Job Summary
The role of the Senior Programme Officer - Policy will be to ensure that the outcomes of the scientific prioritisation exercises are crafted into relevant policy documents for diverse audiences including African governments, regional bodies and global funders to provide evidence for decision-making, secure buy-in and motivate action.
Minimum Qualification:Masters
Experience Level:Senior level
Experience Length:7 years
Job Description/Requirements
ID:
AAS/SPO/21/01
Department:
Programmes
Reporting To:
Fellows and Affiliates Manager
Duration:
3 Years Renewable
Location:
Nairobi
Organisation Overview
The African Academy of Sciences (AAS) is a non-aligned,
non-political, not-for-profit Pan-African organisation headquartered in
Nairobi, with a hosting agreement with the government of Kenya. The AAS'
vision is to see transformed lives on the African continent through
science. It is the only continental Academy in Africa enjoying the
support and recognition of the African Union, and with joint programmes
with NEPAD Agency, now the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD)
and several governments and major international partners. It has a
tripartite mandate: to recognise excellence through its highly
prestigious fellowship and award schemes; to provide advisory and think
tank functions for shaping the continent's Science, Technology and
Innovation (STI) strategies and policies; and to implement key STI
programmes aimed at addressing Africa's developmental challenges.
Position Overview
The African Science Technology and Innovation Priority Setting programme
(ASP) engages Africa's science leaders and political stakeholders to
identify the top scientific priorities that, if addressed, offer the
highest return on investment for Africa's sustainable development. To
achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Science Technology
and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA 2024) and the African Union's
Agenda 2063, Africa must overcome numerous developmental challenges
utilising the limited resources and technical expertise available; this
makes prioritisation vital.
The ASP programme is implemented through the Alliance for
Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa (AESA), a partnership of
the African Academy of Sciences (AAS), the African Union Development
Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) founding and funding global partners, and through a
resolution of the summit of African Union Heads of Governments. The
programme engages Africa's science leaders and political stakeholders to
identify the top scientific priorities that, if addressed, offer the
highest return on investment for Africa's sustainable development. Over a
five-year period, the programme will be developing, publishing and
advocating to relevant stakeholders, a set of position papers
communicating the top 15 scientific priorities for Africa.
The role of the Senior Programme Officer - Policy will be to ensure that
the outcomes of the scientific prioritisation exercises are crafted
into relevant policy documents for diverse audiences including African
governments, regional bodies and global funders to provide evidence for
decision-making, secure buy-in and motivate action. This position will
enable the programme to implement its joint work plans with AUDA-NEPAD
on stakeholder engagement, including developing and disseminating policy
outputs and advocacy activities for the identified recommendations.
Further, the position holder will work closely with scientific experts
to ensure that their research findings are effectively captured in
non-technical language to inform the policy recommendations. Thereafter,
they will aggregate all knowledge emerging from the ASP programme to
inform the AESA strategy including in STI implementation, science
advisory and resource mobilisation in the various priority areas and in
relation to AESA business plan.
Principal Duties and Responsibilities
Develop a plan for producing policy content for engaging diverse
stakeholders, particularly government and regional bodies in knowledge
brokerage and advocacy based on the recommendations emerging from the
scientific prioritisation processes.
Support the AESA Directors, Managers, and ASAB members to identify
high-impact science-policy channels and leverage those to disseminate
the identified scientific priorities and related recommendations to
inform decision-making and investments in STI in Africa.
Synthesise science policy papers emerging from the scientific
prioritisation processes into policy briefs and other policy-relevant
publications (e.g. infographics, factsheets, etc.) to impart expert
advice to a range of audiences for purposes of securing buy-in for the
scientific priorities.
Work closely with AUDA-NEPAD and other relevant regional,
continental and global partners to organise and facilitate
science-policy events, talks and meetings involving scientists,
policymakers (e.g. government agencies) and other organisations (e.g.
research centres, scientific bodies) to respond to the recommendations
of the prioritisation process.
Support scientific experts in the ASP programme to develop capacity
in the science-policy interface, including writing and presenting to
policymakers and other diverse audiences.
Aggregate and synthesis ASP's scientific knowledge to inform the
review of the AESA strategy including in but not limited to STI
implementation, science advisory and resource mobilisation in the
various priority areas and in relation to AESA 2.0 business plan.
In addition to the ASP work, lead the generation and development of
multi-stakeholder policy and knowledge products, including internal and
external stakeholder engagement, research coordination and analysis of
key themes across Africa's STI ecosystem to identify similarities,
patterns, trends, and gaps. This will be conducted both independently
and in collaboration with ongoing programmes, as the case may require.
Lay the groundwork for developing an organisation-wide system of
documenting and collating learnings in the form of an easily accessible
'e-library' of relevant STI knowledge resources.
Key Skills and Competencies
Overall, the person must have vast experience and enthusiasm for the
African science-policy landscape, the relationship between scientists
and policymaking, and knowledge brokerage in this space continentally
and globally. Besides, the candidate should have:
Active interest in inter/multi/transdisciplinary work to solve global challenges.
Demonstrable competence in policy analysis and knowledge brokerage
in a wide range of STI topics and/or in the development sector.
Good interpersonal skills with the ability to network, develop and
maintain strong relationships at all levels resulting in key
science-policy outputs.
A driven, high-energy team player who is excited about taking the AAS to the new level as an advisory/think tank body
Ability to quickly understand and absorb new topics, issues and
disciplines and distil relevant knowledge resources for diverse
audiences.
Demonstrable skills in policy design, policy influencing, capacity
strengthening, stakeholder engagement and programme management skills.
Ability to communicate technical information clearly and effectively to both technical and non-technical colleagues.
Experience in a science-policy/knowledge brokerage position will be highly valued over field of degree.
Qualifications
Minimum of a master's degree in a relevant field.
Demonstrable strong understanding of and experience in the
science-policy interface and strategy support with at least ten (10)
years relevant experience in the fields of sustainable development,
science and innovation.
Knowledge and Experience
Excellent research, policy analysis, writing and presentation
skills, e.g. producing policy briefs, engaging policymakers, developing
strategies etc.
English proficiency is mandatory. French is an added advantage.
At least seven (7) years of work experience in science-policy,
specifically working in Africa or on Africa related issues with African
partners.
Strong analytical, writing, and people management skills
Programme development and management skills
Technical report writing and presentation skills
Organisational skills
Teamwork and collaboration skills
Application
All applicants must submit a filled application form - download it via the following link:(https://www.aasciences.africa/sites/default/files/inline-files/Job Application Form.doc), curriculum vitae, and a cover letter submitted by email to **********ca, with the Position and Vacancy Number as the Subject no later than3rd February 2021. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
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