The African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) is an African-led and Africa-based international research institution headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. APHRC conducts policy-relevant research on population, health, education, urbanization and related development issues in sub-Saharan Africa.
Data for Decisions to Expand Nutrition Transformation (DataDENT) is an initiative that aims to transform the availability and use of nutrition data by addressing gaps in nutrition measurement and advocating for stronger nutrition data systems. DataDENT 2.0 will be implemented by four institutions: Institute for International Programs (IIP) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Results for Development Institute (R4D) and the APHRC. IIP manages day-to-day operations of DataDENT.
APHRC seeks to recruit an Advocacy and Knowledge Management Specialist. S/he will be based in Kenya and will provide leadership in strategic advocacy and knowledge management through targeted engagement with stakeholders to meet the objectives of the project, outcomes and achievements to a wide spectrum of audiences in Ethiopia, Nigeria, the Community of Practice and across Africa, and beyond.
Duties/Responsibilities:
- Lead in the development and implementation of nutrition advocacy, knowledge management and communication strategy within the two priority African countries, Ethiopia and Nigeria, for DataDENT;
- Lead in the development and implementation of nutrition advocacy, knowledge management and communication strategy within the two priority African countries that is Ethiopia and Nigeria for the Community of Practice (COP);
- To raise awareness of nutrition data issues and provide access to DataDENT outputs across key audiences;
- Build and manage relationships with relevant stakeholders in in Ethiopia, Nigeria, across Africa and beyond;
- Build and manage relationships with multiple stakeholders to build the COP and the DataDENT;
- Lead in designing and providing advocacy and effective communication of the project objectives, outputs and outcomes as relates to the strategic objectives;
- Lead and coordinate nutrition data-focused advocacy and knowledge management to achieve the greatest impact;
- Develop and manage partnerships with relevant stakeholders in Ethiopia and Nigeria while representing DataDENT and the COP at relevant events, meetings and gatherings;
- Oversee the organization of the COP convening and stakeholder events to publicize and push COP priorities, advocacy and knowledge management actions through meetings, side events, webinars and social media engagement;
- Collaborate on relevant nutrition data related initiatives that further the impact outcomes of the projects;
- Lead content development and produce written materials for advocacy and knowledge management and for use in virtual platforms;
- Organize COP events, webinars, capacity strengthening sessions and workshops;
- Work closely with the DataDENT partners and key stakeholders and members of the COP to develop knowledge translation products such as technical briefs, fact sheets, and others to promote and advance outputs of the project;
- Work closely with the project lead in ensuring compliance with donor requirements such as keeping track of outputs and outcomes for advocacy, policy engagement, communication, progress reports and updates to the funder;
- Provide advice to the DataDENT team on how to integrate knowledge management into the project;
- Lead documentation of key lessons learned and good practices for reporting and project learning;
- Prepare knowledge management reports and analyses and strengthen systems for generating, gathering and customizing knowledge;
- Identify and curate external knowledge of relevance for DataDENT and the COP;
- Strengthen planning of knowledge products and quality assurance processes for DataDENT knowledge products;
- Optimize functionalities for how knowledge is organized and made easily accessible and develop and maintain the repository and listing of knowledge products produced for DataDENT;
- Create and integrate global identifier systems, for DataDENT global goods and help track online use and impact of these products;
- Promote the use of knowledge in policy and practice and promote creative solutions for uptake of knowledge generated by DataDENT;
- Support diversification of knowledge in multimedia and interactive formats that include podcasts, data visualization, infographics, animation etc.
Qualifications, experience and skills:
- Master’s degree in public policy, public administration, social policy, anthropology, economics, communications, international development, politics and internal relations, sociology, social transformation, journalism or nutrition related sectors.
- A qualification in an aspect of nutrition will be an added advantage.
- At least eight years’ post-qualification experience in nutrition advocacy and knowledge management, working in relevant areas within the international development sector at a senior level in nutrition.
- Proven ability to provide leadership in managing and promoting research outputs for use in advocacy.
- Experience and a large network in nutrition advocacy work with different stakeholders to inform and influence policy development.
- Working nutrition advocacy experience with evidence informed decision-making mechanisms (in nutrition) of African governments.
- Ability to prepare high quality and impactful publications and reports for specialist and non-specialist audiences, including policymakers preferably in the nutrition space.
- Excellent engagement, coordination, and communication (written and spoken) skills to be able to absorb complex information and present it to different audiences in a clear and accessible way, preferably in the nutrition space.
- Good interpersonal skills, to work and build relationships with a wide range of stakeholders.
- Good organization skills, to track priorities, work to deadlines and manage projects.
- Flexible and adaptable approach to responding to shifting priorities and a rapidly evolving external environment.
Desirable
- Experience and skills in the nutrition space in Africa.
- Ability to conceptualize, design and implement major information campaigns.
- Ability to rapidly analyze and integrate diverse information from varied sources.
- Ability to diplomatically handle sensitive situations with target audiences and cultivate productive relationships.
- Ability to produce a variety of written and visual communication products in a clear, concise style.
- Strong communication attributes characterized by speaking and writing clearly and effectively; active listening, correctly interpreting messages and responding timely and appropriately.
This position is classified under Nationally Recruited Positions (NRP), Grade II in our scales.
How to apply
Interested candidates are encouraged to apply through our recruitment portal https://aphrc.org/vacancies/ by March 20, 2023. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted; shortlisted candidates will be required to have a Police Clearance Certificate. Cover letters should be addressed to:
The Human Resources Officer
African Population and Health Research Center, Inc
APHRC Campus, Manga Close, off Kirawa Road, Kitisuru
P. O. Box 10787-GPO, Nairobi
Website: www.aphrc.org
APHRC is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to the protection of vulnerable persons
