Vacancy: Research Manager – Re-advertisement

Position: Research Manager │ Duty station: Marsabit, Kenya│ Reporting to: Executive Director

Duration: 24 months (with the possibility of extension)

The organization

The Center for Research and Development in Drylands - CRDD is a Kenyan-based non-profit organization that promotes people-centered research and development work in the drylands. Based in the Northern parts of Kenya, it works with a pool of professionals from the region to develop and implement research and development that contribute to sustainable livelihoods for communities living in the drylands. CRDD promotes evidence-based approaches to address the complex situations in dryland development, with emphasis on the integration of knowledge from academic and local communities to co-develop and implement innovations Thus, CRDD places the local communities central in developing and implementing contextualized and holistic solutions to address local challenges. This is a departure from practices where the role of local communities has remained peripheral, mostly as information providers.

CRDD’s priority areas of engagement include: -

• Promoting sustainable livelihoods in the drylands
• Strengthening institutional capacities at the community and the local government level
• Improving knowledge and information management and dissemination
• Strengthening enabling policy and institutional environment

CRDD currently implements a growing portfolio of research in development projects that include research in food security and nutrition, rangeland governance, rangeland-based livestock value chains and constructs of resilience from community perspectives among others. Further, CRDD plans to develop projects in areas such as and just transitions to green energy in pastoral contexts.

Main Purpose

The Research Manager will work closely with the Executive Director and lead, mentor and supervise a team of Research Officers/ Research Associates working on different research projects managed by CRDD. The Research Manager will provide administrative oversight, projects implementation, identify staffing needs, support in hiring as well as budget management and monitoring across projects. The Research manager will also write proposals for new projects, adapt existing proposals for new funding opportunities, develop budgets, liaise with partners in resource mobilization, and write and edit reports, presentations and manuscripts.

Responsibilities include:

Research management and support

• Coordinate the research project activities ensuring quality and timely implementation
• Guide, train, and supervise researcher assistants and students as required to undertake quality data collection.
• Map out potential project partners and organize continued and meaningful engagement in project implementation
• Establish and maintain close working relationships with the communities targeted by the research project
• Support project applications for research permits and ethical clearances as required
• Represent the project and CRDD with key stakeholders – including national and local government, civil society organizations, and other research centers and think tanks in the country and globally.
• Proactively engage with other teams across CRDD to ensure synergy with other running organizational projects

Relationship Management

• Build and maintain relationships with researchers and project partners working on similar projects in the region
• Collaborate with potential partners on project development, implementation, and learning
• Contribute to building systems that will facilitate good research practices by CRDD research team, including data management and confidentiality
• Represent CRDD in different forums/meetings and workshops

Budget Management

• Work with the CRDD management team and finance to develop budgets and oversee all aspects of grant submission to donors
• Monitor cost recovery, anticipated and actual costs charged to project budgets, regularly communicate these to finance, and identify and prevent potential overruns
• Coordinate financial report of different grants to the donor in timely manner

Monitoring, reporting, evaluation, and learning

• Ensure production of high-quality project deliverables such as reports and blog posts
• Contributes to the production of high-quality research, scientific papers and policy briefs.
• Monitor project budgets and ensure expenditure is within the budget allocation
• Monitor the quality of project activities
• Effectively communicate project events and outputs through the use of social media and digital technologies
• Contribute to CRDD’s wider agenda of influencing policy, supporting better practice, and promoting adult learning and full employment

QUALIFICATIONS

The position requires a professional with at least 7 years of professional field experience, a good team player with high personal integrity, and the ability to work with minimal supervision in a multicultural environment.  The following specific qualifications are required:

• Advanced degree in Social Sciences, Development Studies, or natural resources management.
• Working experience in resilience research and programming in the drylands and pastoralist development context
• Well-developed skills in designing, managing, and delivering a range of research and development projects including effective and efficient resource allocation
• Ability to develop and utilize appropriate qualitative methods and tools to support high-quality research
• Proven experience in delivering research projects to meet funders’ requirements, including time and quality expectations, within budget
• Ability to work under own initiative with a proactive approach to problem-solving
• Well-developed communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to engage with multiple stakeholders including local communities, local government, partners, and funders
• Proven skills in writing for and speaking to a range of audiences to ensure impact
• Being flexible and committed to the work, for instance being willing to travel extensively within the region, sometimes at a short notice
• Excellent analytical, report writing, and communication skills
• Experience in Project management, donor management and financial management.
• Applications from residents of the drylands of northern Kenya with the above qualifications are particularly encouraged.

Languages:

• Fluency in written and spoken English and the ability to speak any of the local languages spoken in in northern Kenya is an added advantage. 

How to apply

Motivation letter expressing interest and showcasing suitability for the position and an up-to-date CV to be submitted to crddhr@gmail.com. State your monthly salary expectations, copies of testimonials, and other relevant documents with the application. Applications will be received until 20^th September 2023.

CRDD is an equal-opportunity employer and provides competitive salary package.