ORGANISATION OVERVIEW

The Science for Africa Foundation (SFA Foundation) is a non-profit, public charity organisation that supports strengthens and promotes science innovation in Africa. The goal of the SFA Foundation is to address the continent’s most pressing developmental needs by generating scientific knowledge that solves problems and informs decision-making.

We serve the African research ecosystem by funding excellent research and innovation ideas; enabling interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers, building and reinforcing environments that are conducive for scientists to thrive and producing quality research that generates new, locally relevant knowledge.

The SFA Foundation takes a holistic approach to the development of science. Our programmatic initiatives are crafted to cater to the entire science ecosystem and span across the value chain from early discovery sciences to translation sciences and target cross-cutting gaps.

Our commitment to strengthening the entire research ecosystem is reflected in the creation of major science and innovation programmes implemented through a well-established grant-making scheme, advocacy, and promotion of scientific excellence, emphasis on intra-Africa collaboration and evidence-based policymaking mechanisms.

POSITION OVERVIEW

Position Title	Senior Programme Coordinator - Policy
Department	Programmes
Reporting To	Policy Programme Lead
Position Location	Nairobi, Kenya

JOB PURPOSE

The Senior Programme Coordinator — Policy role aims to deliver work within the Africa Pandemic Sciences Collaborative's policy workstream. The Africa Pandemic Sciences Collaborative is a partnership between the SFA Foundation and the Pandemic Sciences Institute (PSI) at the University of Oxford, supported by Mastercard Foundation.

The policy workstream is a component of the Collaborative. Its objective is to nurture professional relationships and advance scientific citizenship, including the direct translation of research outputs into policy on the African continent. In alignment with the scope of the Africa Pandemic Sciences Collaborative, pandemic-related policy covers a broad range of topics, including vaccinology (early-stage vaccine research for epidemic- and pandemic-prone infections); virology (genotype to phenotype); clinical research and clinical trials on epidemic and pandemic-prone infections; epidemic and pandemic public health policy research; climate change, biodiversity and pandemic prevention; advanced data assembly and analytics for threat assessment and mitigation; social and behavioural sciences.

The joint SFA-PSI policy team will work to nurture professional relationships and advance scientific citizenship in epidemic and pandemic sciences to improve policy translation. This will be achieved through two key activities:

1. Providing individual exchange opportunities in Africa (the Individual Policy Exchange Programme (iPEP): iPEP is designed as a two-tiered, two-way exchange program between researchers and policymakers. Additionally, it is a hybrid programme, providing up to two weeks of in-person engagement within Africa per pairing. The deliverable is to provide 140 individual policy exchange opportunities in Africa for direct translation of research outputs into policy, fostering close dialogue between the science and policy sectors.
2. Convening annual science-policy knowledge exchange fora: to foster active policy knowledge exchange and interactions among pandemic sciences researchers and policymakers. These annual events are targeted as side events at regional and global policy fora, e.g., The annual Africa CDC meeting (CPHIA), World Health Assembly, UN General Assembly, etc.

The Senior Programme Coordinator—Policy will report to the Policy Lead (SFA Foundation) and will support the delivery and program coordination of all the policy elements of the Africa Pandemic Sciences Collaborative in close collaboration with the policy co-lead team at the Pandemic Sciences Institute (PSI), University of Oxford. You will also closely work with the Africa Pandemic Sciences Collaborative's Programme Manager at SFA Foundation.

PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Coordination of iPEP activities includes but is not limited:

1) Participate in the program management cycle by initiating, developing, and getting sign-off for all iPEP activities.

2) Coordinate the logistics of the iPEP fellowship – this includes but is not limited to

• Scheduling regular check-in meetings with the fellows (SFA, PSI, and or host institutions) and providing secretariat support. This includes coordination with the ICT team at SFA, minuting, report writing, etc.
• Scheduling virtual regular check-in meetings with the host institutions and providing secretariat support. This includes coordination with the ICT team at SFA Foundation, minuting, report writing, etc.
• Coordinating support needed by iPEP fellows – e.g., linking them with ICT, communications, procurement, and finance at SFA Foundation
• Coordinating partner meetings and providing secretariat support with SFA Foundation, PSI, host institutions, training partners, etc
• Collate feedback on iPEP experiences and use it to update the scheme sheet
• Coordinate and set the selection of iPEP fellows (this includes coordinating the entire selection process- as per the grant management section below.
• Coordinate activities in identifying and onboarding new host partners
• Coordinate activities related to identifying and onboarding new iPEP partners as needed, e.g. policy translators
• Keep iPEP fellows, partners, policy advisory group etc. updated on activities and plans.

3)  Grant management cycle of onboarding new iPEP fellows

• Call management: On a needs basis, prepare RFPs, issue calls, receive applications, screen applications, assess results, convene committee meetings, help identify members for the committees, arrange pitching sessions
• iPEP call set up within grant management system: Develop application templates (keep updated/ revise), coding of application, review, and reporting within Grant management system. Troubleshooting the grant management system for technical issues related to iPEP fellowship grants.
• Maintain and keep updated SOPs, criteria for selection, and awards based on feedback.
• Conduct due diligence: Develop TORs for reviews facilitate and engage in site visits, reporting, annual review for reports, preparation of program reports, collate, analyse and report.
• Grantee management: Grantee follow-up & engagement tracking issues and addressing issues.
• Grantee capacity building: Inception meetings, recruitment, and management of capacity- building experts.
• Monitoring iPEP activities (Site visits, evaluation, reports,) knowledge management
• Closeout procedures for iPEP fellows (rotational basis)

Coordination of annual science-policy knowledge exchange fora includes but is not limited:

• Identifying and mapping appropriate science-policy knowledge exchange fora in the continent
• Maintaining a database of the fora
• Coordinate meetings between SFA Foundation, PSI, and identified science-policy knowledge exchange fora targeted for a given year. Including providing secretariat support to the meetings, e.g. minuting, report writing.
• Coordinating onboarding of side events as needed.
• Coordinating all the logistics to set up the side event yearly. Includes liaising with SFA Foundation communications, ICT, and procurement teams to build messaging, media engagement etc.
• Coordination of due diligence of vendors as needed
• Coordinating all vendors for the event as needed
• Obtaining and maintaining all signoffs e.g. preparing travel requests
• Record keeping for financial accounting

Overall policy programme support

• Plan and organize relevant workshops and other activities to further the objectives of the policy workstream within the portfolio
• Maintain a risk register for the policy activities
• On a needs base, support other SFA Foundation programmes and departments in delivering their mandate, especially for policy activities
• Assist in providing secretariat support to relevant steering or expert groups within the policy activities, e.g., policy advisory group
• Assist in utilising the outputs, networks, and relationships created through the policy activities to further the organization’s strategic objectives
• Prepare reports, articles, and presentations related to the policy activities during program inception meetings, annual grantee meetings, site visits, etc.
• Work closely with the SFA Foundation communications team to ensure that all policy-related (reports, images, videos, social media posts) are relevant and updated on a timely basis according to the projects' developments.
• Represent SFA Foundation programs at internal and external meetings when required
• On a need basis, support other SFA Foundation programmes and departments in the delivery of their mandate, especially for policy activities when requested
• On a need basis, support activities of the Africa Pandemic Sciences Collaborative.

Research

• Collaborate closely with the M&E team to identify, collate, track, assess quality, analyse, validate, and report on policy activities
• Identify and build relationships with relevant stakeholders involved in appropriate areas of policy and capacity development, including, but not limited to, universities and other research institutions. This may include relevant African government departments and policymakers, Africa-based and international Think Tanks, intergovernmental organizations, etc.
• As needed, track and perform relevant analyses on policy activities to identify and address important challenges to ensure effective and efficient programme delivery.

 Additional duties

• Contribute to the establishment of systems to enable the SFA Foundation to maintain and derive value from contact with past beneficiaries or alumni, and to manage these relationships where appropriate
• Contribute to the effective use of administrative resources across the SFA Foundation platform, including by providing colleagues with clear and timely information about requirements for administrative support
• Contribute to the effective use of the SFA Foundation Agaseke Grants Management System, and other SFA Foundation information systems
• Contribute to a culture of continuous improvement at the SFA Foundation and to support line manager in achieving other team, departmental and SFA Foundation objectives, as required.

PERSON SPECIFICATIONS

Minimum Academic Qualifications

• A Master’s degree in project management and/or Biosciences/Health/Social Science/Health Policy.

Professional Qualifications

• Professional qualification and relevant experience in large-scale program/project management or training in research administration, ethics, leadership, or related areas will be an added advantage.
• Relevant policy-related experience will be an added advantage.

Experience

• Up to 3 years’ experience working in research/research leadership capacity development program design and implementation on the African continent.
• Experience working in research/research leadership capacity development programme design and implementation on the African continent.

Knowledge, Skills, and Attributes

• Project/programme management skills (essential)
• Possess strong attention to detail and maintain a timely and efficient workflow (essential)
• Must understand and demonstrate the Foundation’s values, such as respect, accountability, excellence, diversity, and inclusion
• Excellent presentation and public speaking skills
• Proficiency in standard office and collaboration tools like Microsoft Office 365 and SharePoint
• Possess well-developed interpersonal skills and the ability to network and communicate across different levels of the organisation and with external partners
• Able to perform work independently with minimal supervision and participate as a team member
• Have strong planning and organisational skills and the ability to work under pressure
• Ability to multi-task and prioritize work amidst competing demands
• Have unquestionable integrity, confidentiality, and respect for self and other team members
• Basic understanding of risk management
• Basic understanding of financial management and financial governance.

Leadership Competencies

• Ability to interact with and manage multiple stakeholders with diverse interests
• Willingness to mentor and coach juniors.

Key Result Areas

• Benefits of all assigned activities delivered within budget, to time, and consistent with commitments to funders and agreed-upon targets
• Schemes delivered following best practices in scheme management, steering group secretarial support, and using the Agaseke Grants Management System effectively
•  Strong working relationships with all key stakeholders including staff, other delivery partners, and beneficiaries
• Maintaining an attractive and accurate outward profile of activities through the website and other materials
• Strong knowledge of SFA Foundation policies and procedures, and their application in grants management.

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Should you meet the competencies above, please submit a cover letter and a current Curriculum Vitae not exceeding 5 pages including three professional referees to [email protected]

The cover letter should be no more than two pages long and explain why you are interested in this post and how your skills and experience make you a good fit. The documents should be saved in MS Word or PDF in the following format: Your First Name-Your Last Name-Document Name-Date (mmyy) e.g., DeusWan-CV-092022-SFA Foundation or Deus-Wan-CoverLetter-092022-SFA Foundation.

THE DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS IS WEDNESDAY, 30 OCTOBER 2024

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