impact in East Africa through Data Science), will create a scalable and sustainable platform to apply novel approaches to data assimilation and advanced artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML)-based methods to serve as early warning systems to address critical health issues impacting young Africans in two domains: Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) and Mental Health. UZIMA-DS is a joint initiative among multiple partners including AKU, University of Michigan, and KEMRI/Wellcome Trust Programme.

We are looking for a Project Officer to provide administrative and scientific support for all the Hub activities. 

Responsibilities

• Scheduling meetings and appointments as necessary
• Attending meetings and take accurate minutes or notes and share a summary of the action items in a timely manner. From time to time, transcriptions may also be required
• Assisting with the planning and implementation of all activities for the two UZIMA projects
• Writing email correspondence, preparing forms and compiling lists for various project activities
• Tracking the projects’ milestones and assisting in the preparation of project reports for the funders such as mid-year and annual research progress reports
• Maintaining and updating project records (physical and on Drop-box)
• Helping in the preparation of training materials and equipment before trainings, and safeguard them during trainings and workshops
• Liaising with the department’s Admin and other departments e.g. Finance, HR, travel, and procurement to ensure smooth implementation of project-related activities
• Assisting in the development of study research protocol(s)
• Supporting stakeholder and community engagement activities for the project
• Participating in data collection activities, quality checks and its harmonization
• Supporting the preparation of scientific manuscripts for publication

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Social or Health Sciences, or related field, with 3 years’ experience in the implementation of a research project
• Experience coordinating or supporting research projects
• Experience in drafting and presenting project-related materials e.g. Basic reports, Abstracts, paper etc. 
• Proficient with Microsoft Office and online data storage platforms e.g. Dropbox   
• Experience working in multi-cultural settling