Careers at The Science for Africa Foundation

PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategic Leadership and Planning

• Lead the design, implementation, and evaluation of stakeholder engagement strategies aligned with the APCC and SFA Foundation’s strategic objectives.
• Champion a stakeholder-centred approach across APCC workstreams to enhance engagement value and collective impact.
• Collaborate with APCC leadership and the SFA Foundation to strategically leverage existing networks and partnerships to expand APCC’s reach and influence.
• Define annual workplans, timelines, and budgets for cohort and stakeholder engagement activities, ensuring efficient delivery and alignment with APCC goals.
• Stakeholder Mapping, Analysis, and Initiative Design
• Conduct stakeholder analysis, mapping, and gap assessments to identify key partners, including scientists, funders, government bodies, and NGOs across Africa and globally.
• Develop and maintain a stakeholder and cohort database, including updating membership and capability matrices.
• Work closely with the website and cohort database team
• Conceptualise and design initiatives that leverage stakeholder insights and align with the APCC strategic plan.
• Identify opportunities for collaboration and knowledge exchange among cohorts and research institutions.

Stakeholder and Partnership Engagement Framework

• Develop and operationalise a stakeholder engagement framework and plan to guide all APCC engagements in alignment with strategic blueprints.
• Tailor engagement approaches based on stakeholder priorities and cohort needs to maximise value and participation.
• Coordinate engagement with government agencies and international organisations in line with best liaison practices.

Relationship Management and Communication

• Cultivate and manage relationships with cohorts, partners, and funders to strengthen collaboration and ensure a consistent, coordinated approach.
• Serve as the primary liaison between APCC and external stakeholders, ensuring timely communication and issue resolution.
• Support access to strategic partners through introductions, invitations, and official communications.
• Manage communication and visibility efforts, including APCC’s website, newsletters, policy briefs, and digital content.
• Lead the dissemination of APCC activities through virtual workshops, newsletters, and scientific forums.

Programme Coordination and Event Management

• Coordinate and facilitate high-level meetings, workshops, and APCC scientific conferences.
• Support planning and logistics for visits and official engagements with dignitaries and strategic partners.
• Ensure smooth operations of the Partner’s Group (PG) and other funder forums, fostering effective dialogue and collaboration.

Monitoring, Evaluation, and Reporting

• Track engagement activities, monitor outcomes, and analyse stakeholder feedback to inform continuous improvement.
• Maintain oversight of engagement metrics, partnership performance, and collaboration effectiveness.
• Monitor global and regional trends impacting cohort research and stakeholder relations, providing strategic insights to leadership.
• Prepare regular reports on stakeholder activities and strategic partnerships to support decision-making and institutional learning.

Advisory and Secretariat Support

• Provide strategic and operational advice to the Programme Manager and Secretariat leadership on stakeholder engagement issues.
• Support cross-departmental coordination to ensure alignment between cohort engagement, communications, and partnership development.
• Work closely with legal and partnership teams to guide the full partnership cycle — from identification and negotiation to implementation and review.

PERSON SPECIFICATIONS

Academic Qualifications

• Five (5) years’ experience in science communications, public health, public relations, stakeholder relations /diplomacy.

Professional Qualifications

• Good standing with a professional body.

Experience

• At least 5 years of professional experience in stakeholder engagement, communications, public relations, etc.
• Knowledge and understanding of government development policies.
• Broad and in-depth knowledge of project management cycles as related to the development sector.
• Track record of successfully brokering/negotiating collaborations.
• Exposure to multiple stakeholder management processes such as NGO’s, government, business partners and communities.
• Familiarity with partnerships in a non-profit environment is preferred.

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PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Scientific and Technical Leadership

• Collect, clean, and preprocess data from diverse sources, including African population cohorts.
• Develop pipelines for data extraction from Local Participating Cohorts (LPCs).
• Analyse structured and unstructured data to identify trends, patterns, and actionable insights.
• Develop predictive models, statistical analyses, and machine learning algorithms to support research objectives.
• Visualise data insights using tools such as Tableau, Power BI, matplotlib, or Seaborn.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams and cohort partners to understand data requirements and inform project design.
• Map and harmonise metadata across APCC LPCs.
• Document methods, models, analyses, and data-related workflows in a clear, reproducible manner.
• Ensure adherence to FAIR data principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) and best practices in data governance.
• Stay updated on emerging data science methodologies, statistical tools, and computational techniques.
• Support the development and implementation of data harmonisation protocols, metadata standards, and data interoperability strategies.
• Implement and monitor data quality assurance, validation, and reproducibility processes.
• Ensure compliance with ethical standards, data protection regulations, and secure data-sharing protocols.
• Maintain and manage APCC data repositories, including GitHub and other collaborative platforms.

Research Strategy and Innovation

• Conduct programme-relevant research to inform the design, implementation, and evaluation of projects within the APCC portfolio.
• Collaborate with the M&E team to collate, track, validate, and analyse programme data, providing actionable insights for decision-making.
• Develop and implement innovative data-driven solutions to enhance programme delivery and research outcomes.
• Track research trends, emerging technologies, and best practices in population health and data science to inform APCC strategy.
• Prepare reports, policy briefs, publications, and presentations for grantee meetings, stakeholders, and strategic discussions.
• Build and maintain relationships with universities, research institutions, government agencies, think tanks, and intergovernmental organisations.
• Support cross-cohort comparative analyses and meta-analyses to strengthen evidence generation.

Programme Coordination and Stakeholder Engagement

• Represent SFA Foundation and APCC programmes at internal and external meetings and events.
• Work closely with Communications teams to develop media, outreach, and dissemination strategies to enhance programme visibility and stakeholder engagement.
• Support cross-cutting programme activities across SFA Foundation initiatives when required.
• Coordinate training and capacity-building sessions for cohort partners on data management, analytics, and visualisation tools.
• Contribute to programme planning, budgeting, and resource allocation in collaboration with the Programme Manager.
• Support risk management, including identifying, tracking, and mitigating data-related and programme risks.

PERSON SPECIFICATIONS

Academic Qualifications

• A Master's or PhD degree in a relevant Data Science/, Computer Science, Statistics, or related research field obtained over the past 5 years; or equivalent training qualities and experience.

Experience

• At least 5 years’ experience working in research/data capacity and development of programme design and implementation on the African continent.
• A proven record of data analysis.
• Experience with data visualisation tools.
• Knowledge of big data platforms.

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PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Unit-Wide Functional Support

Reporting & Analytics 

• Consolidate programme finance data, ensuring accuracy, consistency, and timeliness of unit-wide reports and dashboards.
• Translate detailed financial data into insights that inform Manager decisions and support overall reporting.
• Maintain standard reporting methodologies, templates, and analytical tools across all portfolios.

Systems & Process Improvement

• Lead operationalisation of the unit’s automation and workflow efficiency projects, aligned to SFA Foundation’s enterprise systems.
• Develop, update, and enforce Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the grant’s lifecycle
• Champion continuous process improvement, benchmarking against international best practice in grant finance
• Provide technical leadership on dashboard design, burn-rate analysis, and cost recovery tracking.

Compliance & Quality Assurance 

• Conduct quality assurance reviews on a rotating sample of grant files, reports, and transactions across all portfolios. 
• Ensures adherence to funder rules and regulations.
• Supports fraud/risk investigations and complex compliance issues.

Capacity Building & Risk/Audit Coordination

• Coordinates internal, funder audit and helps coordinate unit inputs and ensures audit readiness.
• Maintain the unit’s risk register and track the implementation of audit recommendations. 
• Maintains the standard capacity building records for grantees done by the Programme Finance specialists.

Expert-Level Support

• Provide authoritative guidance to Programme Finance Specialists on complex funder requirements and financial structuring.
• Draft high-quality responses to funder queries and due diligence requests, escalating to the Manager as needed.
• Support the Manager in funder engagement by modelling financial implications of compliance scenarios and funding changes.
• Mentor and build the technical capacity of Programme Finance Specialists, promoting consistency and peer learning.

Portfolio Management

Directly manage a selected portfolio of grants, delivering the full grants finance lifecycle:

• Pre-award due diligence and budgeting.
• Awarding and contracting.
• Implementation monitoring, financial analysis, and compliance oversight.
• Reporting, audit, and close-out.
• Ensure strong business partnering with programme teams and grantees to align financial delivery with programme objectives.
• Support institutional efforts to strengthen African research ecosystems through sound financial stewardship and capacity building of grantees.

PERSON SPECIFICATIONS

Academic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, Accounting, or a related field.
• Master’s degree desirable.

Professional Qualifications

• Full professional qualification in CPA-K or ACCA.

Experience

• Minimum of 7 years relevant experience in financial management, with at least 5 years in programme finance/grants accounting or funded projects.
• Proven track record in science funding institutions, research consortia, or ecosystem-strengthening programmes.
• Proven experience in sub-grantee management, capacity building, and financial reporting.
• Strong working knowledge of financial management systems and grants accounting.
• Experience working with grant systems with a passion for exploring and optimising their functionality.
• Proven ability to manage compliance with major funders (e.g., Wellcome, Gates, FCDO, Mastercard Foundation).
• Advanced proficiency in Excel and financial analysis tools, dashboards.